Powerful Questioning : Strategies for Improving Learning and Retention in the Classroom

Foreword by John Hattie.

Questioning is a staple feature of a teacher's toolkit across all phases of education. Classrooms are awash with explanation, modelling and feedback, but of all the pedagogical strategies at a teacher's disposal, questioning is one of the most important. It is the heartbeat of a classroom. While the art of asking a question seems relatively straightforward, to what extent do teachers consider the types of questions they're using? Are the questions they ask students actually helping to support learning? InPowerful Questioning,Michael Chiles delves into the complexity of asking questions and how best to use this pedagogical tool as a powerful springboard to support learning in the classroom.

Teachers are described by many as 'professional question-askers' and the use of questioning in the teaching and learning process dates back to one of the most influential users and developers of questions, the Greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates believed that by asking questions we encourage reflection, and that their use is most effective when we create a continual loop of dialogue between the asker and the receiver, to allow movement from surface to deeper level thinking.Powerful Questioningtakes inspiration from this, providing original theory that relates back to the historical use of questioning in the classroom throughout.

Offering a fresh perspective on how questioning can be engineered to support effective learning,Powerful Questioningexamines the reasons behind the questions we ask and reveals the power of asking the right questions, in the right way, at the right time. It details a set of core principles, recommendations and classroom-based practical examples that can be used to implement powerful questioning both in the classroom and wider school.

Michael's aim is to help teachers become research-informed on the theories around the use of questioning in the classroom, whilst also providing a wide range of practical classroom-based strategies. Readers will take away specific examples from a broad range of case studies in which teachers at different phases of education (from Key Stages one to five) share how they use questioning to improve learning and retention.

Essential reading for all teachers and school leaders.

Powerful Questioning: Strategies for improving learning and retention in the classroomby Michael Chiles is an evidence-based examination of the power of questioning in the classroom and how it can be improved.

Questioning is possibly the most powerful lever teachers have in the classroom to drive learning. This book is an authoritative work not just on the research underpinning it but also on how to use it in practice. Highly recommended.

Carl Hendrick

Powerful Questioning is going to prove a potent tool to every teacher who reads it. Chiles brilliantly marshals research and practical strategies to unpick the subtle but crucial art of questioning in the classroom. It can be too easy to take questioning for granted, so common is it to the classroom, but for even experienced teachers, it can prove a tricky aspect of teaching to improve. This book offers a wealth of useful reflection, along with activities and insights, to propel teachers' questioning skills towards expert levels.

Alex Quigley

Some salutary statistics here on the range of questions currently asked in our classrooms and the massive opportunities for deepening pupils' learning when we reconsider how to extract best value from them. Michael Chiles has written a terrific book to explain why and to show us how. An essential resource for CPD for every school.

Mary Myatt

Michael Chiles states in Powerful Questioning, 'of all the pedagogy strategies at the teacher's disposal, questioning is one of the most dominant methods of instruction. It is the heartbeat of a classroom.' I found this to be true in my years of

An experienced school leader and principal examiner, Michael Chiles has been teaching for over 15 years. He has delivered training both nationally and internationally, supporting teachers in their approaches to implementing effective assessment and feedback practices. Currently an Assistant Principal, he writes blogs at GeogHod, sits on the Chartered College of Teaching Council and enjoys walking in the British countryside with his Border Collie. He is also the author of CRAFT and The Feedback Pendulum.