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Strategic Questioning. ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’ Socrates. Uncovering the Learning. ELIS Launch and Conference 6 th & 7 th Sep 2011. Karen Yager: Knox Grammar School & UNSW. Workshop Goals.
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Strategic Questioning ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’ Socrates. Uncovering the Learning ELIS Launch and Conference 6th & 7thSep 2011 Karen Yager: Knox Grammar School & UNSW
Workshop Goals • To develop teachers’ self-awareness and analysis of their own questioning techniques • To identify key features of good questioning • To identify and share effective questioning techniques • To enhance the design of a quality learning environment through effective questioning
Culture of Learning • “Building a strong foundation in language, and enriching language learning for all.” • “Learners are at the centre of the teaching-learning process” (English Language Syllabus 2010).
Philosophy • A means of making meaning and of communication • A system with its own rules and conventions which can be used to create various discourse forms or types of texts • Learning involves cognitive and affective engagement, and interaction • Guided by our awareness of the purpose, audience, context and culture in which the communication takes place.
EL Syllabus 2010 • Agreater focus on oral communication (listening and speaking skills) • Principles of EL Teaching: • Learners are at the centre of the teaching-learning process. • The teacher will provide a visually and experientially rich environment for communication that will explicitly foster listening and speaking skills and focus on the achievement of the Learning Outcomes.
The Questioning Game The rules of the Questioning game: • You may only respond to each other with questions • No pausing • Some degree of congruency in discussion – no non sequiturs • Loser knocked out, winner continues
How did you feel? • Anxious? • Nervous • Insecure? • Threatened? ‘In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. The important thing is not to stop questioning.’ Albert Einstein
Purpose of Questioning • Discuss in small groups - what are the top five reasons for asking questions in the classroom? • Use Activity Sheet 1
Purpose of Questioning • Interest, engage and challenge pupils • Check on prior knowledge • Stimulate recall and use of existing knowledge to create new understanding and meaning • Help pupils to extend their thinking from the concrete and factual to the analytical and evaluative • Focus pupils’ thinking on key concepts and issues • Promote pupils’ thinking about the way they have learned • Promote reasoning, problem solving and synthesis • Improve listening and speaking skills
Pitfalls of Questioning • What are some of the common mistakes in asking pupils questions in class? • Discuss in your group and list five using Activity Sheet 1.
Pitfalls of Questioning • Not being clear about why you are asking the question • Asking too many closed questions • Asking too many questions at once • Asking difficult questions without building up to them • Asking a question then answering it yourself
Pitfalls of Questioning • Teachers ask up to two questions every minute, up to 400 in a day, around 70,000 a year, or two to three million in the course of a career. • Questioning accounts for up to a third of all teaching time, second only to the time devoted to explanation. • Most questions are answered in less than a second. • Lower-order questions are often used as a means of control in the classroom. Steven Hastings, 2003
Pitfalls of Questioning • Asking bogus ‘guess what’s in my head’ questions. • Focusing on a small number of pupils. • Starting all questions with the same stem. • Dealing ineffectively with incorrect answers. • Not giving the pupils time to reflect or generate own questions.
Pitfalls of Questioning • We often focus on knowing the right answer rather than asking the right question. • Our assumptions about what matters in the classroom and about our pupils influences the way we design and deliver questions. • Covering rather than uncovering! Content and recall focus rather than the art of uncoveringnew possibilities through dynamic questioning.
Design • “Teaching is the art of asking questions” Socrates. • Questions are not just devices to evaluate specifics of learning but a means of actively promoting conceptual thinking, deepening learning and understanding. • Questions can be more powerful than answers. • Teaching is about designing the learning environment
Design • It is about asking the right questions. • Plan questions with others as you will always design questions that reflect the way you see the world. • It is not the answer that matters but the discussion that is generated by the question. • Complete Activity Sheet 2 and share your responses.
Designing the Learning “The first thing that teachers will need to do is select and organise the essential knowledge, understandings, skills and values from the syllabus around central concepts or ideas…” Quality teaching in NSW Public Schools
Designing the Learning “Without designing around provocative questions and big ideas, teaching easily succumbs into an activity - or coverage - orientation without clear priorities.” Understanding by Design McTigh and Wiggins ASCD 1999
Focus on learning • What do the pupils need to learn? • Why does it matter? • What do they already know? • How will they demonstrate learning? • How will they get there? • How well do I expect them to do it?
