Steph Harel, Acting Head of Geography at WHS, explores the journal article ‘Developing enquiry through questioning’
Wood, P. (2006) Developing enquiry through questioning. Teaching Geography, 31(2), 76-78.
“Any student wising to develop their capacity to enquire geographically requires a clear capacity to question” (Wood, 2006; p. 78).
Many classrooms, and even national strategies, focus on teachers as the main questioners; however, if students are to develop an independence in their work they must gain experiences which allow an opportunity to play a central role in framing questions of interest.
Wood accurately argues that students need to develop their questioning skills if they are to act as autonomous enquirers. His valuable exploration into different ‘levels’ of questioning in Geography highlights meaningful ways in which to support students to develop their own capacity for independent questioning:
1. Simple questioning: Simple questioning games can be used to develop and sharpen students’ questioning skills. For example, when revising a physical geography topic, students are given a post-it note with a keyword written on it, which they stick to their foreheads. Students then pose each other ‘yes’ ‘no’ questions to decipher which process they have been allocated.
2. Questions to compare: Students are asked to develop questions which will produce a clear and detailed comparison. For example, students studying tectonic hazards might explore two case studies, one from an AC and one from an LIDC, and are asked to compare their volcanic eruptions by posing questions. Importantly, students then reflect on why they have chosen their questions.
3. Questions to enquire: Wood uses an example of a KS3 class, who recently completed a unit on agriculture. Students were prompted to consider the underlying patterns and processes they studied and asked to formulate five questions they would use to investigate the agriculture of India. For example, “How does landscape and climate affect farming in India”? I was particularly struck by Wood’s focus on the importance of recognising that enquiry questions can lead to ‘dead-end’ responses, and that learning and understanding is not a simple or linear process.
4. Questions to research: When students have developed a questioning capability, they can be given a large amount of autonomy in both framing and researching questions. Wood explores this idea in KS5 Geography teaching, with students studying the global economy. Students were offered a new context in which to explore the changing economic fortunes of two contrasting locations and the opportunity to decide on questions they felt were pertinent to ask. The process culminated in a written report, which demonstrated deep and critical understanding of the information researched.
As an educator, it is my belief that the geography classroom is an ideal environment for developing the use of self-questioning. I found huge value in Wood’s article, which argues that it is crucial that teachers not only learn how to pose their own questions to greatest effect, but also guide and support students in developing their own enquiries about the world around them. “By focusing on the student as questioner, we can help them become more active, reflective learners, and this can only help in developing active, critical classrooms where quality geography [my emphasis] can blossom” (Wood, 2006; p. 78).
9 November 2020 marks 30 years since the reunification of Germany. For many Germans after years as a divided nation, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent reunification was a great celebration. Isabelle (Year 10) explored this fascinating history.
Erstens, warum wurde die Berliner Mauer gebaut? Insgesamt schien die Westseite Deutschlands viel erfolgreicher zu sein, was die Ostseite nicht mochte. Zum Beispiel waren in den 1950er Jahren tausende Ostdeutsche durch Berlin in den Westen gegangen, um das harte kommunistische Leben zu verlassen. Viele von ihnen waren gut ausgebildete Arbeiter. Ostdeutschland hat wertvolle Leute verloren – das hat ihnen natürlich nicht gefallen! Ein weiterer Grund für den Mauerbau ist, dass in den 1950er Jahren das Reisen zwischen den beiden Sektoren Berlins relativ einfach war. Das bedeutete, dass die Menschen im östlichen Teil leicht den Westen besuchen und sehen konnten wie das Leben dort war. Im Westen war das Leben komfortabler und freier. Das wäre für die Menschen aus dem Osten attraktiv gewesen. Insgesamt flohen fast 2000 Flüchtlinge pro Tag in den Westen. Die Mauer wurde von der ostdeutschen Regierung gebaut um die Menschen davon abzuhalten, die Ostseite zu verlassen. Niemand würde ein Gebiet regieren wollen, in dem sich keine Menschen befinden! Deshalb haben sie die Mauer gebaut.
