Page 3 - Improving-Teaching

Improving Questioning in

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Ofsted
Education inspection framework: Overview of research (Ofsted January 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 part 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…
The types of questions asked are typically varied and depend on the knowledge and skills to be mastered.
The best strategy would appear to be to use a mixture of recall and higher-order questions, increasing the latter as the level of understanding
increases. This does not mean that a mix should be used in all lessons; depending on where the lesson sits within a sequence of lessons about a
particular topic, the balance can be strongly towards one or the other. Teachers can use both product questions (calling for a single response
from pupils) and process questions (calling for explanations from pupils).
Again, the balance will depend on the lesson and topic. Pupils can be encouraged to ask questions, which can be redirected to the class
before being answered by the teacher. Relevant pupil comments can be incorporated into the lesson…’

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