improving communication skills in student music teachers. part two: questioning skills
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Improving communication skills instudent music teachers. Part Two:questioning skillsJenny Hughesa University College Worcester , UKPublished online: 23 Jan 2007.
To cite this article: Jenny Hughes (2005) Improving communication skills in studentmusic teachers. Part Two: questioning skills, Music Education Research, 7:1, 83-99, DOI:10.1080/14613800500042158
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Improving communication skills in
student music teachers. Part Two:
questioning skills
Jenny Hughes*University College Worcester, UK
This study is concerned with examining ways of alerting student teachers to the importance of
developing questioning skills in their teaching. A survey of the literature on questioning skills
revealed a wealth of examples for student teachers of traditionally ‘academic’ subjects, and a
corresponding lack of available material for student teachers of practical subjects, where there may
be different issues, techniques and situations to consider. In the early stages of their Postgraduate
Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, secondary music student teachers were invited to make a
video recording of themselves teaching in school, which included some questioning of pupils at the
beginning and end of the lesson. Using guidelines provided by the course, student teachers were
then invited to transcribe a short extract of the questioning sections, and critically to evaluate their
performance. A range of methods for preparing questions was revealed through subsequent
discussion and reflection, demonstrating that student teachers developed their teaching skills
through a diversity of approaches just as pupils learn by means of a range of learning styles.
Introduction
In Volume 1, Number 2 of Music Education Research (1999) Part One of this two-part
study was concerned with enhancing specific communication skills of student
teachers. Three main areas were investigated: (i) developing an ability to make on-
the-spot appraisals of pupils’ compositions and performances; (ii) improving ways of
facilitating the development of a music vocabulary designed to enable pupils to
engage in musical discourse, and (iii) becoming more aware of one’s own
interpersonal style in order to be able to help pupils on a one-to-one basis with
the development of their compositional ideas. During the course of this study, it
became evident that student teachers’ development of questioning skills might
benefit from further scrutiny. Part Two is concerned with the development of the
early stages of training on a 1-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
course at University College Worcester, UK. A survey of the literature on
questioning skills revealed limited subject-specific examples, especially for practical
*University College Worcester, Henwick Grove, Worcester WR2 6AJ, UK. Email: j.hughes@
worc.ac.uk
ISSN 1461-3808 (print)/ISSN 1469-9893 (online)/05/010083-17
# 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/14613800500042158
Music Education ResearchVol. 7, No. 1, March 2005, pp. 83�/99
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subjects. This project additionally gave the student teachers some useful insights into
their own preferred methods of learning.
The research for this study has been undertaken with student teachers in England.
All the student teachers were music graduates and their pupils were 11�14-year-olds
working on Key Stage 3 of the National Curriculum for music (DfEE, 2000), which
involves listening, appraising, performing and composing.
A common feature of the classroom behaviour of student teachers of all subjects at
the outset of their first period of school experience is that of delivering a ‘mini-
lecture’ at the start of a lesson. The nervous student teacher, faced with a large group
of potentially unruly teenagers, plans carefully beforehand to give the pupils an
interesting and varied musical experience involving listening, appraising, performing
and composing, taught in an integrated fashion. Timing of each activity will have
been carefully thought through: a short introduction from the student teacher,
maybe, followed by some listening, or a short revision session on what has been
learned so far, followed by a practical experience in small groups. Unfortunately, the
student teacher often finds that they are unable to move much further than their
carefully prepared short introduction. The pupils apparently ‘switch off’ very early
on in the preamble, and time is wasted in disciplining the class who seem to prefer to
talk to each other rather than listen to the student teacher.
Many experienced teachers operate in a very different way. For example, rather
than beginning a new topic by introducing it themselves, they may engage their
pupils through a variety of open and closed questions, addressed sometimes to the
whole class, giving pupils an opportunity to volunteer a contribution, and sometimes
to specific individuals. The purpose of these questions might be to find out what
children already know, to stimulate recall, to deepen understanding (information/
data gathering), to develop imagination, to encourage problem solving, and, possibly
simultaneously, to assist in classroom management and control (Wragg, 1993,
pp. 3�4). New knowledge may be fed in gradually by the teacher and understanding
is checked regularly; there is a sense of looking ahead and the intention is evident
(adapted from Wragg, 1993, p. 5). Discussion of some aspects of the learning with
the whole class might be a feature of this part of the lesson. Pupils put up their hands
when they wish to make a contribution, and the teacher seems to know who to
choose for a response and when to choose them. Unfamiliar terms and concepts
might be repeated by the teacher, written up on the board for extra reinforcement,
and answers offered by pupils repeated by the teacher for clarity. Pupils are thanked
for their contributions, names are known and used frequently, and gentle reminders
are made to those who have a tendency to lose concentration. How simple all this
appears to the observer. But as every teacher knows, such expertise is not acquired
overnight.
The first stage of a teacher education course normally begins with a period of
classroom observation, during which student teachers are invited to focus on certain
aspects of teaching technique, e.g. classroom organisation, use of voice, methods of
presentation of material. The consideration of questioning skills and techniques may
also be included.