Zweitens – wie haben andere Länder reagiert? In einfachen Worten: Die USA mochten die Berliner Mauer nicht! Das hier ist der Checkpoint Charlie. Es ist der Hauptübergangspunkt an der Berliner Mauer und die USA haben ihre amerikanische Armee regelmäßig auf die Ostseite geschickt. Offiziell durften sie das tun, weil die Mauer nur für Deutsche war, nicht für Ausländer. Es gab aber immer noch viele Probleme, ob die Amerikaner untersucht werden sollten oder nicht, wenn sie nach Ostdeutschland gingen. Deswegen stellten die USA Panzer auf die Westseite der Mauer. Das erschreckte die Ostseite (weil sie wussten, dass die Panzer die Mauer brechen könnten), also stellten sie auch Panzer auf ihrer Seite der Mauer. Etwa einen Tag lang war hier zwischen Ost und West große Spannung. Dann einigten sie sich darauf, dass sich beide Seiten langsam zurückziehen würden. Die US Armee betrat fortan nicht mehr den Ostteil Berlins.
Am 26. Juni 1963 hielt Präsident John F. Kennedy seine berühmte Berliner Rede. Er sagte den Berliner Leuten, dass er auch ein „Berliner“ ist. Nur dass er einen kleinen Fehler gemacht hat! Er sagte “Ich bin ein Berliner”, nicht “Ich bin Berliner”. Auf Englisch bedeutet das “I am a donut”! Hier bot er auch ein bisschen Frieden an, weil er sagte, die Mauer sei besser als ein Krieg – ich finde das vernünftig!
1989 – also nach fast 30 Jahren – waren mehrere Revolutionen in Polen und Ungarn da das kommunistische Wirtschaftssystem es nicht schaffte den Menschen Wohlstand zu bescheren. In Deutschland gab es wochenlang Demonstrationen in denen die Menschen politische und wirtschaftliche Reformen forderten. Das besondere ist: Dies war eine friedliche Revolution! Die Demonstranten waren friedlich. Und: Der Führer der Sowjetunion, Mikhail Gorbachev, entschied die Demonstration nicht gewaltsam niederzuschlagen! Er erkannte dass das Sowjetsystem am Ende war und er war ein guter Mensch, der Menschenleben wertschätzte. Deswegen öffnete dann die Regierung Ost-Deutschlands die Mauer. Die USSR wurde schwächer und am 3. Oktober 1990 wurde Deutschland wiedervereinigt. Die Siegermächte ließen dies zu da die USSR erhebliche finanzielle Unterstützung von Deutschland bekam und da die USA die Chance sahen ihr demokratisches und kapitalistisches System weit nach Osten auszuweiten. Deutschland versprach sich weiter in der Europäischen Union zu integrieren.
Zu guter Letzt, was sind die Konsequenzen des Mauerfalls? Die Erste ist, dass Familien und Verwandte, die seit fast 30 Jahren getrennt waren, sich wieder treffen konnten! Zuvor konnten sie sich wegen der Mauer nicht sehen (und es war gefährlich, sie illegal zu überqueren), aber jetzt konnten sie frei überall hinreisen wo sie wollten. Die andere ist, dass der Fall der Berliner Mauer den Zusammenbruch des Kommunismus beschleunigte und viele weitere Länder seitdem freier und demokratischer wurden und es den Leuten in Osteuropa viel besser geht als vor 30 Jahren. Viele dieser Länder gehören heute zur Europäischen Union und zum Beispiel Polen und Ungarn erhalten erhebliche wirtschaftliche Hilfe von der Europäischen Union und haben heute einen viel höheren Lebensstandard als vor 30 Jahren..
Da haben wir es also! Ein kurzer Überblick über die Gründe und Konsequenzen der Berliner Mauer und dann auch über den Fall der Berliner Mauer. Das geschah erst vor 30 Jahren und war für Deutschland sehr wichtig.
I’m Lottie and I’m the gym and dance captain for 2020-2021! Although gym squad and development squad are not running in their usual way this year because of COVID-19 there are still loads of ways you can keep fit and flexible especially during this 4 week lockdown when out of school gyms have had to close.
Here are some ideas of things to do:
1. Go on a run, the distance or time doesn’t matter at first but this will help to improve your overall fitness if you run at least once a week.
2. Find a fitness instructor on youtube (Chloe Ting, Madfit etc) and follow along to some of their videos especially good for ab, leg and arm workouts with different lengths and intensities for different standards.
3. Go for daily walks – this will help not only your physical wellbeing but your mental health too
Emily, Year 12, investigates how reforms to China’s agricultural industry helped to develop the Chinese economy.
Shortly after Deng Xiaoping became the new leader of the People’s Republic of China in 1978, the first economic reforms took place under the agricultural sector. Prior to this, between the years 1966-1978, the agriculture sector’s output was only growing at roughly 3.1% per annum. 20 years of poor agricultural performance called for changes to be made and the lack of arable land amongst the country of China, shared responsibility for this.
Deng Xiaoping, the ‘architect of modern China’ who led the People’s Republic of China from 1978-1989 (Wikepedia)
The biggest feature of Chinese agriculture pre-reform was the collective agricultural production. This system proved to be very inefficient and highly unproductive, as grain yields were distributed based on household sizes and there were few incentives to work hard on the land.
Decollectivisation of agriculture one was the first changes made in the late 70s. The original communal system involved all land being collectively owned, with no private land left. The idea of collectivisation was deserted, and the idea of individual responsibility was favoured over the previous ideas of communal responsibility. Although decollectivisation came with a time lag of approximately 5 years, and slowed down agricultural production after being introduced, it is arguably the single main reason of high growth rates in China’s agricultural sector.
In 1981, the ‘Household responsibility system’- an agricultural production system – was introduced. Under this system, the communes that were once formed under the reign of Mao Zedong were abolished. Collectives were no longer the main system of production and this transitioned to the households. The system allowed households to take out contracts to cultivate plots of land with specific crops. Each household was set a procurement quota, which required them to sell a certain amount of crops to the state at a low price; however, anything that they grew outside of the quota they were able to sell.
Near the end of 1978 a trial of the system began in the Anhui province. A year later a comparison of crop yield was made between the households had tested the system of ‘land contracts ’and households that had not yet. The households under the land contract system had a significantly larger crop yield than the others.
Rice Terraces Fields Paddy – Free photo on Pixabay
After the proven success of the system this type of farming had taken over nearly all rural households in China. The abolishment of the communal systems was required in order to solve the issue of insufficiency amongst the citizens. The challenge associated with a communal system is that individuals are often obliged to act in their best interests or what will result in the best outcome for them, meaning that there is often a lack of will to provide labour efficiently on the communal plots of land, leading to a smaller yield.
There was also agricultural price reform. ‘State procurement prices’, the amount the government paid for the quotas, rose significantly. The baseline of the reform was to convert collective processes into independent ones. The increasing individuality of each household meant that the self-sufficiency of each citizen grew as they leased a section of land from the previous collective system which resulted in the substantial growth of food to feed their individual families.
To sum up, three central changes were made to the structure of China’s overall agricultural sector in this period.
The first change to be made was the much-needed removal of the communal systems that was an imminent contributing factor to China’s Great Famine. This was replaced with the much more effective household responsibility system.
Secondly, the market for agricultural goods were also deregulated, allowing for a much more expansive and versatile agricultural market.
Finally, prices underwent change in the form of the ‘state procurement prices’ which allowed for increased agricultural output.
