Using questioning to help children with additional support needs

Project summary

This ASG brought together additional support needs (ASN) network teachers from two teams working in primary and secondary school in Inverclyde. Their aim was to improve the quality of interactions between teachers and pupils with additional support needs whether one to one, in small groups or as part of in-class support.  

The teams had previously explored sharing learning intentions and success criteria and this project focused on the use of questioning. It was pursued through professional dialogue and collaboration within the two network teams involved. 

The timing of the ASG coincided with a period of reorganisation of the service provided by the network teams involved. Despite this, the experience of participating in the project was a positive one and the team members found that they had benefited from the opportunities it offered for group reflection, sharing practice and peer observation.

Case study extract

A week after our proposal was accepted the teams learned that the staff would be devolved to schools for the next school session. This meant that network teachers would be undergoing a period of substantial change. Nevertheless, staff were able to anticipate that their participation in the project would increase their professional expertise and would benefit their future work.

This project would provide staff with an opportunity to explore their own practice in supporting young people with additional support needs. Network staff generally rate their ability to interact with these pupils as very good. However, we wanted to know whether we had a tendency to feed young people answers without providing opportunities for them to develop their own thinking and express opinions in relation to topics discussed.

Staff had to think up higher order questions and then consider the ways they related to the Bloom’s taxonomy checklist. This resulted in lively and thoughtful discussion. Staff reflected on their reading materials and discussed again how they intended to develop these.

Some members noted that they were unconsciously starting to develop questioning in other lessons. The skills they were using in the planned lessons were transferring in other areas of teaching. 

Time to reflect on questioning had resulted in improved practice. 

Questions evolved from the initial questions the staff had planned in advance. 

Children used the ‘thumbs up’ technique to indicate they wanted to speak but were conscious they needed to listen to other children before they could participate. A pupil with autistic spectrum difficulties participated enthusiastically and kept focused on the topic. 

Primary children had some difficulty initially in asking questions of each other as they expected the teacher to lead. By using ‘thumbs up’ herself the teacher found that she was no longer dominating the session. 

Because there was greater emphasis on oral work the children seemed to enjoy lessons more. 

Children in secondary working on SRA reading materials had previously required substantial support in order to complete written work. This reduced considerably as a result of the planned questioning.

As a result of the project, staff realised that children were more capable in responding than they had anticipated.

Contact details

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