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There is a large body of literature on the subject of questioning which may be
roughly classified into three categories. First, ‘How to’ books give advice to teachers
on a range of matters, including the structuring and timing of questions (Marland,
1975; Joyce, Calhoun & Hopkins, 1977; Hyman, 1979; Tarleton, 1988; Dillon,
1994). Good and Brophy (1994) have a useful list of headings on the topic of
questioning, including questions to avoid, characteristics of good questions,
distribution of questions, feedback about responses, reasons for questioning and
inquiry approaches. Morgan and Saxton (1994) provide a practical, comprehensive
model for examining and developing questioning skills in classrooms which both
draws heavily upon Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive goals, and stresses the
importance of taking into account pupils’ emotional lives; ‘effective teaching and
learning can only occur when teachers recognise that thought is unavoidably
harnessed to feeling and when they know how to read the signs of that feeling
engagement’ (p. 18). Secondly, books that report on research and offer contrasting
theoretical perspectives include Edwards and Furlong (1978), Hammersley (1993),
Edwards and Westgate (1994), and Mercer (1995). Thirdly, there are sections on
questioning included in more recent publications aimed at student teachers, which
combine the two categories above and also take account of recent developments in
the profession, including OFSTED (the government’s Office for Standards in
Education) reports, teacher appraisal and the partnership model of teacher
education (Capel et al ., originally 1995; Moon & Mayes, 1995; Kyriacou, 1997).
Many of the published studies dealing with questioning skills in general use
examples from academic subjects, especially history and english (Hull, 1985); a
notable exception is Hickman and Kimberley’s study (1988), which includes an
example from an art lesson. Gall (1970) positively advocated the identification of
questions that were effective for a specific curriculum and classroom setting rather
than searching for general question types, and Philpott (2001) devises a list of
questions for use in the music classroom, which he suggests come from our invitation
to pupils to ‘become music critics and so learn how to back up their comments and
judgements with knowledge and understanding’ (p. 87).
It is possible to make use of these relatively rare examples from other practical
subjects and apply them in a music teaching context. Gall (1970, p. 708) gives
examples of ‘suggestion order’ questions frequently used by art teachers, e.g. ‘Why
not put some red over here?’ Why don’t you make the hands larger?’ A parallel in
music education might be a composition session where the teacher could make
suggestions to pupils as to texture or timbre, e.g. ‘Have you thought about varying
the number of instruments playing in your piece?’ or ‘Do you think a flute needs
adding to the melody line?’ For Watts et al . (1997), discussing questions in science
teaching, the central aim may be that skilled questioning encourages pupils to
formulate questions themselves about the phenomena under observation and/or
discussion. In listening to and appraising music, this could also be a valuable
objective for music lessons. Tarleton (1988) presents ideas for stimulating pupil-to-
pupil questions. He suggests that where the teacher has material which is strong in
content and rich in ideas, e.g. in English, a novel or poem, the pupils could work out
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the agenda for their learning by devising their own series of open questions. A panel
of ‘experts’, i.e. volunteers, from the class, could offer possible answers. This
technique might be used in appraising music, developing pupils’ ability to make
musical judgements, metaphorical connections and to think critically, as described
by Swanwick (1999). Engel (1988) reported that, particularly for gifted pupils, peer
questioning not only stimulated thinking and active listening skills, but also enabled
the teacher to learn from the pupils.
Additional music-specific aspects of questioning skills involve the consideration of
managing the movement of pupils to another part of the classroom for composition,
rehearsal and performance purposes, the teacher’s and pupils’ use of music-related
ICT, organising the distribution and playing of musical instruments, involving the
class in a more static practical activity such as clapping a rhythm, or conversely
inviting pupils to dance and move to illustrate a musical principle.
The transition for student teachers from observation of experienced teachers,
combined with reading and reflection, to independent practice as a teacher, is not
easy. Every student teacher who begins a teacher training course has a different
personal style, which may need modification in order to become effective in the
classroom; and a different way of learning and acquiring new knowledge and skills.
Student teachers have different modes of relating to individuals and groups, and they
are put in a situation on their school placements in which expectations, organisation
and rules of pupil behaviour vary tremendously. As a result of all these variables, each
student teacher will inevitably develop expertise in the classroom at a different rate,
and yet, by the end of the course, all student teachers are expected to have acquired
expertise in this field sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the Teacher Training
Agency’s (TTA) National Standards for the training of teachers (2002) and
preferably to have developed beyond these.