The successful combination of the main agricultural reforms paved the way for similar success in other sectors. After the reforms were made, the agricultural sector output rose dramatically. These were the first reforms established by the new leader, and due to its success, proved itself to be a very useful model for future economic reforms, especially in China’s industrial sector. A 1.5% increase in the growth rate of grain output per annum was seen in the years following the beginning of the reforms.
In 1984, China’s output of grain had exceeded 400 million tons for the first time. The problem associated with a shortage of food to feed the intensely growing population had now been resolved. As a result of the changes to the agricultural system, now only 10% of the Chinese economy comes from agriculture from what used to be an agrarian economy. From 1978 to 1984 the agricultural sector’s output had risen by over 61%.
The incomes of rural households had also risen simultaneously, with a series of positive knock-on effects on the industrial sector. Due to the rising incomes, an automatic increase in aggregate demand occurred as people with more disposable incomes wanted to spend money on consumer goods/services, which ultimately expanded industrial production at the same time. Not only did reform promote a sizeable rise in agricultural output, it aided reduction of people living in poverty.
With families and households becoming increasingly self-sufficient due to the individual plots of land, the number of people who could not afford sufficient nourishment decreased. An increase in industrial production meant there were more factory jobs available, which encouraged people to switch from rural jobs into the city to work in the factories. More income meant more of the population had savings in which they put into banks. Having more savings meant that this money could be used to finance investments in other sectors.
References
Marden, S., 2015. Agriculture, Development And Structural Change In Reform-Era China. [online] Etheses.lse.ac.uk. Available at: <http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3264/1/Marden_Agriculture_development_and_structural.pdf> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
Huang, Jikun, and Scott Rozelle. “China’s 40 Years of Agricultural Development and Reform.” China’s 40 Years of Reform and Development: 1978–2018, edited by Ross Garnaut et al., ANU Press, Acton ACT, Australia, 2018, pp. 487–506. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv5cgbnk.32. Accessed 1 June 2020.
Coursera. 2020. 1.4 Decollectivization Of Agriculture – Orientation And Module 1: China’S Gradualist Reforms | Coursera. [online] Available at: <https://www.coursera.org/lecture/econtransform1/1-4-decollectivization-of-agriculture-cITfm> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
Lin, Justin Yifu. “The Household Responsibility System in China’s Agricultural Reform: A Theoretical and Empirical Study.” Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. 36, no. 3, 1988, pp. S199–S224. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1566543. Accessed 1 June 2020.
Oecd.org. 2020. OECD Review Of Agricultural Policies – China – OECD. [online] Available at: <https://www.oecd.org/china/oecdreviewofagriculturalpolicies-china.htm> [Accessed 20 September 2020].
Roberts, J., 2011. A History Of China. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, p.292
McMillan, John, et al. “The Impact of China’s Economic Reforms on Agricultural Productivity Growth.” Journal of Political Economy, vol. 97, no. 4, 1989, pp. 781–807. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1832191. Accessed 20 June 2020.
Rebecca Owens (Head of Art), Lucinda Gilchrist (Head of English) and Richard Bristow (Director of Music & SMT Secondee) reflect on recent work completed by WHS pupils combining three art forms; writing poetry, painting and performing music. This event formed part of the recent STEAM Tower opening.
Rebecca Owens – the view from the artist
Above: The Golden Ratio (picture – Wikipedia)
The links between art, poetry and music are many and varied, exemplified in the shared language around the disciplines such as composition, rhythm, tone, accent, vibrancy, dynamism. In an effort to create an emotional response in their audiences, visual artists, architects, composers and authors often use underlying mathematical concepts such as the Golden Section in their works. For example, Mozart made use of the Golden Section proportions in many of his piano sonatas. As we are all familiar with seeing the Golden Section sequence in nature, the use of these proportions and divisions in Art and Music is something the artist or composer hopes will help induce a natural affinity towards the composition, enhancing the sense of harmony in the piece of Music or Art.
