Power Up Your Questioning

Power Up Your Questioning is such a useful and important contribution. By getting into the fine detail of questioning practice, Bruce Robertson provides a framework that allows any teacher to reflect productively on their current practice, and to explore ways of making their teaching even more effective. Whether you are a veteran with decades of classroom experience, or someone just beginning a career as a teacher, you will find much to think about, and many practical, immediately applicable ways to 'Power Up Your Questioning'. -- Dylan Wiliam, UCL Institute of Education This is another great book from Bruce Robertson, this time on the subject of questioning - something most teachers do most lessons, but which almost every teacher could learn to do even better. Bruce combines a deep understanding of the underlying research evidence, a close familiarity with everyday classroom practice, and the ability to distil what is actionable into concise, clear language. This combination is, to use his own words, genuinely powerful. I love the 'common pitfalls': truly widespread practices that misunderstand research-based advice or are less good than they could be. And the 'trusted techniques': simple (but robustly justified) practices that every teacher can learn. Every CPD library should include this book, and every teacher should read it! -- Professor Rob Coe, director of research and development, Evidence Based Education Robertson has done it again: Power Up Your Pedagogy, and now Power Up Your Questioning. Questioning is a cornerstone of impactful teaching, and this book offers insights and techniques about the art and science of effective questioning, leading to students thinking more critically, learning more collaboratively, and developing content and problem-solving thinking skills - as well as teachers responding more effectively to student questions and answers. An enticing format, a dynamism of flow throughout the book, and a worthwhile addition to the teacher toolkit. -- John Hattie, laureate professor emeritus at The University of Melbourne, and author of Visible Learning and Visible Learning for Teachers Power Up Your Questioning offers a masterclass in transforming classroom questioning into a powerful tool for learning. Combining practical strategies with cutting-edge insights from cognitive science, this book equips teachers to engage students, initiate critical thinking, and check understanding with precision. Whether you're a seasoned professional or new to the classroom, this invaluable guide will elevate your teaching practice and help you unlock the full potential of your students' thinking. -- Dr Carl Hendrick, Academica University of Applied Sciences Bruce Robertson's eloquent new book is strongly grounded in professional expertise and in the best research on how students learn. It can inspire the work of all teachers - in school, college or university. And it should be read by policymakers for advice on how to improve learning by students of all backgrounds, interests and abilities. -- Lindsay Paterson, professor emeritus of education policy, Edinburgh University Teachers ask questions every lesson, every day and multiple times within a lesson! Therefore questioning should be a central focus of pedagogy, planning and professional development, but it has not always received the attention it deserves. Power Up Your Questioning by Bruce Robertson is superb and guaranteed to help classroom teachers from those early in their career to more experienced teachers. It will also be very useful for leaders at all levels. As shown in this book, if we want better answers from the learners in front of us, we have to ask better questions. I wholeheartedly recommend this book; it will have a very positive impact on those that read it, reflect on it and act on it. -- Kate Jones, senior associate for teaching and learning at Evidence Based Education and best-selling author 'Questions create thinking conditions, which means they create learning conditions.' This brilliant book by Bruce Robertson shows us just how this is done. He masterfully weaves the evidence-informed ideas of edu-greats into pedagogy that teachers can incorporate into daily practices and discusses '20 key messages that all teachers and school leaders really need to know'. Robertson translates these key messages into actionable steps that provide insight into common pitfalls, power-up prompts, deeper-thinking questions, and trusted techniques. Furthermore, he gives us 10 recommended steps to get the most out of the book; it is as if he hands us a lesson plan to ensure that the 'quality of our questions promote desirable thinking' through the use of self-reflection and coaching. Robertson states, 'Becoming a questioning expert takes years of deliberate practice and refinement.' Power Up Your Questioning not only speeds up the process of becoming a questioning expert, but it also stands as a reminder for experienced teachers, a blueprint for coaches, observable techniques for leaders, and most importantly, an avenue of lasting learning for our students. 'Great teaching ... is about eliciting rigorous evidence of where students are in their learning and responding accordingly.' Bruce Robertson artfully elicits evidence of where we are as teachers and guides us accordingly to become powerful questioning experts. -- Patrice Bain, Ed.S. K–12, university educator, speaker, and co-author of the US Department of Education’s guide Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning and Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning