NQT advIce
Ask the right questions
Almost one month in and NQTs around the
consider asking someone else, but still thank the first clear thinker. refining your questioning skills will help
person you have been speaking to. you now and in the future, so take the time to enhance
country are still getting to grips with their
those skills while you are still at the beginning of your
Conclusion
teaching career. SecEd
Asking the right question is a skill that you will need to
roles. Margaret Adams says that asking the
develop sooner rather than later. • Margaret Adams is the author of how to take Charge
Developing this ability will accelerate your progress of Your teaching Career (Continuum International
right questions is crucial at this early stage
as a teacher and help you to build your reputation as a Publishing, 2008).
rom the moment you arrived in Be prepared to begin your requests for help, in these
F
your new school you have probably circumstances, with such questions as:
Taking the lead: HTI
had lots of questions in your mind. You “When will it be convenient to talk to you about my
probably also have long lists of things work on the Diploma programme?”
you want to know more about. “Would now be a good time for us to talk about how
It is great that you want to learn, I should be organising my assessments?”
The business of education
but you also need to make sure that the You are being courteous and thoughtful by
questions you ask in school are the right questions. introducing your requests in this way. You are also
the right questions, in the context of your entering into a process of negotiation. You are offering
It is almost
crammed to excess, but I want to focus on a few
issues that are of particular interest to me.
development as a teacher, are those eliciting relevant the person whose help you need the opportunity to
and useful replies which help you to improve your schedule a discussion at his or her convenience. election year and
It is clear that schools and their leadership teams
will not escape the impact of the financial turmoil
practice. this is a sensible approach. By working in this way that has ravaged the economy. Secondary schools,
however, identifying the right questions is not you are taking steps to set up a situation where you
Anne Evans
particularly those in areas with declining pupil
always easy, and there are some you should avoid will receive a considered response to your query in an numbers, will feel the effects most acutely.
asking. Use the guidance below to help you to decide unhurried manner.
which questions to ask in school.
looks at the leadership
At the start of the new school year, schools in
half of Britain’s education authorities are without a
Avoid asking annoying questions
Ask for information
It is inevitable that you will discover the hard way
challenges that lie ahead
headteacher. We have been warned for some time
that this issue is set to escalate. We can also expect
As a new member of staff, you will need to ask lots of that some questions should be left unasked. While it leadership teams to be trimmed. Building leadership
questions about how your school operates. is difficult to identify some of the subjects you should the StArt of a new school year seems as good a time capacity at all levels across the school workforce is
most of your colleagues will be more than willing avoid, do your best to steer clear of questions that your as any to take a look at the leadership challenges that essential. So is working smarter.
to respond to questions that require information as the colleagues will find annoying. lie ahead. So what’s been in the news over the summer As one headteacher recently said, headship is
answer. Ask questions along the lines of: make sure, for example, that you avoid asking break and what are the leadership implications? entrepreneurial, risk is inherent in a rapidly changing
“Who should I speak to about…?” questions which imply you are critical of the way your one story that caught my eye was a whimsical educational landscape and, faced with mounting
“Where will I find the resources on…?” school operates. survey suggesting that teachers could tell which pressures, heads and their leadership teams will need
“When do I need to give you the results of…?” At this stage in your career you have very little pupils were likely to be disruptive by looking at their to be more business-like and innovative in running
these questions are specific and focused. they are credibility in the eyes of your colleagues. to be seen names: Callum, Connor, Jack, Chelsea and Courtney schools than ever before. Growing evidence of the
questions to which there are right and wrong answers, to be trying to change things the moment you begin were among the ones to watch. positive impact of federations, executive headships,
because they are information-based. this makes them teaching will not create a good impression in school. If only we could make similar assumptions about and the National Leaders of education initiative are
relatively easy for people to answer. Do not pose questions that either directly, or the potential of our school leaders. Imagine! Davids, testimony to this. School leaders also need to be better
indirectly, ask: Grahams, Christines and Janes seem like good bets connected than ever before. every Child matters and
Ask for guidance
“Why is this done like this?” – we’ll fast track everyone with these names! extended schools demand it, but so does the future
As an NQt you will also need to ask people in school “Wouldn’t it be better if we changed the way we elsewhere, there was the inevitable coverage of employability of young people.
for guidance about the job of being a teacher. do this?” another successive year of record A level and GCSe New models of leadership and leadership
there will probably be people in school who are Also take care to avoid questions which suggest results. this good news has been tempered by alarm development are urgently required to address the
tasked to answer your questions, for example, your that you do not like the way your work as a teacher is at the widening attainment gulf between privately complexities of current and future challenges. existing
mentor, so you know your school expects you to be organised. and state-educated pupils, escalating Neet (not in programmes must evolve and are evolving. It has been
asking for assistance. try not to ask questions such as the following, and education, employment or training) statistics, and the recognised, for example, that the increasingly diverse
however, try to be clear about the type of guidance definitely avoid asking them in an aggrieved tone. impact of a surge in workless households on the life development needs of heads cannot be met by a single
you are looking for when you ask your questions. Break “Are we really expected to do this?” chances of the young. national programme. New, more bespoke ways of
down your requests into topics, and ask for help on one “Surely, you don’t want me to do this as well?” there have been reports on the massive expansion stretching the best of our school leaders are called for.
topic at a time. Whenever possible ask for step-by-step these types of questions will not elicit responses of academies, opposition to a proposed code of middle leadership, business managers, team
guidance. Use questions like: that will help you to develop in your role, so do not conduct requiring exemplary behaviour from teachers development and multi-agency programmes will
“how do I book the use of…?” ask them. outside and inside school, and public outrage at the play an increasingly important role, but so, too,
“how do I use the absence reporting system to excessive measures mooted to vet adult contact with will niche programmes to facilitate the exchange of
find…?”
Listen to the answers
children. It’s that old risk chestnut again! ideas, knowledge, skills and understanding across
these questions give a clear indication of the help You will never know if the question you have asked is meanwhile, the government’s flagship Building the sectors.
you looking for. they also give the person replying a the right question if you do not listen to the answer. Schools for the Future programme faces a less certain And this is a key point. We face big leadership
framework for his or her response. Whenever you ask someone a question, listen to future in the wake of the recession and soaring costs. challenges in education, but they are not ours alone.
the reply. even if the answer is not what you were We hear that gains in improving the focus on We are preparing young people for the world beyond
Ask permission to ask complex questions
expecting, or if it does not seem to be a very helpful teaching and learning and reducing stress through school and that world is changing more quickly than
When you need to ask questions about more complex response, listen. It is discourteous to ask people for workforce reform have been wiped out by dealing any school leader, teacher, employer or politician
issues remember that every one in school is busy. this their help and then not to listen when they offer you with new initiatives. this can’t be helped by the could ever imagine. education is the business of
means there are limits to how much help someone can guidance. onerous task of wading through the 4,000 pages of every sector. It certainly can’t be a question of
give you at any particular time. Always thank the people who answer your questions, government guidance documents in the last year. leadership by numbers – or names.
therefore, think about how you signal to people and always acknowledge the help they have given you. then there is the distinct sound of knives being
that the issue you want to raise is a complex one, or one If you do not think you have got the answer you need, sharpened as the two main parties brace themselves • Anne Evans OBE is chief executive of HTI, an
that will take more than a few minutes to deal with. Let review your question. then ask a slightly different for battle in the run-up to election. independent social enterprise working to develop
people know when you are asking for more than a piece question. Yes, the school leadership agenda is certainly exceptional school leaders. Email a.evans@hti.org.uk
of information or a set of instructions. If you still do not receive the answer you need,
12 SecEd • September 24 2009
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