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was a music lover and first realised the emotional power of music when listening to Wagner’s opera ‘Lohengrin’ in 1880. He then became friends with Schönberg, whose 12-tone method of composition was a turning point in 20th century music. As Kandinsky’s work developed, he came to believe that painting, as with music, should inspire emotions without having to necessarily be a visual representation of a particular thing, place or person. Arguably the first abstract artist, he transformed the course of Art using his synaesthesia to inspire his painting. Colours in his mind were linked to sound, shapes and emotions. Kandinsky said ‘The sound of colours is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with bass notes or dark lake with treble’.
Above: Kandinsky ‘Color Study. Squares with Concentric Circles’
Schonberg’s ‘5 Klavierstücke, Op. 23 No. 5’ bars 1-4 where all twelve tones of the chromatic scale are used with equality, creating atonality which breaks free from tonal hierarchies established in previously tonal music.
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) who created rhythmical paintings, in which he almost danced over the large-scale canvas which he laid out on the floor. He was obsessed with Jazz music listening to Jazz records for days on end and the controlled elegant movements with which he poured, dripped and threw the paint onto the canvasses, conveyed the dynamism and freedom of Jazz music.
Pollock ‘Convergence’
Agnes Martin (1912-2004) often discussed the interest in the emotions that music created in her work, and for her there was a powerful link between music and her form of minimalist abstract art. She said ‘Our response to line and tone and colour is the same as our response to sounds. And like music, abstract art is thematic. It holds meaning beyond the power of words’.
Martin ‘Summer’
These were some of the starting points for the art scholars, when exploring the connections between music and art, which was initially planned for our Cadogan Hall concert in March 2020. Sadly, owing to the pandemic, this event was cancelled, but the work and ideas were instead put towards the opening of our STEAM Tower in November 2020, with the addition of poets composing alongside the artists and musicians.
The artists responded to the rhythms, the tones and the emotions the music inspires as we work. As with all Art, there will be no correct answer, and in this experiment the process of creating the work will be as important as the outcomes. The speed with which one works undoubtedly affects the marks one makes. With timed drawings, which is something we often use in Life drawing classes, the fluidity and spontaneity of the marks created often more that makes up for the less accurate proportions. With less than 10 minutes to work on these pieces it will be interesting to see how each person responds differently to the music and how the canvasses develop during the time.
Kandinsky ‘Composition, VII’
Alex in Year 13 reflects on the creation of her artwork: “Exploring links between different forms of creativity was fascinating. In this process I was able to respond to the music I heard and the poetry I read with a variety of colours, mark-making, and compositions. I was most influenced by replicating bow movements with brush strokes, which gave energy and flow to my artwork. This activity developed my skills as an artist as I was more aware of each creative decision I made.”
View some of the art created during the STEAM opening below.
STEAM Art
Lucinda Gilchrist – the view from the poet
We know proverbially that ‘two heads are better than one’, but collaboration is more than just combined brain power. Educational theory highlights that words and language solidify and consolidate thought, meaning that sharing and communicating with others is essential for learning. In collaborating across subject disciplines, we can make the most of others’ expertise in a way which serves to enhance and enrich our understanding in countless ways.
From the perspective of English, in looking at a poem, for instance, we can benefit from a wider contextual understanding that History can bring us, the deeper understanding of rhythm and tone from Music, attention to detail and imagery from Art, global artistic movements from History of Art, forensic attention to detail from Science, and grammatical understanding from Languages. But it is not just about what individual subjects can gain from using different disciplinary perspectives, but how the meeting of different disciplines then serves to open up horizons which would have been unthinkable without the combination of perspectives.
Jess in Year 13 writes: “Usually I would start writing about a preconceived subject matter, whereas responding in real time to music and visual art meant it took longer to establish a topic or a narrative. Therefore I think the influence over the structure of the poems is most pronounced- there’s the dislocation of short or non-sequiturial lines that correspond to staccato parts of the music; but on the other hand, there’s a lot of enjambement, since I think the timbre of the strings might have evoked a watery quality for the writers and painters.”
