Chapters International

Overview:

Asking questions is an essential - yet often overlooked - lifelong learning skill. It’s a skill that allows people to learn through their own curiosity, think critically about what they see in the news and on social media, and become more confident and prepared for civic life. Kindergartners through doctoral students become more inquisitive, engaged, and joyful learners when they learn to formulate their own questions. This workshop equips all educators - at all levels - to become experts at teaching the skill of question formulation.

At the heart of this workshop is hands-on work with the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). Created by the Right Question Institute, the QFT is a simple technique for teaching students to ask, improve, and use their own questions. It’s a powerful engine for learning that one teacher described as “the Swiss Army knife of instruction. It does it all!” That’s because it’s a flexible tool that complements and enhances existing curriculum and inquiry models, rather than replacing them. Educators in more than 1 million classrooms, in over 150 countries worldwide, are now using the QFT to foster a more equitable, student-driven culture of curiosity.

The Right Question Institute’s director of professional learning, Sarah Westbrook, facilitates this workshop, bringing with her years of experience, insights, and wisdom from educators around the world who have shared creative ways for using the QFT.

Outcomes:

Educators who are totally new to the QFT will gain an introduction to the technique from the organization that created it. Those who are experienced with the QFT will dive deeply into some of the design nuances and best practices that can take them to the next level.

Workshop participants leave with a deep understanding of the strategy and the ability to immediately use it with students and share it with colleagues.

Agenda:

Day 1: The Power of Question Formulation for Lifelong Learning
Why is asking your own questions powerful, and what are the barriers that prevent some people from doing so? How do we ensure that all students ask questions and feel greater agency at school (and beyond)?

You will:

Actively experience the QFT.
Explore salient literature and research about who asks questions, who does not, and why it matters.
Analyze real classroom examples and student work from pre-K through higher education.
Learn the basics of QFT lesson planning.

Prior to Day 2, participants will be expected to independently design one piece of their lesson plan and come prepared to share.

Day 2: Designing for Student Questioning in the Classroom
How do you design and plan for student questioning that aligns to and propels your existing teaching and learning objectives?

You will:

Gain strategies for best practices in QFT lesson design and facilitation.
Explore models and online resources for virtual, blended, and in-person settings.
Access a range of instructional videos, ready-to-use templates, and planning resources to create your own QFT lesson plan and give and receive peer feedback.

Prior to Day 3, participants will be expected to facilitate the QFT with learners in their setting and come prepared to share and reflect on the experience. Participants who do not have easy access to students may choose to facilitate with a friend, colleague, or family member.

Day 3: Using Student Questions to Drive and Sustain Learning
How might you sustain a culture of curiosity that outlasts one QFT lesson? How do you customize the process to your setting and your learners?

You will:

Reflect on your own QFT facilitation experience.
Revise your QFT lesson plan.
Explore troubleshooting strategies and advanced tailoring moves.
Develop a plan for how to use student questions to drive the subsequent steps of learning.

Audience:

The QFT is a universal instructional tool that supports and enhances inquiry-based learning in every subject area from kindergarten through higher education. K-20 educators from all disciplines and subject areas are welcome.

Sarah Westbrook

Sarah Westbrook is the Right Question Institute’s Director of Professional Learning. During more than twelve years in the field of education, including seven years of teaching English in Boston, MA area public high schools, Sarah developed a deep appreciation for the innovative work educators do every day for students that often goes unseen. She now partners with schools and districts around the country to design professional learning on the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) and collaborates with classroom teachers to highlight their work and identify new opportunities for professional growth. She has presented on the QFT for a range of audiences including at national conferences such as NSTA, NCSS, NCTE, Learning Forward, and ASCD; the Iowa and Hawaii State Departments of Education, Cincinnati Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, San Francisco Public Schools, and New York Statewide BOCES. She leads the design, development, and facilitation of the Right Question Institute’s three online professional learning courses, in collaboration with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, National Geographic, and the Library of Congress. Sarah is the director of RQI’s Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant.

DATES & TIMES:

23rd, 30th October & 13th November 2021

Each Session is for 2 hours.
EST 7:00 am | London 12:00 pm | Zurich 1:00 pm | Dubai 3:00 pm | India 4:30 pm | Hong Kong 7:00 pm
Melbourne 9:00 pm

Please click here to check your time for the workshop