Powerful Questioning

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 a Vice 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.

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 working with cognitive scientists researching how children learn in a classroom. In my experience, questioning is fundamental in pursuing the powerful tools of retrieval, spacing, interleaving and metacognition, all rooted in robust research. Understanding how we learn and using the proper questioning techniques that develop critical thinking assists the teacher in promoting successful learning. John Hattie states in the introduction, 'The hard part is asking the right question at the right time for the right purpose and with the right level of complexity.' Michael Chiles gives us the knowledge and techniques that will make our useof questioning most effective.Patrice M Bain