If lightning could be gradual If it could be a majorette ribbon If it could be a suturing needle If it could be a hairline fracture If it could be the persistent tautness of a diaphragm If it could be the searing blaring flaring scarlet that stays in the back of your eyes If it could cut If it could be a vaulted ceiling If it could be sweet, and if it could ache If it could be the ridge of a mountain Protruding through snow Snow packed on scars When figure skaters turn And the air takes their necks In its hands Suddenly, very afraid of heights Is lightning catching? Can it reverberate down vertebrae? Electrify the nervous system? Pluck out spinal chords? The spine a rose between the lightning’s jagged teeth
Lauren in Year 13 writes: “I found writing to music and live art extremely helpful as each piece created a different atmosphere and led to me writing a range of poetry. I think I may even use music when writing poetry again in the future.”
Sky city suspended between storm clouds Golden rain and bare feet Feathers outlined in molten metal Twisting as they fall Like sycamore leaves Laughter thrown at the sun With the wild abandon of Icarus In his final moments Before reality came up to meet him. Cradled by Zephyr as they spiral down Either ignorant of the danger Or too immersed in music to care. The ground is far too restrictive for dancing When falling allows them to fly.
Richard Bristow – the view from the musician
I still vividly remember the first time I experienced the music combined with art and spoken word. It was 1990, I was 5 years old, and Disney’s Fantasia had just been released on VHS. The whole school watched it in one afternoon and it introduced me to music that I had never heard before in such a powerful way that the memory still lives on, some thirty years later.
The film Fantasia was made in 1940, featuring Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra with animations by Disney. I still recall seeing Mickey Mouse battling against brooms in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas, the strange abstract shapes to Bach’s iconic Toccata and Fugue and of course the petrifying mountain demon pictured to Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain. If you haven’t seen it, please add it to your Christmas list. It is simply brilliant viewing.
Fast forward to more recent times; it’s now the summer of 2019 and I’m busy planning the WHS Symphony Orchestra repertoire for the next Cadogan Hall concert, scheduled for March 2020. We have a large brass section this year and also a harp – a first for our orchestra – and as such Mussorgsky’s epic Symphonic Poem is something that provides challenge but is also accessible to all our players – from our new Year 7s right up to our Year 13s who will shortly be heading to University. The pupils take to it well, so much so that the simplifications I’d anticipated needing were quickly discarded in favour of the real authentic score.
Rehearsing the piece brought back memories of watching Fantasia for the first time and it is from here that we started to explore the idea of live painting to live music, essentially recreating Fantasia in Cadogan Hall in 2020. Combining these art forms, utilising some nifty camera technology, would allow us to see links between the disciplines in real time. Exciting stuff.
Sadly, the pandemic meant the concert couldn’t happen in March 2020, and obviously this was a huge disappointment to us given we had been working towards this for 7 months. However, with the opening of the new STEAM Tower, we had another opportunity to explore the combination of different art forms, showing inter-disciplinary learning in an improvisatory way and putting our previous learning to work. Current coronavirus restrictions meant the Symphony Orchestra was replaced by our wonderful socially-distanced String Quartet A and we expanded our thinking to include two Sixth Form poets to add another dimension to our exploration. Combining these art forms together facilitates wider conversations about art and creativity, and enables pupils to make connections and to think about things in more advanced ways.
Sophie in Year 11 writes: “It was really interesting to see how the poets, musicians and artists responded to each other, as all of us are artists. I loved how it allowed us to really explore our creativity and it has helped us to think of the pieces we are playing as an ensemble in new ways.”
