Annex 7 Questioning skills

To conduct a successful meeting, or to facilitate a discussion or conversation also requires effective questioning skills.

Questions have several functions. These include:

To find out basic facts or information. Generally this is information that the respondent knows and can easily access, for example:

 Did you attend the latest INSET training on lesson planning?

 Have you developed your lesson plan for this week?

 Do you record pupil's progress in reading after each teaching session?

To find out opinions. These questions may be easy to answer, or they may require a little more thought on the part of the participant(s), for example:

 Are you satisfied with the training on literacy skills?

 What is your biggest problem when teaching reading and writing?

To dig below the facts or opinions. These questions usually follow the first two types, probing a little deeper. For example:

 Why are pupil results on writing improving?

 Why do you think that having big books in your classroom is more important than having the school fence repaired?

To prompt reflection. These questions often require respondents to think about things they have never thought about before, for example:

 If you could make one change in the school, what would it be?

 What would you like the school to look like in three years time?

It is important when conducting interviews or conversations to ask a range of questions.

SDP consultations are not only about what people think or want, but why they think or need those things. Asking these kinds of questions helps us to understand people better, and by understanding people we are more able to respond to their needs.