Questioning

Questioning is my favourite topic. I feel that every teacher should spend time mastering this skill. But not all teachers think that. Last year, I introduced questioning as one of the strategy that the department would want the teachers to focus. So I actually thought of ways to do sharing and encouraging teachers to plan questions before they step into class. One teacher actually came to me and said that they have done questoning for so many years and felt that they did not need to plan.

Today, I read a chapter on questioning from the book " The Skillful teacher- Building your teaching skills". I was so happy that what I proposed last year was the right move and further confirm that every teacher needs to plan their questions before the lesson.

There are 4 main points of questioning.

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  It is an entire toolbox. The questions selected should be matched to hte instructional purpose.
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  All pupils including the low ability pupils need to be engaged with high level questioning. A lecturer once told me if we do not scaffold low ability pupils with thinking questions , these pupils will always not be improved and will always be labelled as " low ability".

• Questions should be planned when we are planning the lesson. Don't just spend time planning the activities and the topics for discussion and then wing it on what questions to ask as we go.

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  Pupils should be taught to ask questions. I have been teaching pupils to use questions starters, for example

" What happens if ......"

" Why do you think ..."

" What is your reason ...."

It is quite effective for a start but pupils still need a lot of practice.