It was fascinating to see the pupils work out how the inner bars of music evoked a sense of water with this being picked up in both the poetry and the art in various different ways. This prompted conversations about whether this was intentional by the composer or if it was more subtle in nature, perhaps influenced by our previous learning. Exploring the arts through different artistic lenses allows us to explore art in a larger, freer way, inter-connecting our learning and enhancing our understanding.
Final thoughts
Making connections between subjects, filling in the gaps and tinkering with new ideas are central to our educational provision at WHS. We relish the chance to investigate things we are expert in through lenses in which we are less accomplished, feeding into the kaleidoscope that is limitless learning in the modern day. This is STEAM+ in action.
We are all lucky to work and learn in a school where collaboration, exploration and adventure are inherent qualities that are highly valued.
This week’s Friday Gem comes from James Porter, Experientia Scholarship lead in the Upper Junior School and English specialist.
Experientia Scholarship forms part of the weekly timetable for all girls in Years 3-6. It is an ambitious programme which considers the contentious issues that affect our daily lives and introduces pupils to the concept of critical thinking and the art of Socratic discussion.
James’ WimTeach article brilliantly shows the importance of asking questions. He writes that “open-ended questions [are vital] as part of the Experientia programme, so that arguments are dismantled into their constituent parts which can then be evaluated, and the implications considered.”
He uses the table below, which is from ‘The Thinker’s Guide to Socratic Questioning’, to show the types of questions that are integral to the Experientia ethos.
The Thinker’s Guide to Socratic Questioning – Thinker’s Guide Library, Richard Paul (author), Linda Elder (author)
Paperback (01 Jan 2016)
Alexa Cutteridge, Head of Curriculum PE and Assistant Head of Year 7, gives a short review of ‘The Coaching Habit Say Less, Ask more & Change the Way you Lead Forever’ by Michael Bungay Stanier
“We live in the world our questions create.” (David Cooperrider)
“The minute we begin to think we have all the answers, we forget the questions.” (Madeleine L’Engle)
“Get comfortable with silence”
“Without a good question, a good answer has no place to go” (Clayton, Christensen)
–
As a PE teacher, I have spent most of my professional career practically coaching on the sports field, but I have been on a journey to bring coaching techniques to my leadership roles, and apparently, I am not alone! As noted in the book, Daniel Goleman (psychologist and journalist who popularised the concept of emotional intelligence) suggested that coaching is one of the six essential leadership styles, but is one of the least used as many leaders claim to not have time to practise it. Stanier guides you through easy ways to change your leadership behaviour, to incorporate a coaching style in a way that you do ‘a little more asking people questions and a little less telling people what to do.’ Stanier considers that it is not initially an easy concept to increase questioning and so he helpfully outlines how to change, before looking at what to change.
The seven coaching habit questions are:
The Kickstarter Question – ‘What’s on your mind?’ the way to start any conversation in a way that is both focused and open.
The Awe Question – the best coaching question in the world – ‘And what else?’ This works as a self-management tool for you, and as a boost for the 6 other questions.
The Focus Question – ‘What is the real challenge for you here?’ This question helps you slow down so you can solve real problems and not just the first problem.
The Foundation Question – ‘What do you want?’ This allows you to identify the needs of an individual and get a better understanding how you can support them.
The Lazy Question – ‘How can I help?’ This helps cut right to the request and additionally it stops you from leaping into action unnecessarily.
The Strategic Question – ‘If you’re saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?’ This allows the people you are working with to be fully committed to their yes and aware of the no’s which will create the space and energy for the yes to happen.
The Learning Question – ‘What was most useful for you?’ This works with the Kickstarter question to make the Coaching Bookends. It helps to ensure that everyone finds their interactions with you even more helpful.In the educational arena, applying the coaching habit and the simple, yet powerful seven questions, has the potential to positively transform the leadership of Teachers, Heads of Departments, Pastoral Leaders, Senior Management or even pupils on Student Leadership Team. After reading this book, it is important to highlight that I do not think we need to do away with the leaderships styles we already have, but merely bring the coaching habit questions into the mix, in a way that works for us. How does that sound?