Questioning is mentioned in several sections of the Teacher Training Agency’s
Qualifying to teach : handbook of guidance . In the Monitoring and assessment section, it
is stated that ‘trainees might use strategies such as observation, questioning,
discussion, and marking pupils’ work in order to evaluate progress’ (p. 42); ‘evidence
(for meeting the standard) may be found in how they use observation, targeted
questioning, and discussion’ (p. 43). In the Teaching and class management section,
trainers are asked: ‘Can the trainee employ interactive teaching methods to promote
questioning, reflection, observation, critical thinking, evaluation of pupils’ own and
others’ work, discussion and dialogue?’ (p. 58), and ‘does the trainee regularly
monitor individual responses and use discussion and questioning to provide
challenges at a variety of levels?’ (p. 59). More recently, the importance of
questioning skills development for practising teachers has been emphasised in the
publication of the Key Stage Three strategy for foundation subjects (2002) of which
music is one, which has a whole section devoted to the topic. The introduction to this
section identifies five reasons why questioning is a critical skill; because it is; ‘the
most common form of interaction between teacher and pupil, an element of virtually
every type and model of lesson, a key method of providing appropriate challenge for
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pupils, an important influence on the extent of progress made, and the most
immediate and accessible way for a teacher to assess learning’.
The project
At the outset of this study, it was decided to build upon several factors from previous
years’ work with music student teachers. Two years previously, a student teacher had
written an essay on the topic of improving questioning in the classroom, and this
material, with permission, was adapted and handed out to student teachers each year
as part of a workshop on questioning skills (Appendix 1). Work on developing
communication skills focussed upon use of key words, becoming a good listener and
giving constructive, helpful feedback (Hughes, 1999). As a result of classroom
observations, it emerged that although the latter areas improved, questioning
continued to be weak; student teachers seemed to experience a difficulty in applying
theory to practice. A further handout on questioning skills (Appendix 2) was
therefore developed, incorporating ideas from the original text and adding further
advice on planning questions in advance. Student teachers were also instructed to
video themselves teaching, once they had settled into their school placement. The
video task had to be completed by the end of November and the focus was to be on
questioning skills; this meant that student teachers were then in possession of
evidence to analyse and evaluate their competence in the area. Although student
teachers were aware of the ‘open’ and ‘closed’ question categories they were not
asked to monitor the type of questions they might ask in class. Rather, awareness of
the need to prepare for some questioning activity during the lesson was the main
focus. All student teachers submitted a copy of their video, which was then viewed
privately by the tutor and an undertaking was given not to show the videos to other
students without prior permission. Student teacher S’s video in particular proved
invaluable as a training tool, and a transcript with commentary of the first part of the
lesson (Appendix 3) was produced for general discussion following collective viewing
of the video. The commentary included reflections on related aspects of teaching in
addition to the questioning skills themselves.
Discussion on how the student teacher S had been able to engage the pupils, who
were not particularly motivated to learn, so effectively, led to an agreement that the
following factors had contributed. Structuring of the questioning was logical and
sequential: student teacher S began by asking the class to remember what they could
from last week’s lesson. She repeated correct answers, especially of key words and
ideas (e.g. ‘ostinato’) offered by class members and also repeated the questions as
required, often rephrasing the question so as to cater for the limited vocabulary of
some pupils. Using Morgan and Saxton’s (1994) model of questioning skills, the
student teacher began with a Knowledge question, moved to a Comprehension
question, and moved to an Application question when she asked for an example.
Later in the sequence she returned to recalling other aspects of the previous lesson
and linked them with new information, involving the pupils in a combination of an
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Analysis and an Evaluation question, because pupils would need to recall the music,
appraise the mood and make a judgement as to how to describe it in words. Further
on in the sequence, she used a Synthesis question requiring pupils to combine the
knowledge and experience gained thus far (‘How could they produce a happy mood
in music?’). Prior to giving the pupils an opportunity to experiment, she worked
through one of their suggestions briefly to reinforce their understanding. Student
teacher S had a ‘map’ of the class, so she could use pupils’ names when she needed
to. S treated the pupils at all times with great respect, thanking them frequently for
their contributions. Malcolm (in Hodge, 1981), concluded:
Since teaching depends upon personal interaction, and no individual can make an
interaction without the compliance of another, teaching always depends upon an
interpersonal agreement between teacher and pupil or pupils. Control of classroom
discourse does not finally rest with either teacher or pupil, but is always subject to
ongoing negotiation.
S set up the composition task well; all pupils knew what to do and were on task
throughout the practical part of the lesson. Odam (1995) states that research has
shown how input and modelling in composition teaching are frequently neglected at
the start of lessons, wasting pupil time in the group composition activities because
pupils are not sufficiently clear about the task set. Here, S modelled one possible
approach with pupils before they began their composition task. Student teachers
viewing the video noted that the suitability of the teaching space, which was large
enough for pupils to move to keyboards, etc., was carpeted, and had tables and chairs
arranged in a permanent manner, also contributed to the success of the lesson.
Following the viewing of the video and related discussion, a checklist was then
given to student teachers to complete. The purpose of this was not to ‘police’ their
work at this early stage but merely to invite further discussion and reflection about
individual progress to date.
