Educational Leadership - September 2015

n Level 2: Processing of data. Questions at this level invite students to combine, find patterns, and make sense of the data they have gathered or recalled. Such thinking involves more than one mental step, such as comparing, organizing, summarizing, sequencing, analyzing, and estimating.

For example, “How are conditions in
San Francisco today similar to and dif-
ferent from those that existed at the
time of the 1906 earthquake?”
n Level 3: Output of concepts. Ques-
tions at this level invite students to
think more abstractly—to synthesize
information from multiple sources,
to generalize and transfer knowledge
from one domain to solve problems
in another, and to apply what they’ve
synthesized in new and novel situa-
tions. Tasks include prediction, appli-
cation, creeation, and evaluation. For
example, “Drawing on what you’ve
learned about the 1906 earthquake
and your evaluation of present-day
building codes, how would you advise
the San Francisco city council to
improve earthquake safety measures?”
2 Do your questions build
on positive assumptions?
Embedded in the language we use are
cues from which listeners interpret
meaning and make inferences. These
inferences may be positive or negative.
For example, in the question, “Do you
think that even Tony could contribute
to this project?” notice the hidden
assumption that Tony may not have
much to contribute or that the project
might be too difficult for Tony. Other
negative or limiting remarks include
n Did you forget to do your
assignment again?
n Do think the others will find your
ideas interesting?
n Here, I’ll give you an easier puzzle,
and then you’ll be successful.
In contrast, teachers can deliberately
load their questions with empowering
assumptions that build the student’s
self-esteem, efficacy, and growth
mind-set:
n What goals do you have in mind
for this project? As you plan for your
assignment, what materials will you
need? (The assumptions are that the
student has multiple goals and a plan
of action and that she has a capable
mind.)
n What insights did you gain from
working on this project that you’ll
carry forth to your next project? (The
assumptions are that the student is
insightful, that he learned something
from working on this project, and
that he has the capacity to apply these
insights to the next project he tackles.)
As you examine and compare these
two sets of questions, think how each
might affect students’ growth mind-set
and self-esteem. Strive to eliminate the
negative and accentuate the positive.