Page 8 - Improving Teacher Questioning

Background information

Education inspection framework - Overview of research (Ofsted 2019)

‘Effective questioning is one of the most widely studied aspects of teaching.
We therefore have considerable evidence in this area. Teachers provide
substantive feedback to pupils, resulting either from pupils’ questions or from
answers to teachers’ questions.

Most questions can elicit correct or at least substantive answers. Correct
answers need to be acknowledged in a positive but businesslike fashion.
When a pupil answers a question partially correctly, the teacher can prompt
that pupil to find the remaining part of the answer before moving on to the
next pupil.

When a pupil answers a question incorrectly, the teacher needs to point out
swiftly that the answer is wrong. If the pupil has answered incorrectly due to
inattention or carelessness, the teacher can swiftly move on to the next pupil.

If the answer is incorrect due to lack of knowledge, the teacher needs to try
and prompt the pupil to answer correctly. Teachers need to make sure that
girls and shy pupils, who may be less assertive, have the chance to answer
questions…’

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