Checklist prompts and annotated summary of student teacher comments
1. I have made a cue sheet with questions on it to help me in lessons. Half the group
were doing this, mainly for GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education;
normally taken at 16 years of age) and ‘A’ (Advanced; normally taken at ages 17�18)
level work. One student teacher said that she prepared her questions in advance, but
often added more in the lesson. Another commented that she did this at first but
found it confusing, preferring to concentrate on pupils’ responses. A further
comment was that questioning was mostly ad lib and seemed to work; however, a
plan may be adopted in future. Lastly, a student teacher who had not used a cue
sheet but usually ‘had the questions in her mind’ noted that she sometimes forgot to
ask certain questions.
2. I have included the questions I want to ask in my lesson plans, bearing key words and
phrases in mind . The responses ranged from a clear ‘yes’ to answers which indicated
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a growing awareness of the importance for both aspects. Some student teachers begin
their careers with an ‘ad lib’ approach to these aspects of planning and teaching,
partly because they are confident communicators at the outset; and only after a while
do they see the importance of careful planning and record keeping in this area to
ensure progress in learning.
3. I have repeated the answers pupils give me . This was answered overwhelmingly
positively, and elaborated further with comments such as ‘so that the rest of the class
can hear the answer, sometimes to check that pupils have been listening, to boost
self-esteem’. Some student teachers pointed out that they asked pupils to repeat what
was said and sometimes asked other pupils who they thought might not have been
attending.
4. I have thanked the pupils for their reply. Student teachers are generally doing this;
‘Used more in lower ability groups, I try to be positive, sometimes, but I forget when
I’m really nervous, even when it’s wrong I try to do this, thanking pupil for a good
attempt’.
5. I have asked a pupil a more challenging question when they have been able to answer
easily. About half the group responded positively to this statement, and many had
only occasionally done this. One student teacher replied that she would have to work
harder on this aspect of her teaching.
6. I have invited pupils to ask each other questions (e.g. re: compositions). For this
category, I had to give a concrete example of a plenary session when a class might
listen to and appraise each others’ compositions. This aspect is often covered in
written peer evaluations rather than encouraging pupils to think of questions to ask
their fellow composers. However, the very act of inviting student teachers to consider
this way of conducting appraisal changed their approach; several student teachers
said that they intended to try it out in the near future.
7. When I have had equipment to deal with as well as questioning pupils, I have thought
about when and where I will organise my questions. Answers ranged from ‘no, but it is
something I will address’, and ‘no, I play it by ear’, to ‘I write it in my lesson plan’,
and ‘This is very important as you can keep the lesson going and use resources at the
same time’.
8. I have thought about preparing differentiated questions and have included these in my
plans, deciding who might ask them in advance. ‘Need to work on this. My tasks allow
for differentiation but not so much my questions’. ‘Found it hard to do in a
classroom especially with year 9. Works with GCSE’ (smaller groups?) ‘With year
13’. ‘I ask questions in a different way depending upon the ability of pupils, but don’t
write them on plan’. ‘I always check the statemented pupils (i.e. those with special
educational needs) pupils, ask by name, and go to them first during group work’. ‘Yes
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this is very important as you can get more pupils involved’. In a subsequent plenary
session, one pair commented about the importance of not overlooking quieter pupils
when there is a very gifted and confident pupil or pupils in the group who always
want to give the correct answer straight away (this comment prompted a discussion
on the importance of planning more demanding questions for the gifted and talented
pupils).
9. I have made a classroom plan and have used the pupils’ names when questioning . ‘I
have a photo of every child I teach’. ‘Our mentor gave us a classroom plan’. ‘I know
most names now but don’t have a plan’. ‘I don’t have a plan but names are
important; it helps with classroom management’. ‘It would be very difficult to make a
classroom plan as the desks are packed away after each lesson’.
To summarise from the annotated list above, student teachers recognised the
importance of planning questions; some seemed to need to begin teaching using ad
hoc questioning first, and only after this first experience, even if they were relatively
successful, saw the advantage of planning. Most student teachers repeated answers
given by pupils early in training, and some began to use this as a class management
tool, asking those suspected of not paying attention to repeat the answer.
Most recognised the value of thanking pupils for responses and were doing this.
Inviting pupils to ask each other questions was recognised as an area for
development; this may be because they observe experienced teachers modelling this
type of questioning less frequently. Planning for use of equipment in relation to
questioning was well developed in some student teachers; this would appear to apply
particularly to those who have less than ideal working areas in their placement
schools, and maybe receive additional planning support from their mentors as a
result. Planning differentiated questions, despite difficulties with large groups they
did not know well, and using pupil names when questioning, was already developing
in most cases.
Turning to the individual videos not shown to the student teacher group as a
whole, a discrepancy was observed in some cases between what students thought they
were doing in the classroom as evidenced in the checklist, and how they actually
performed on the video. A small proportion of student teachers were still mostly
operating in instructional mode on the videos of their teaching, even though they
perceived themselves as listening to pupils’ responses. Student teacher X gave out
some instructions at the beginning with barely a pause for breath:
OK as you can see from the sheet I’ve just given you you’ve got second by second what’s
going to be happening in this extract I want you to watch it very carefully then we’re
going to watch it through again and I want you to think what musical elements you
might use to represent these actions and I want you all quiet . . . .
