The power of questions

Elena Lukashevich – ELA trainer, personal coach

Why asking questions?

Find out what is going on To interact

Get some info To direct the conversation
Curiosity To avoid misunderstanding
Show active listening To get to know each other
To know resources of the person To learn something
When we need answers To make people think
To know how to help To do deeper
To verify if we understand
To keep the conversation going

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Why asking questions?

● Questions hold the power to:

○ cause us to think
○ foster us to create answers we believe in
○ motivate us to act on their ideas

● Asking moves us beyond passive acceptance of what other say, or

staying stuck in present circumstances, to applying our creative ability
to the problem

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Question styles

● Closed - Did you pass?

● Open - How did you do?

● Hypothetical/Runway - If this scenario… was created in the

next exam how do you think you might deal with it? What
do you do if you are at the exam and ... happens?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Question Styles

CLOSED

OPEN

HYPOTHETICAL/RUNWAY

DEPTH OF UNDERSTANDING

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Activity

1. Choose a topic below and for that topic, develop a question for each styles.
2. Then ask each other the questions and take note of the depth of thought
required and depth of the response.
Topics:
● Ask about the last lesson that they delivered

● Ask about the last time they had a success in their education institution

● Ask for their thoughts on how they feel about working as education staff

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Debriefing

● How did you do?

● What style of question is/are likely to be most effective in the
environment of education?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Activity: guess who

A volunteer pretend to be someone else famous (e.g. an artist, a

scientist, a sportsperson...).

The group asks them questions to find out who they are.

The volunteer does not have to answer any open or closed questions,
only answering hypothetical questions.

The group can do maximum 5 strikes (a strike is when someone asks a

closed/open question or guesses it wrong)

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

3 elements of learning-focused questions

● Invitation to engage and think

● Content to think about
● Cognitive focus for thinking and elaborating

“As you reflect on this unit, what are some ways you might assess
students on their understanding of the concepts and terms?”

“Thinking of the different activities that we’ve done together this afternoon
how you could benefit from them?”

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Restate the questions

● Did you think cooperative learning was the best strategy for this lesson?
● Did you like the book?
● Will you prepare for the test?
● Did you think you study in the correct way?
● What do you want to do after school?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Restate the questions

● In considering multiple instructional strategies, how did you decide cooperative

learning was best for this lesson?
● Analysing the book you’ve read which were the events/chapters/characters that
interested/surprised you the most?
● Regarding the upcoming test, which could be some the actions that you could do to
get prepare and which could be the first step?
● Focusing on how you studied for this exam, which were the steps that you
followed and there was anything that you could have made in a different way that
would have helped you in performing better?
● Considering your interests and what you like the most which are the activities that
would do after school that help you to be happier and more relaxed?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Presupposition

● Presuppositions are the hidden meanings in sentences, phrases, or

individual words that work covertly or indirectly (Churches &
West-Burnham, 2008).
● Presuppositions are hidden messages in language that impact
motivation, confidence, and action. They are assumptions about
human behaviour, experience, communication or potential that
engage emotions and influence behaviour (Love, 1998).

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Negative Presuppositions

“Maybe you could try one new thing with your class”
● Statement contains many negative presuppositions in addition to the
meaning of the actual words being spoken.
● In addition to the words, this sentence suggests many limiting things.
○ “Maybe” suggests that the teacher may not try.
○ “Could try” suggests that there is a good chance of failing.
○ “One new thing” suggests that the teacher doesn’t try many new things.

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Adding Positive Presupposition

●Negative Presupposition
○ “Maybe you could try one new thing with your class”
●Positive Presupposition
○ “Of the many new things you are considering, which one will
you implement first because you are familiar with the needs
of your class?”

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Adding Positive Presupposition

“Of the many new things you are considering, which one will you
implement first because you are familiar with the needs of your class?”
● “Of the many things you are considering” you consider many things; you think
about things in advance.
● “which one will you implement first?” you have a choice; you will use others later;
you get to choose.
● “because you are familiar with the needs of your class” you are competent; you
understand the needs of your class.

