The Right Question Institute Mentioned in The Atlantic
In, “Educating an Original Thinker,” The Atlantic’s education columnist Jessica Lahey interviews Wharton Professor Adam Grant about his new book, Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. In the interview, Grant explores the role that educators and parents can have in nurturing original thinking in children. He argues that creative thinking skills should be taught in schools and says that he would like to see, “more teachers take a page out of the Right Question Institute and help students learn to formulate great questions.” Read the full interview here.
The QFT Incorporated into a Learning Network Unit Plan
On February 11th, The New York Times education blog, The Learning Network, featured a unit plan developed by instructional coach Michael Roethler. The blog, Reading ‘Macbeth’ Through the Lens of Ferguson, details a unit which paired a sophomore English class’s reading of Macbeth with an examination of the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. Roethler saw it as a, “way to engage academically at-risk students.”
The unit plan sought to engage students by placing questioning front and center in the form of the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). The Question Focus, a photo taken in Missouri after Brown’s death, led to student generated questions including, “Who is Mike Brown? What happened to him? Why are people angry? and What makes something unjust?” Throughout the unit, students’ questions drove their exploration of trust in Macbeth and in Ferguson. According to the teacher, students’ level of interest increased and academic outcomes improved. Peruse the unit plan here.
This blog was made possible through the support of a grant from the Sir John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.
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