This instructional mode was used with both small groups and whole classes. When
helping pupils with compositions in small groups, she began with a question or two
to the pupils, which she then answered herself, continuing with more advice.
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Towards the end of the exchange, she briefly elicited some ideas from them before
reverting to instructional mode. The pupils thanked her and she moved on.
Later in the composition lesson:
Student teacher X: OK, so in the extracts did you notice how certain music goes with
the speed and certain music goes with the guards see if you can use
different instruments to represent the characters (more advice
about keys) then you’ve got a big drum what could the drum
sound like in the music?
Pupil: Walking
Student teacher X: Walking so you’ve got running fast here you could do walking there
you could do. . . . . . you’ve got lots of things- is that any help?
What the two extracts quoted above seem to indicate is a nervousness about power
relations in teaching and the student teachers’ status in the classroom. Dillon (1981)
points out that questioning between adults in everyday life is considered inappropri-
ate: ‘In group conversations they (adults) will sanction someone who continually asks
questions . . .’ Student teacher X may have found the transition from familiar
adult�adult transactions to unfamiliar teacher-pupil transactions difficult. Instead of
giving some power to the pupils and encouraging responses from them, X supplies all
the answers, apparently keeping control of the situation, and not checking that words
like ‘represents’ or a phrase like ‘musical elements’ are well understood. In the group
work, X supplies all the ideas, apart from ‘walking’, which she does not ask the pupil
to elaborate upon but moves quickly and rather incoherently to ‘running’ and back to
‘walking’ again. The pupils are enthusiastic and willing to please, but the ownership
of ideas is unintentionally taken from them. Edwards and Westgate (1994) quote a
number of authors who show that in their experience this has been an all-too-
common feature of classrooms
. . . from classrooms came accounts of teachers’ neglect or discarding of pupils’
knowledge, their focussing of attention on themselves as the source of clues to an
judgements on right answers, and of the very limited communicative space available for
pupil initiatives or pupils’ elaboration of their ideas.
Managing both equipment and appropriate questioning is a major issue early in
training. At this early stage in the course, student teachers were often still struggling
with timing; despite including timings in their lesson plans, many finished too late to
have time for a plenary session, and were still monitoring the practical task when the
time came for the end of the lesson. Others managed to tidy up in time for the end of
the lesson but had little chance to review the achievements of the lesson. In one
school, rather than having a plenary discussion with questions at the end, it was usual
for pupils to write down briefly what they felt they had achieved in their lesson. In
this instance, an opportunity for pupil-to-pupil questioning could have been included
prior to written work. Only one student teacher produced a video with a class
discussion at the end of the lesson. This consisted of a brief summary of what had
been learned, drawn from pupils’ contributions.
Improving communication skills in student music teachers 91
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Checklist completion after the collective video viewing session caused several
student teachers to rethink their approach. Ideas were shared on how to plan for
questioning. The combination of two different stimuli both promoted individual
reflection and appeared to help them to develop their skills in a more focussed
manner, discussing their dilemmas openly as well as their achievements. To item one
on the checklist ‘ I have made a cue sheet with questions on it to help me in lessons’ , one
expanded in class ‘I tried but it confused me . . . I was so intent on getting this
information into them I ended up telling them when they could have actually
answered themselves’. Student teacher Yoffered an alternative solution; she had a list
of the answers she expected on a cue sheet rather than questions. Yet another (Z) had
the answers to her questions in lighter-coloured pen and key questions that she must
not forget to ask in red. She found that this gave her a strong visual cue to emphasise
the importance of the questioning process itself. The temptation to merely give out
knowledge, i.e. the answers, was then reduced considerably for her.
Taking both the student teachers’ checklist answers and viewing of all video
extracts together, the following observations can be made. S, whose video was shown
to the group, despite giving such a good ‘performance’, had, surprisingly, not
planned her questions but had a general idea of what she wanted to cover in the first
part of the lesson. There was, however, a great benefit in bringing this work into S’s
consciousness. She felt that now she was aware of her competence, she had more
control over it and would be able to maintain and endeavour to improve upon it.
Another student prepared a list of questions in advance, but experienced unforeseen
difficulties with the ICT equipment she was using. As a result, her questions were
posed in a very formal way and she neglected to expand upon the answers quite as
fully as she might have done. When she had the opportunity to teach the lesson again
to a different group, she had sorted out the technical problems and was much more
successful with her questioning. Another student teacher on video thought out her
moves in the classroom in great detail and had included them in her plans. In a large
teaching space, the student teacher timed herself to keep talking and engaging with
the class as she moved to operate the CD player, then turned to the class and
repeated the question she wanted them to consider while listening to an extract,
which she then played. This meticulous planning proved invaluable for the rest of her
school placement, as she was able to apply the same approach in other teaching
contexts. X, who tended to give out information in a breathless stream, improved
markedly later in the term and described herself as someone who learned very much
through trial and error. Z, who used colours of different intensities, evidently found
accessing visual cues to be a useful way of organising her questions.
