July Newsletter: QFT Lesson Plans From Different Organizations | Upcoming Courses

How different educational organizations are using the QFT

Organizations like National History Day, the Bill of Rights Institute, Edutopia and many others use the Question Formulation Technique in inventive ways. We’ve compiled a list of these organizations, together with some of the QFT lesson plans they’ve created, as a resource for educators. Whether you teach social studies, science, humanities, current events, or another subject, you might find some inspiration here.

Legal empowerment spotlight: building trust and supporting client decision-making as a public defender

As part of our legal empowerment spotlight series, we talked with Kisha Petticolas, supervising attorney at the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. We talked about the range of challenges faced by public defenders and the importance of clients being able to ask questions and advocate for themselves, in the context of working with their attorney and in the legal system as a whole.

Read our legal empowerment spotlight.

Advanced QFT course in September

If you’ve taken one of our previous courses, such as Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique or Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Primary Source Questions, or if you have other relevant experience putting the QFT into practice, you may be interested Questions at the Core: Extending the Question Formulation Technique to Sustain an Inquiry-based Culture in Schools. In this online course you’ll take you’ll take your use of the QFT to the next level — exploring how to jumpstart and sustain a deeper culture of inquiry in your school, district, classroom, or organization.

August webinar on fostering client agency and self-advocacy skills

Join us on August 21, at 1 p.m. Eastern time, for our free legal empowerment webinar. We offer these webinars throughout the year. They include active participation and the chance to meet colleagues who are interested in building people’s capacity to advocate for themselves, navigate systems, and take action on their own behalf — in the legal system and beyond.

“Why Vote?”: a nonpartisan online resource

You can help build a stronger democracy where all people, including those who have traditionally not voted, are motivated and determined to vote. The Right Question Institute’s nonpartisan “Why Vote?” Tool and accompanying resources focus on having people discover for themselves the value of voting. Direct service providers, educators, community organizers, and voter mobilization efforts can use the tool for voter engagement and education.

Visit rightquestion.org/WhyVote

What we’re reading

Here are a few stories that caught our attention recently.

Encourage Curiosity, Spark Inquiry: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions — NCEA Talk

We Know Transitions Can Be Tough for Kids. It’s True for Adults, Too — KQED MindShift

Are Some Children Really More Sensitive? Research Says Yes, But It Varies by Situation — KQED MindShift

Upcoming events

Here are some upcoming ways to learn with us.

Aug. 21 (1 p.m. Eastern): Foster client agency through building self-advocacy skills: A practical strategy for lawyers, advocates, and service providers.

Sept. 10-Sept. 30: Questions at the Core: Extending the Question Formulation Technique to Sustain an Inquiry-based Culture in Schools. Offered through the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Register by Sept. 3.

The difference you make for the price of a coffee

The Right Question Institute is a small, independent nonprofit organization. When you make a recurring monthly gift of any size — the price of a cup of coffee, perhaps — you help bring free resources to teachers and schools. Plus, you help equip people in low-income communities with skills and strategies for solving problems, participating in decisions, and making their voices heard — contributing to a more inclusive educational system, society, and democracy. Recurring monthly donations help provide stability and predictability that make this work possible. Thank you for your support.

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