Challenging Learning Through Questioning

This session will challenge how learning takes place and how we can all make learning more challenging through our use of effective questions. Martin’s belief is that an effective use of questions is the most powerful tool to improve learning in a classroom. Martin’s approach focuses on the ‘process’ of questioning, rather than on the actual questions themselves. This session will explore teacher thinking behind how and why to use questions in a classroom, highlighting the critical importance of planning and designing the use of questions. Martin challenges teachers to plan the use of questions quite deliberately and to design sequences of questions as part of their preparation. This planning and design of questions helps teachers to enrich the dialogue they have with their students and join the rich pedagogical history stretching all the way back to Socrates of using questions to improve learning and help students become more effective learners.