Our free monthly newsletter features educational resources, upcoming learning opportunities (such as webinars, events, and online courses), practical tips, new ideas, and other news. Sign up to receive the newsletter and other occasional updates from RQI.
Here’s a text-only version of our June 2021 newsletter:
The power of closed-ended questions
“In education, the closed-ended question is often undervalued,” according to Connie Williams, a librarian and author. But they shouldn’t be. Closed-ended questions can be powerful vehicles for establishing foundational knowledge, driving research, sparking discussion, and building self-advocacy skills.
Asking questions about primary sources
If you’ve signed up for our free online course, Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Primary Source Questions, here’s a reminder that it starts on July 7. The course explores ways educators can unlock the magic of primary sources to spark questioning, engagement, and critical thinking in their classroom. This course is now full, but you can add your name to the waiting list.
Course starts July 7 | Add name to waiting list
Register by July 1 for Harvard’s ‘Best Practices in the QFT’
Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions: Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique is our flagship course. It’s the best, most comprehensive way for educators to learn about the art, science, and philosophy of teaching students to ask their own questions. We run this course in collaboration with the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This summer’s course is from July 13 to August 2.
QFT resources in Turkish
We now have a number of QFT resources available in Turkish, thanks to the Beyaz Nokta Gelişim Foundation, based in Istanbul, which translated them. They include informational materials and resources for planning and facilitating the QFT. In addition, we have resources available in Chinese, Romanian, French, Indonesian, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, German, Spanish, and Japanese, with more languages on the way.
Turkish resources | Other translated resources
What we’re reading
Here are some stories that caught our attention this past month:
- Should Parents Value Academic Achievement or Academic Growth in a School? — The Hechinger Report
- The Power of Audience and Purpose: Teaching Complex Topics Through Primary Source Portraits — Teaching with the Library of Congress
- Spring Numbers Show ‘Dramatic’ Drop In College Enrollment — KQED MindShift
- Why More Schools Are Excusing Student Absences for Mental Health — Education Week
- How a US Island Kept Hold of Its 17th Century Dialect — BBC
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We’ve set a goal of 100 gifts to the Right Question Institute by the end of June to help advance the development of free democracy-building resources. Please consider making a donation of any amount to help us reach our goal.
Thank you for your support and friendship.