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Adding Positive Presupposition

● You shall prepare more engaging materials

● Maybe you should first understand the needs of your students
● You shall study better next time
● Haven’t you thought how to assess the students?!?
● You could have used a better educational strategy

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

 Adding Positive Presupposition

● Thinking about the many materials to involving students more that you’ve used,
which one would you apply next time?
● When you think about your students’ needs, what strategies might be most
appropriate?
● As you examine how you’ve prepared for this exam and for past exams in which
you’ve succeeded, what are some of your findings?
● Thinking about how to monitor student learning, what are some indicators of
success you’ve used in the past?
● Considering the different educational strategies you’re familiar with, how did you
decide that this was best for this lesson and which other options could you choose
next time?
Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com
Asking coaching questions

● Askingcoaching questions – rather than telling – is the best

way to mentally engage your coachee.
● Askingcoaching questions therefore becomes your most
important means of communication

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Asking coaching questions
Effective questioning can be broken down into two parts:
● Asking the right coaching questions
● Asking coaching questions in the right order.

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Asking coaching questions
G Goal setting: define the short- and long-term goals
R Reality: explore the current situation
O Options: identify and evaluate different action
strategies
W Will: what will you do by when?

Example;
“What are some of the different ways you can achieve your aim and get
around some of the hurdles?”

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Goal:
● What specific academic or learning goal would you like to focus on?
● What do you hope to achieve or improve through your educational
endeavors?
● Can you describe a clear and measurable objective you'd like to work
towards?
Reality:
● What is your current study routine and approach to learning?
● What subjects or topics do you find most challenging or enjoyable?
● How do you perceive your progress and performance in relation to your
educational goal?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Options:
● What different study techniques or methods have you tried before, and how effective were
they?
● How can you leverage available resources like textbooks, online materials, or study groups
to support your learning?
● Are there alternative strategies you haven't considered yet that might help you overcome
your learning challenges?
Will:
● Among the options we've discussed, which one resonates with you the most? Which
approach are you willing to commit to?
● On a scale from 1 to 10, how motivated are you to implement the chosen study strategy?
● What specific actions will you take in the coming days and weeks to make progress towards
your educational goal?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Recognising GROW questions

Group the questions in the categories GROW:

G Goal setting: define the short- and long-term goals

R Reality: explore the current situation
O Options: identify and evaluate different action strategies
W Will: what will you do by when?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Activity: asking GROW questions

In pairs, taking turns, aim to learn as much as possible about the other
person’s feelings towards their own teaching and coaching skills etc.
Try using the GROW model where possible.

You each have 5 minutes to prepare

You each have 5 + 5 minutes each to ask questions
You each have 5 minutes after the questioning to take down notes

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Rating scale – identify your steps
How good from 1 to 10 you understand What coaching is about?

When to use it?

●Verify the perception
●Highlight the achieved goals
●Find the next practical step
●Auto reflection

On a hypothetical scale of 1 to 10, considering 1 the moment when the

problem occurred and 10 when you reach the goal, where do you think
you will be?
What would make you say you’ve gone from.. to..?
Take a small step...
Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com
Rating scale – identify your steps

Where do you think you are in this moment from 1 to 10 if you

think about inclusiveness/diversity in your classroom? How from 1
to 10 do you rate that bullying can happen in your classroom?
What should you do to go from… to … ?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

 On a hypothetical scale of 1 to 10, considering 1 the moment
when you didn’t know anything in English and 10 when you reach
your maximum level/your goal, where do you think you will be?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Scenario technique, miracle question

●Define the desired state

●Define the KPI
●Identify the concrete actions

This night is a magical night, next morning you will wake up and
you will understand that today is the perfect day for the most
difficult lesson for you. How do you understand that the day is
perfect? Which changes do you see around? What do you do
there?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Scenario technique, miracle question

●Ask about expectations (how do you see your supportive classroom?)

●Problem solving activities

●Storytelling (write the story and later rewrite the story without the

problem – magically problem was solved)

●To use with pictures, drawings, scenarios

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com

Magical night

Imagine that your day goes as usual, in the evening you go

to bed and fall asleep. During the night magic comes to
your city and you wake up tomorrow and all your students
prepared their homework.
When will you wake up, how will you first understand that
something happened?

Training courses for education staff - www.erasmustrainingcourses.com