There are two important elements to bear in mind in the development of
questioning and discussion techniques. One is to become aware of models of good
interaction and to incorporate these into planning for teaching; ‘we limit the power of
learning if we regard teachers solely as transmitters and students as solely as receivers
in classroom interaction’ (Morgan & Saxton, 1994). The other is to try and discover
one’s own preferred method of developing these skills, being willing to try a range of
methods if necessary, as for example, in the case of the student teacher discussed
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earlier who decided to try adopting Y’s approach to preparation, writing down
answers rather than questions on her cue sheet. Finally, in the college session after
watching the video and completing the checklist, all the student teachers decided that
for the stage in training which they had reached, questioning during endings of
lessons was an immediate area for their further development and consideration.
Notes on contributor
Jenny Hughes is a principal lecturer in music and music education on both primary
and secondary teacher training programmes at University College Worcester. She
is a trained counsellor and her main research interest is in communication skills
development in music education contexts.
References
Brown, G. & Wragg, E. C. (1993) Questioning (London, Routledge).
Capel, S., Leask, M. & Turner, T. (1995) Learning to teach in the secondary school (London,
Routledge), 84�86.
DfES (2002) Key Stage Three national strategy: training materials for the foundation subjects,
Module 4: Questioning (London, DfES).
Dillon, J. T. (1981) To question and not to question during discussion, Journal of Teacher
Education, XXXII(5), 51�55.
Dillon, J. T. (1994) Using discussion in classrooms (Milton Keynes/Philadelphia, OU Press).
Edwards, A. D. & Furlong, V. J. (1978) The language of teaching (London, Heinemann).
Edwards, A. D. and Westgate, D. P. G. (2nd edn, 1994) Investigating classroom talk (London and
Washington, Falmer Press), 108.
Engel, J. S. (1988) Students questioning students, in Gifted education international Vol. 5 (AB
Academic Publishers), 179�185.
Gall, M. D. (1970) The use of questions in teaching, Review of Educational Research, 40(5), 707�721.
Good, T. L. and Brophy, J. E. (6th edn, 1994) Looking in classrooms (New York, Harper Collins),
385�397.
Hammersley, M. (1993) Controversies in classroom research (Milton Keynes, OU Press).
Hennings, D. G. (1975) Mastering classroom communication (Pacific Palisades, CA, Goodyear).
Hickman, J. & Kimberley, K. (1988) Teachers, language, and learning (London, Routledge), 47�52.
Hughes, J. (1999) Improving communication skills in student music educators: a case study, Music
Education Research, 1(2), 227.
Hull, R. (1985) The language gap (London and New York, Methuen).
Hyman, R. T. (1979) Strategic questioning (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall).
Joyce, B., Calhoun, E. & Hopkins, D. (1997) Models of learning-tools for teaching (Milton Keynes,
OU Press), 56�73.
Kyriacou, C. (1997) Effective teaching in schools (Cheltenham, Stanley Thornes), 42�45.
Malcom, I. (1981) Authority, instructions and control’, Chapter 8, in: B Hodge (Ed.)
Communication and the teacher (Melbourne, Longman Cheshire), 144.
Marland, M. (1993) The craft of the classroom (London, Heinemann).
Mercer, N. (1995) The guided construction of knowledge (Clevedon, Philadelphia, Adelaide,
Multilingual matters).
Moon, B. & Mayes, A. S. (1995) Teaching and learning in the secondary school (London and New
York, Routledge), 54�55.
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Morgan, C. and Saxton, C. (1994) Asking better questions (Pembroke Publishers, Ontario, originally
Routledge (1991) as Teaching, Questioning and Learning), 7.
Odam, G. (1995) The sounding symbol (Cheltenham, Stanley Thornes), 76�78.
Swanwick, K. (1999) Teaching music musically (London and New York, Routledge), 87.
Tarleton, R. (1988) Learning and talking (London, Routledge), 25�26.
Teacher Training Agency (2002) Qualifying to teach: handbook of guidance (London, TTA).
Teacher Training Agency (2002) Qualifying to teach: professional standards for qualified teacher status
and requirements for initial teacher training (London, TTA).
Watts, M., Barber, B. and Alsop, S. (Sept/Oct, 1997) Children’s questions in the classroom,
Primary Science Review, 49 (Hatfield, Association for Science Education), 6�8. www.
ofsted.gov.uk
Appendix 1: Questioning skills
There are two basic types of questions, open and closed. Open questions give an
opportunity to the responder to give their opinion, to hazard a guess, to think
creatively, e.g. ‘I wonder who can tell me how that musical extract I’ve just played
makes them feel? Closed questions have only one answer; the correct one, e.g. ‘Who
knows where the trumpets play a sustained B flat? It therefore follows that using
closed questions will be appropriate when you are fairly sure that pupils know the
correct answer.
