CPD – Effective Questioning

The first issue that i need to address is questioning. As questioning was an area that I needed to improve on (as stated on my first college observation), I signed up to an effective questioning techniques CPD session with Jo Tildesley (27.01.17).

From the session, I realised that, I tend to quickly give the answers to the questions when they do not know it. Instead, she said that when you ask questions you should not let the students answer straight away. Instead, you should ask a question and then let a student answer, once they have answered ask another student if that answer is correct, ask another, why it is correct, ask another to back it up with research. Like this, you are not assessing one or two students but you are engaging the whole class, as they are aware that you might ask a direct question to them. By asking certain questions, the answer that you get through this technique can even answer a 16-mark question, which includes evaluation points.

What is useful about this technique is that it helps engage the whole class. Students will pay more attention because

1. They want to know the answers
2. They are more likely to be selected so they pay attention as they know the teacher is assessing them
3. It becomes a joint effort
4. Students are using higher order thinking which has been stated by the cognitive approach to be effective

In addition, it is not simply teacher-led although I feel that majority of A level should be teacher-led but that does not mean some aspects of the lesson don’t need to be. I am going to cooperate this into my lesson now and see how effective this could be.

PS 1

The Education and Training Foundation(2014) Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers – England. Available at: http://www.et-foundation.co.uk/supporting/support-practitioners/professional-standards/