“Questioning is an essential tool for teachers to master as it can be used for many purposes"
(Coe et al., 2014)
Research Summary
Questions are an integral part of classroom life and essential to every teacher’s pedagogical repertoire. They are also one of the elements of effective formative assessment (Black et al., 2003). Teachers can use questioning to serve many purposes including checking for understanding, challenging thinking and extending responses. Questioning is a key skill for teachers but can be complex in its application and as such, need to be purposefully practiced. Paramore (2017) identified an imbalance of questions often found in teaching, saying there is a dominance of teacher talk and an over-reliance on closed questions, providing only limited assessment for learning (AfL) information for a teacher. Teachers need to consider the types of questions they ask, the timing of their questioning, the cognitive level at which they are pitched and of course be mindful of which learners they engage.
Key Takeaways
•Questioning is a key skill for teachers because of the many functions it fulfils
•Questioning can be a complex process and so is worth ongoing focus, improvement and practise
•A common issue is the overuse of closed questions or questions which provide limited AFL info.
•Teachers must be mindful of the type, timing, cognitive level and direction of their questions
Reflective Questions
Workshop Resources
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Independent Study
Below are a series of key documents and links that will help you deepen your understanding of this component.
Key Resources
| Title | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Skilful Questioning resources | A collection of resources on questioning by the Chartered College of Teaching | LINK |
| Questioning – Ambition ECT module | A series of resources from Ambition Institute focusing on effective questioning | LINK |
| Socratic Questioning | A series of resources from Ambition Institute focusing on general approaches to responsive teaching | LINK |
| Chartered College of Teaching: Questioning | A series of resources from Ambition Institute focusing on subject approaches to responsive teaching | LINK |
| Evidence Based Teaching Videos – Questioning | A follow up article to the seminal work 'inside the black box' by Black and Wiliam. | LINK |
Further Reading
Below we will collate a set of documents and links that also have relevance to this component.
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