Asking Authentic Questions

Asking questions is a powerful coaching tool for gathering information, engaging others in discussion, clarifying perspectives, and facilitating self-discovery and self-direction. By asking questions, coaches encourage the teachers they are working with to flesh out their own objectives and search for answers. Questions evoke teachers’ curiosity, and the best questions are those about which coaches themselves are authentically curious.
 
As part of my research on coaching, I was recently reviewing a recording of a coaching conversation. The coach asked a lot of questions, but I became curious about how many of those questions came from a place of curiosity.
 
Although I want to be careful about making unfounded assumptions, I found it helpful to divide the list of questions the coach posed into two categories: Those that seemed to come from a place of authentic curiosity, and those that did not. Here are a few examples:
 
Uncurious Questions

·       What do you think that means when I say a differentiated classroom?

·       So do you think that the method (for differentiation) is translatable or universal regardless of the class?

·       I wonder what you think about the idea of having that modeled for you…what do you think of that idea?

x

Curious Questions

·       Any questions or concerns come to mind?

Unfortunately, that’s the only question from this conversation that seemed authentic.
 
I wonder if I examined a recording of my own conversation whether my own words would fare any better? Coaches have told me that asking questions is the coaching move with which they struggle the most, and I’d bet that one of the big struggles is asking authentic questions.
 
Our questions are more authentic if we can catch ourselves making judgments and turn those judgments into curiosity, and the curiosity into questions. We could ask, “What is missing for you right now?”
 
If we find ourselves disagreeing with something a teacher says, we can ask a question to explore differences, delaying evaluation. We could say, “Can you tell me more about why you think that?”
 
Our questions are productive when we notice that a teacher responds defensively and we ask a question that prompts reflection. Ask, “How do you feel about that?”
 
By asking questions, we can help teachers uncover their own assumptions, and we can recognize some of our own in the process. We could ask, “What makes you say so?” or say, “Tell me more about that.”
 
I challenge you to use the Conference Planning Guide to think through, in advance, some questions that might be authentic to an upcoming coaching conversation. And then, in the moment, think about how to use questions to change judgment into inquiry, disagreement into exploration, defensiveness into reflection, and unrecognized assumptions into awareness.
 
Asking authentic questions is not easy to do, but the quality added to coaching conversations makes it worth the effort.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Strategies to help teachers and students calm their minds and bodies:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/stress-schools-increasing-simple-strategies-stay-calm
 
 
It’s still National Poetry Month - Poetry with paint-chip boards:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/blackout-poems-and-paint-chip-haiku-two-fun-ways-into-poetry-with-adolescents/
 
 
Why positive comments fail (video):
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIpk5g0h2lQ
 
 
How to cultivate deep learning (podcast):
 
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/deeper-learning/
 
DIY place-value cups (I love these manipulatives!):
 
http://suedowning.blogspot.com/2012/08/place-value-cups.html
 
That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 
Was this helpful?  Please share!
Want to know about new posts? Click “Follow” (bottom right)
Follow on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch and Twitter and Instagram @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com