Learning Questions?

This blog post cannot begin without asking you (reader) to ask a question you might have about teaching, learning and questions. Go ahead, tap or click on the Padlet screen below and question away! (play nice, please):

In the beginning...

The itch began a few years back when I finally admitted to myself that I disliked WALT's or LI's. During my study for a teaching degree, we did a whole unit on how to formulate them, then in my early years of teaching there was more PD on this again. The perfectly crafted "Learning Intention" or "We Are Learning To..." was supposed open up the magic box of learning and create the perfect explicit introduction to make it all happen. The truth was that they were BORING. They were (joyful past tense here) tedious to write, then they had to be broken down into discreet Success Criteria so students could understand them, and I never saw kids faces light up with wonder when faced with a WALT about anything.

After reading "The Hidden Life of Learners," by Graham Nuthall (a must read for any teacher), I knew that what teachers teach isn't what kids learn and I was on a mission to find a way to bridge that disconnect. How much effect could that single first sentence affect the interaction between teachers and learners during the learning process?

The nail in their coffin came when a fellow educator did his masters' paper on their effectiveness and found no great improvement in student understanding when teachers used them versus when they don't. So not only did they annoy me but they were also a waste of my time and my learners' time.

But how to replace them, and what with? Could there be something better? Precisely. Enter a lady I call a true Marveller of teachers and children: Kath Murdoch. "How about turning them into a question?" That short inquiry learning PD moment shifted my teaching in ways that a small and persistent trickle of water splits stone when the ambient temperature presents the opportunity. (Do check out at least this one great article on questioning from her blog, she has many!- just type in the search: questions).

Then came my favourite question of all time: Why not?

The journey...

I started reframing my inquiry Learning Experiences into questions. Maths followed not long after. Reading and Writing began wanting to join the party and the trickle became a tide. The change was subtle at first but quick, and what began to happen in my class was akin to when I got rid of my desk: The power in the classroom shifted.

You see, a question is an invitation to think, to ponder, to dream, to inquire, to create, to explore. A Learning Question invites the learner to share, not matter how small their knowledge and understanding, and to commit to the journey that the question heralds is about to begin. "Come with me," it says with a small wink, "talk to me. Tell me what you want to know."

"Most teachers waste their time by asking questions which are intended to discover what a pupil does not know whereas the true art of questioning has for its purpose to discover what pupils know or are capable of knowing." 

Albert Einstein

To sum up what I've discovered so far...

• A rich question invites more questions. It most often begins with 'How.'
• Asking questions models to students about asking questions (see > do > learn).
• It is less threatening as there is no finality or confinement to what can be discovered or learned. It is open. For example We are learning to describe our experiences to the reader with detail, into "How do we describe our experiences with detail?" 
• The types of questions learners ask about the Learning Question can reveal a lot about what they know and understand so these questions can be a diagnostic and planning tool. Here is an example: 

This is a Learning Question we used to begin the inquiry into the significance of community and culture:

These were further questions that students asked. 

The first two questions show that they have an idea or concept of belonging, what this could mean and are trying to make connections. 

The last question was asked after a long moment of silence. I then asked how many others had the same question but felt a bit shy to ask- lots put their hand up. Often a 'what is' question shows that there is no real idea of what the 'it' means. I enjoy discussing with learners how important it is to ask me what is unclear so that I know what they are thinking or if they are 'fuzzy' about parts or the inquiry.

• Lastly, it makes ME question what we are about to do, why we are about to do it and how. Creating a Learning Question helps me to think more deeply because unless one understands something, one cannot ask a deep question. I'm also more prone to question my practice, often.

I'm going to leave the last word to Kath Murdoch (thank you, Kath!).

Postnote 28-2-17:

A day after writing this post I saw this powerful statement:

It struck me that this is exactly what quality questioning can bring to the learning partnership between teacher and learner. Once a learning conversation begins the teacher must also commit to act on the information from students, adapt learning experiences and to consider the questions and comments from learners as -or more- important that what was asked, to begin with. Student's voice becomes the driver for learning.

Postnote 19-4-17:

I've shared this post a few times and I am slowly hearing of kindred souls who also found LI/WALTS limiting (at best) or a waste of time. Today, I read this congruent experience from another educator @PositivTeacha link here. 

Luckily, my co-teaching colleague has also seen the benefits of using Learning Questions this year. A couple of weeks ago we saw amazing transference where 5-6-yr-olds transformed reflective statements into questions (completely at their own accord!) so they could interview each other while reflecting on their work for their digital portfolio. I'll add some photos & video. The lesson? We need to model questioning/ critical thinking ubiquitously if we want our learners to be able to do the same.

If you do use Learning Questions, please comment here on your journey as I learn from your experience as much as mine. 

Let the evolution of teaching for UNDERSTANDING begin, I say!

Postnote 29-4-17:

Here is some classroom evidence of how using Learning Questions models to students. Our daily learning episodes always include an overarching Learning Question:

The children created games using the Design Thinking process and then reflected into their digital portfolio. We created a prompt card for them to record their ideas to scaffold the process, yet that day a group decided to interview and film each other. On their own, they turned a statement into QUESTIONS to help them describe the process and interview each other: