4. The Purposes of Teachers´ Classroom Questions

Effective questioning is an essential tool for both teachers and students. It supports learning, and constitutes an interactive process from which teachers learn about their students, and students learn about themselves.

Effective questioning helps teachers determine if lesson objectives have been met, and helps teachers determine where students really stand: their strengths, weaknesses, and needs. Teachers evaluate students´ progress, and consequently plan a course of action according to it. Teachers are able to “assess for learning”.

Classroom questions also constitute a challenge for students. Questioning requires students to become active participants of the learning process. Not only do students get to secure their knowledge about the subject, but also they reflect on their own progress. Through questioning, students assess their level of understanding about a topic, and reflect on weaknesses and needs. This will help students establish ways to improve and move forward with their learning.

Teacher´s questions aim at developing different skills or abilities. For instance, they can be aimed at developing students´ comprehension about a topic or issue, or at their ability to analyze, evaluate or make judgments. That means effective questioning develops students´ critical thinking. In addition, it builds students´ confidence about their responses and progress.

Questioning also allows teachers and students to engage in some sort of dialogue, creating a positive learning environment. Students share their insights and points of views to the whole class. There is a chance of discussion and opportunities of feedback among students. 

3. Assessment in Education Must Serve The Purpose of Supporting Learning

Assessment must be aimed at supporting learning. It should allow us to understand our students´ needs and help them progress. However, many teachers tend to rely on summative assessment, that is, they mostly employ written examinations and emphasize the importance of achieving high grades. Relying heavily on this type of assessment can result in “rote learning” as students only care or start focusing on “passing exams”. Formative assessment, on the other hand, offers greater possibilities since it provides teachers a way to improve the teaching-learning process, enforcing meaningful learning.

Students are not numbers but whole persons; teachers cannot measure their success in terms of their students´ grades, nor they can say that grades help us determine whether learning has taken place or not. Teachers cannot avoid asking themselves these fundamental questions like: “Am I shaping independent and reflective learners?” Shaping independent learners, for instance, is a true reflection of effective teaching and meaningful learning. It is worrying to see how many teachers only think in terms of grades, making students feel unmotivated or frustrated with this system. How is this system supposed to help prepare students for life? - which is what education is all about. On the contrary, the necessity of a real “assessment for learning” cannot be overlooked.

Our purpose as teachers must be helping students empower their skills, and develop their potential. In order to achieve this, we need to learn more about our students. Assessment for learning leads to an understanding of each one of our learners´ needs so that we can work according to them. As a result, students become more involved in the learning process; they feel encouraged and committed. Essentially, assessment must help students learn more about themselves and their learning experience. With our guidance, students can learn to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, students must learn to determine how to improve and grow, always looking for their progress. 

2. How Can We Encourage Students to Be Independent Learners?

Students must be active participants in the learning process, and become "owners of their learning". Gone are the days when teachers were expected to "deposit knowledge into students´ heads", and students took a more passive role. Teachers, in the 21st century classroom, must avoid "spoon-feeding" students, and instead help them become active, independent learners. Encouraging and challenging students to think and act by themselves shoud be our greatest aim. 

Learning, if meaningful, is supposed to transform students’ lives. A teacher´s responsibility is to shape people who are able to continue empowering their skills throughout their lives. We need to shape critical thinkers and lifelong learners. Learning goes way beyond the classroom, and clearly, we should not only think in terms of grades. Students need to develop the skills to learn by themselves and become more self-directed.

For students, independent learning will involve taking initiative, making their own decisions and solving problems by themselves. It also involves the ability to choose the learning strategies that best suit their needs. Of course, becoming an independent learner does not occur overnight; it is a process. Students need our support and guidance, especially at the early stages. Scaffolding then is necessary until students become more independent.

To encourage independent learning, we can introduce different “independent learning activities” that our student can experiment with and benefit from. Students will have to reflect on their strengths, weaknesses and needs, setting goals for themselves. They must also be willing to ask for feedback as a part of their learning, and ask for help when necessary.

1. Creating a Positive and Challenging Learning Environment by Using Interesting and Innovating Strategies

As teachers, our purpose is to help students empower their skills and develop their potential. We want our students to learn meaningfully, and meaningful learning can only take place in a positive and challenging learning environment. Students need to be engaged and involved in the learning process. For this reason, teachers must constantly find ways to motivate and challenge students. Effective lessons are always enjoyable and purposeful. Here lies the importance of implementing interesting and innovating strategies in the classroom.

The strategies we choose to implement in our classes must be oriented to make our students take an active role rather than a passive one. Classroom discussions, for instance, encourage students to be active participants in the class. There are a variety of “discussion strategies” we can use according to what the lesson objectives are or what topics we are dealing with (talk tokens, extended talk, audience talk, or paired talk). 

Using innovating strategies brings an “element of surprise” into our lessons, preventing our classes from becoming tedious and monotonous. For instance, we can ask students to try unfamiliar note-taking techniques (graphic organizers, or pictorial prompts). Regardless of the area we are working on, it is essential to keep our lessons varied so that students remain engaged. Other area, for instance, could be reading. In this case, we should incorporate different “reading strategies” in the class (keeping a reading agenda, small group reading, silent reading etc).  

Our ultimate purpose, when using new strategies and presenting new challenges to our students, is to make them work outside their “comfort zone” and think outside the box to overcome difficulties they may encounter. Little by little, students improve their critical thinking and create new competences, learning for life.