Improving communication skills in student music teachers. Part Two: questioning skills

Abstract

This study is concerned with examining ways of alerting student teachers to the importance of developing questioning skills in their teaching. A survey of the literature on questioning skills revealed a wealth of examples for student teachers of traditionally ‘academic’ subjects, and a corresponding lack of available material for student teachers of practical subjects, where there may be different issues, techniques and situations to consider. In the early stages of their Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, secondary music student teachers were invited to make a video recording of themselves teaching in school, which included some questioning of pupils at the beginning and end of the lesson. Using guidelines provided by the course, student teachers were then invited to transcribe a short extract of the questioning sections, and critically to evaluate their performance. A range of methods for preparing questions was revealed through subsequent discussion and reflection, demonstrating that student teachers developed their teaching skills through a diversity of approaches just as pupils learn by means of a range of learning styles.