Recently, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all had to create new ways to stay active and motivated at home. This can be an exciting prospect, but also seem hugely challenging as it’s not what we’re used to.
Especially with most fixtures and tournaments being cancelled it can be particularly difficult to find motivation to stay active, however, there are several highly important reasons you should try and keep up your physical activity during this second lockdown:
Exercise is a natural stress reliever, relieving tension and enhancing your well-being through the release of endorphins. Especially in the winter months, managing school-work alongside other aspects of life can become rather stressful, and exercise is the perfect time to take time away from that stress to focus on yourself.
Physical activity can also help regulate your sleeping patterns, meaning that during those daylight hours you can be even more productive.
Although training isn’t what it was before lockdown there is still an abundance of activities you can enjoy to fit some exercise into your day; some of my favourites include running, cycling, dancing and short HIIT workouts. Miss Cutteridge has distributed lots of great fitness exercises through Teams and there are plenty more available to use on YouTube.
Even the simplest activity such as a morning walk can have significant positive benefits towards your physical and mental health.
You may remember that in half term Junior School pupils took part in the Farmvention competition, having lots of fun with drones and polytunnels with their families.
Farmvention is a national competition that encourages pupils to think of innovative ideas to help farmers tackle the problems they encounter caused by climate change.
There are a range of challenges and for half term we chose:
What is the best material for a polytunnel?
What is the best shape for a drone?
The quality of the entries was fabulous, and it was great to see so many videos, drawings, models, photographs and booklets showing the fun that was had by all. It was also fantastic to see the research that went on, the results of the tests that were carried out, the scientific explanations and the STEAM skills in action.
Mrs Farrer will be showing a video montage of all of the winners in Celebration Assembly and those girls will be receiving a special “STEAM” prize. We will then be entering Wimbledon High’s submission to the Farmvention competition later in the year. Here are some photos of some of the amazing entries. We’re looking forward to hearing about (and tasting) some of the crops that grow!
Teaching and learning Gem #22 – 1 on 1 Questioning
This Friday Gem comes from Dan Addis and the Classics department
In Classics we get the opportunity to have 1 on 1 academic opportunities that many other subjects do not, and so I thought it a good opportunity to highlight a few principles of 1 on 1 academic discussion as well as including some universal questions that can be used for every topic, whether it is something you are well read on or not. The principles are very similar to normal student questioning but I hope this might help encourage some staff who are not as comfortable with 1 on 1s to have a go. Apologies if it feels very rudimentary!
General principles of 1 on 1 questioning
Make sure body language is relaxed and open. By maintaining an open relaxed pose it becomes a fun conversation rather than an intense grilling. Combine this with nodding and smiling at points to encourage the student to continue.
Allow the student to finish their point completely. If you think of something you would like to ask, jot it down and ask later with reference back to the point they were making. By finding a link between a later topic and the previous point you can help the students connect differing aspects of their study.
Don’t be afraid of asking the student to repeat their point in a different way if you didn’t understand. This is good practice for them to think of other methods of explanation, and should be done on occasion even if they have made themselves clear.
Like with much questioning, don’t feel the need to fill the silence. It will become more awkward quickly, but due to it being 1 on 1 the student is likely to relent and make a point which you can expand upon.
Some questions to ask students that will always be relevant and useful:
Can you simplify your point into a single sentence/How would you explain this to a child? (Very useful for them to break it down to more simple terms on which you can expand)
Are there any other perspectives you have read into this that you disagree with? Why?
Why do you think the terminology is used? Would you change the wording and how?
Can you think about how this links to other things you have learnt, in this subject and others?
What do you think is the next step? (Either for the author or research or the curriculum)
Which elements of this did you find difficult to understand?
Where would you like to take this further?
Do you think there is a problematic background to this topic? How might you challenge this?
We hope you get the opportunity for some 1 on 1s in the future!