Points to consider
. Pupil familiarity; getting to know names as soon as possible.
. Field of view; Capel et al. (1995) have noted that teachers tend to focus attention
on ‘those pupils sitting in a v-shaped wedge in the middle of the room’. Move
around class and consciously ask different pupils rather than sticking to the same
group.
. Prompting and giving clues; these may need advance preparation.
. Using pupils’ responses; even incorrect responses need to be received in a positive
way.
. Timing of questions. More able pupils will need less time to recall information; it
may be helpful to increase response waiting time for the less able. Progression in
questioning also needs careful thought; ideally gradually increased cognitive
demands should be made.
. Quality of questions; think about language level and content.
. Body language; use of eye contact, manner and tone of voice used, where/how
standing.
. Encourage all to join in e.g. ‘Mary, can you give an example of what John means?’
Further reading
Capel, S., Leask, M. and Turner, T. (1995) Learning to teach in the secondary school (London,
Routledge).
Cohen, L. and Manion, L. (1995) A guide to teaching practice (3rd edn) (London, Routledge).
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Goode, T. and Brophy, J. (1984) Looking in classrooms (3rd edn) (New York, Harper and Row).
Kerry, T. (1982) Effective questioning*/a teaching skills workbook (London, Macmillan).
Kyriacou, C. (1997) Effective teaching in schools*/theory and practice (2nd edn) (London, Stanley
Thornes Ltd).
NB This handout owes a great deal to the work of PGCE student Q, who wrote an
excellent essay on improving questioning techniques.
Appendix 2: The video task; focus on developing questioning skills
Videotape a lesson that includes questioning at the beginning and at the end.
When organising your videoed session, please bear the following in mind :
Planning beforehand: ask the question what do I want them to know/be able to do/
understand by the end of this lesson? Questions need to be planned to build up to
this. How to plan the build-up? Start with something very easy everyone can answer,
drawn from previous work. Many teachers begin ‘right, who can tell me what we
were doing last week?’ Don’t forget that there will be some key words which you will
want to emphasise as the lesson progresses. Plan different levels of difficulty in your
questions and vary whether you choose an individual to answer or throw the question
open to the whole class. Types of questions will vary according to task in hand.
Example
Listening questions could be on a worksheet, the board, or asked verbally prior to
listening to extract; in the latter case do not ask to listen to too many things at once,
encourage pupils to note down, and make listening task very clearly focussed, e.g.
which instrument is playing the tune? What happens to the mood just before the end?
If it changes dramatically, e.g. introduction of trumpets, drums etc., upbeat type
ending. Comparing two extracts; again, they will need to be very short and
questioning focussed, e.g. put your hand up when you hear the flute enter in both
cases, what is different/the same about the two examples? Could be contrast in
texture and or timbre of other instruments, speed, volume, pitch.
How to respond to answers
Listen to pupils’ answers and respond appropriately. For example, if a pupil offers
an answer that is close but not correct, or a pupil desperately wants to do well but
always gets the wrong end of the stick, thank the pupil for the offer of the answer
before asking if anyone else would like to suggest an answer. Some pupils will always
answer and get it right, but out of turn, spoiling it for rest of class, if they are allowed
to. Strict ground rules about putting hands up and waiting to be chosen before
responding to a question need to be laid down.
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Do the answers always have to come from one person working it out on their own?
Encourage pupils to speak to their next-door neighbour and then come up with a
consensus answer/organise group answers.
Some ways of starting a lesson with class questions
i. Recap on previous relevant learning.
ii. Check through questioning that understanding has been retained, and reinforce
knowledge.
iii. Explain what is to be covered today/lead up to new learning through well
planned questions/combine the two by asking if anyone has heard of X, i.e. the
new topic, and expanding from the answer given.
Or
iv. Give an experience first then ask questions, e.g. teach a song, compose a piece
employing certain specified requirements, e.g. using five instruments, all of
which must play together at some point, entitled ‘Follow my leader’.
v. Always give a listening task with something specific to listen for and include the
points you have chosen in your planning.
vi. New learning; how to ‘scaffold’ it? In what sequence might you acquire this new
knowledge?
vii. If you do something interactive, e.g. watch a video extract for a film music
composition project, watch some TV adverts if composing an ad for a new
product, appraise what you both see and hear. Questions might be evaluative,
e.g. Is the music suitable for the product? Why? Does it tie up with the visual
aspects? How? Is the jingle/theme tune memorable? Why? Is the length of the
music appropriate? Could it be longer/shorter?
viii. If learning a musical formula, e.g. the blues, with what activity would you start?
Could be listening and appraising a recorded extract/performing and appraising
a class piece followed by composing an original blues sequence. What are the
chief features you want the class to perceive at the outset? 4/4 time, ‘blue’ notes,
song words and mood of music. How about later? Substitutions of chords in
sequences, improvisation of instrumental parts in between vocalisation, plus
elaboration of vocal parts. Styles of singing and playing instruments: compare
with other musical traditions, e.g. Western operatic, Indian, Hungarian folk.
ix. Use your videotape as evidence of your progress and also to help in the
evaluation of the lesson. Analyse your data gleaned from video, e.g. body
language, pace of questioning, differentiation issues, timing of practical tasks in
relation to whole class questioning.