Design • Decide in your group the five features of powerful questions. • Use Activity Sheet 3
Highly Effective Questions • Simplicity and clarity • Thought provoking • Generates curiosity and engagement • Channels attention and focuses inquiry • Stimulates reflective thinking and conversation • Surfaces and challenges assumptions • Invites creativity and new possibilities • Connects to a deeper meaning and understanding • Evokes more questions
Types of Questions • Closed questions: Require specific information which can often be answered yes or no. • Open questions: Require deeper thinking about the answer by requiring pupils to generate divergent thinking and creative answers based on possible predictions. • Hypothetical or scenario-based questions:Require a thoughtful and considered response.
Active Listening • Do we really listen? • Turn to the person next to you and find out what they did last weekend. • The interviewee is to take note of the type of questions being asked. • Report back to the group.
Synthesising • Really listening to pupil responses • Identifying relationships • Building on pupil responses • Connecting pupil responses to make meaning and emphasis key points. • This contrasts/compares with…? • What conclusion can we draw from…?
Time… • Increasing the wait time improves the number and quality of the responses. • Three seconds for a lower-order question and more than 10 seconds for a higher-order question. • Stick-it notes • Exit questions • Phone a friend
Question Cycle • Ask the question • Wait for 10 seconds • No response • Simplify the question • Wait for 10 seconds • Discuss the question
Responses to incorrect answers • The teacher's positive response to both good and wrong answers is essential. • Consider: facial, body and verbal responses. • You can: • Rephrase the question: ‘Let me put it another way…’ • Seek clarification: 'What do you mean when you say …?‘ • Request for specific examples: 'Can you give me an example of this?’ • Request for rephrasing: 'Can you put it another way?'
Assessment as Learning • Pupils gain a deeper understanding of their skills, knowledge, level of understanding and the expected standards through self and peer assessment. • Pupils develop ownership of the learning process. • They learn to plan for how to improve their skills and understanding. • Design questions that facilitate self and peer assessment. • Why, how, what if?...
Bloom’s Model • C: What if…? & Can you see other possibilities? • E: Is there a better solution? • AN: How was the setting represented? • AP: Could you apply this approach to…? • U: Who is the main character? • R: Can you name the…?
Using Bloom’s Model • Listen to the podcast • Using Bloom’s taxonomy, in groups devise questions that could be used in class to enrich the learning experience.
S.C.A.M.P.E.R • S: What if I change or swap this? • C: What can I blend or combine? • A: What could I substitute? • M: What will happen if I add…? • P: How could I use this somewhere else? • E: What happens when I remove…? • R: What if I did this the other way? • Activity Sheet 5
Thinker’s Keys • Reverse Listing: Use cannot, never or not in the questions • What if? • Disadvantages • Combination: Attributes of two dissimilar objects • Variations: How many ways can you…? • Question first: Then provide five answers
Williams’ Model - Extending • Paradox: Paradoxes can be used to evaluate ideas and challenge pupils to reason and find proof. • Analogy: Pupils find the similarities between things and compare one thing to another. • Discrepancy: Pupils should be challenged to discuss what is not known or understood. • Provocative questions: These are questions that require thoughtful consideration to clarify meaning or develop new knowledge. • Organised Random Search: Given a situation or body of knowledge, pupils search for other information to answer questions such as, what would you do or what would you have done? • Tolerance for Ambiguity: Open-ended questions • Intuitive Expression: Empathy questions • Evaluative Situations: Evaluate solutions and answers in terms of their consequences and implications — pose the question what if? • Visualisation Skills: Provide opportunities for pupils to perceive or visualise themselves in many contexts.
Williams’ Model • View the film clip • In groups, use Williams’ model to develop a series of questions.
Langford’s 5 Whys • Ask a question • This leads to a second question • Ask three more questions • Probes and deepens understanding • Thwarts superficial responses
Flip Learning • Pupils taking responsibility for their own learning • Provide the content and resources • Pupils generate the questions • ‘If children aren't asking questions, they're being spoon-fed. That might be effective in terms of getting results, but it won't turn out curious, flexible learners suited to the 21st century’ Guy Claxton.
Other Ideas • ABCD voting cards • Exit cards • Phone a friend • No hands up policy • No opt out • Question Cube • Pause-pounce-bounce: No hands up - the teacher 'pounces' on a random pupil for their response - and then 'bounces' round four or more other pupils for their answers - before the class decides which answer was the more correct.
Where to? • Take the passage provided and decide on how you could use this text in the classroom. • Use Activity Sheet 7 to plan the learning and develop a series of questions using one or more of the ideas presented. • Share your ideas!