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Appendix 3
Interaction (S�/Student, P�/Pupils) Commentary
(S walks freely around, giving the impression
that she is happy to make contact with pupils
and relaxed in the classroom)
S Right. Can you tell me what we did last
week, then?
Recapping on previous work
P Ostinato
S Well done Praises pupil enthusiastically particularly at start
of session; this encourages others to contribute
S Sandra, what’s an ostinato? Knows pupil’s names (she has them all sitting in
the same place each week and has made a
classroom plan, which she has to hand)
P (Inaudible on tape, presumably a good
answer)
S Right, well done, it’s the music behind the
tune, anything else?
Pupil answers well, S repeats the answer and
probes a little further, challenging pupil to
stretch their musical memory
P It repeats itself Pupil provides another description of ostinato
S It repeats itself, yes, so it’s not the tune, it’s the
music behind the tune that repeats itself, it’s
stubborn, yes? It keeps going
S repeats the answer again so that everyone can
hear, and sums up the information, filling in the
picture for the pupils with further descriptive
words, e.g. ‘stubborn’, explaining the difference
between melody and ostinato, which they might
find too difficult to describe at this point
Then some input: S tells pupils it appears in all
sorts of music; looking at adverts
S Can we think of an advert that repeats itself? Back to involving pupils; S doesn’t give too
much input at any one time. Use of word ‘we’ is
inclusive; if she had lost anyone during the input
stage above, this might help to bring them in
again.
P Argos catalogue
S Yes A lucky chance that this advert is very frequently
played at the moment in the run up to
Christmas, which S exploits; on another
occasion S might have needed to refer to a song
in the charts, pupils choosing one from e.g.
three examples
S This week, looking at moods and how an
ostinato can help to create a certain kind of
mood
A clear and concise explanation of the task
ahead
S Then asks again about last week; what was the
first song we listened to, Roy?
Recapping again; this is an excellent way of
integrating prior knowledge by not just using it
at the opening of the lesson. NB Name again
S gets several answers, then asks about the mood
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Interaction (S�/Student, P�/Pupils) Commentary
S What sort of mood was Inspector Morse? NB
Says ‘no’ to Paul’s offering
This ‘no’ seems a little negative at this point, but
in fact S needs to be firm about the ‘no’,
because she has a definite role for Paul (see
below)
P Several replies, then gets the word ‘tense’
Repeats words offered by pupils several times,
then clarifies how this tense effect was produced
musically, use of high notes etc. (input again)
Pursues the answers offered until she gets what
she is looking for; at this stage the pupils are
very keen to please and S has a lively response
from the class. A good rapport has been built
up. Makes use of pupils’ ideas and expands
upon them
Reminds them about Pachelbel’s canon
Comes back to Paul;
S Now Paul, you said sleepy; was that about
Pachelbel’s canon?
Remembered Paul’s inappropriate reply, and
enables him to put it in the correct context, thus
retrieving his self-esteem
P Yes
S Why was it sleepy? Paul encouraged to think further
P It was slow and low
S Yes, now X’s version was different wasn’t it,
why was that a different mood?
S reminds class of another version, this time
with the focus on a different aspect
P Different notes and sound to it
S Yes and what did he do to the ostinato? This is a good answer which needs further
detail; S pursues it
P Made it faster
S Made it faster S reinforces the answer by repeating it
Then task introduced; game with cards, divide
into groups mood on card create it with a five
note ostinato using only the notes on card in any
order
S OK Ben? Checking to see if Ben is listening; S merely uses
his name and draws attention to him using a
kindly voice, which is sufficient to control his
behaviour. Good use of an appropriate register
and mood in voice
P Yeah
S Then repeats the idea in a different way
(reinforcement), reminds that they must keep
it a secret
This class are still young enough to enjoy the
idea of the secret
S gives out cards
Then says someone has ‘happy’ on their card,
asks class what they would do, gets ‘high, jolly,
fast’ answers from pupils
Before setting pupils on the task S makes extra
sure that they understand exactly what they
need to do by taking an example and beginning
to work on it.
Asks class re sad, gets low slow
Appendix 3 (Continued)
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Interaction (S�/Student, P�/Pupils) Commentary
S Praises class for ideas, then gives them the
rules for using keyboards and percussion
instruments
Very good reinforcement of task followed by
praise prior to starting task; pupils move from a
secure basis into more challenging group work,
independent of teacher input for most of the
time. Video shows evidence of high-level
discussions going on between pupils re task.
Organises class into task S has thought about how to organise the class in
advance and has very detailed instructions,
which she gives out clearly and in a manner that
there can be no mistaking her ‘rules’. She
switches from a cooperative mode into an
instructional mode for this part of the lesson.
Appendix 3 (Continued)
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