November Newsletter: Say Hello at NCTE and NCSS | QFT in Rural Kenya

Kenya Connect

Machakos County sits in the semi-arid hill countryside of southeastern Kenya. Poverty rates are high, and the county’s schools are chronically under-resourced. Enter Kenya Connect, a local NGO. Partnering with educators from Canada, philanthropists from Maryland, and faculty from a local university, Kenya Connect brought the Question Formulation Technique to educators and schools. They found it helped bring engagement, collaboration, and creativity to classrooms.

National Council of Teachers of English conference

If you’re attending the NCTE conference in Boston on November 21-24, stop by and say hello!

Find us in the exhibit hall at booth 227.

Live sessions:

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Teaching Students to Ask Primary Source Questions in the ELA Classroom. Nov. 21. 3:15-3:45 p.m. Room 104B.

Curiosity Killed the Cat: The Power of Not Knowing in the Humanities Classroom. Nov. 22. 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Room 205B.

Cultivating Curiosity: Questioning and Literacy Strategies for Young Children. Nov. 22. 2-2:30 p.m. Room 158.

Sharing the Power of Questions: A New Model for Fostering Independent Thinking and Democratic Habits of Mind. Nov. 22. 2:45-3:15 p.m. Room 155.

Meet RQI’s co-founders:

Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana, authors of Make Just One Change, will be chatting and signing books on November 22 from 4:30-5:15 p.m. at booth 227.

Happy hour:

Join us for an RQI reception at the Harvard Club. Saturday, Nov. 23, from 5-7 p.m. RSVP and find info at eventbrite.

National Council for the Social Studies conference

We’re also looking forward to the NCSS conference on November 22-24.

Find us in the exhibit hall at booth 323.

Live sessions:

Question That: Discover Primary Sources Through Student-Led Inquiry (poster session). Nov. 22. 9:10-10:40 a.m. Exhibit Hall D.

Sharing the Power of Questions: A New Model for Fostering Independent Thinking and Democratic Habits of Mind. Nov. 23. 10:20-11:15 a.m. Room 204.

Meet RQI’s co-founders:

Meet and chat with Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana, authors of Make Just One Change, and get your books signed. Nov. 23 from 2-2:45 p.m. Booth 323.

Happy hour:

We’d love to see you at the RQI reception, hosted by our board of directors at the Harvard Club. Saturday, Nov. 23, from 5-7 p.m. RSVP and find info at eventbrite.

Legal empowerment webinar: Watch the recording

If you missed our free legal empowerment webinar in October, you can still watch the recording. You’ll learn about a strategy to build people’s capacity to advocate for themselves, navigate systems, and take action on their own behalf — in the legal system and beyond.

Watch the recording

What we’re reading

Here are a few stories that we’ve been reading.

The Critical Role of Questions in Building Resilient Democracies — Stanford Social Innovation Review

In US, Fake News Websites Now Outnumber Real Local Media Sites — Voice of America

‘I Want to Scream, but I Can’t.’ the Hidden World of Special Education Settlements in Mass. — The Boston Globe

A Trend Colleges Might Not Want Applicants to Notice: It’s Becoming Easier to Get In — The Hechinger Report

It’s Not Too Late to Read That Entire Book With Your Students — KQED MindShift

Upcoming events

Here are some upcoming ways to learn with us.

Nov. 21-24: Find us at the National Council of Teachers of English conference. (See above.)

Nov. 22-24: Find us at the National Council for the Social Studies conference. (See above.)

Nov. 23: Happy hour in Boston. If you’re at the NCTE or NCSS conference, please join us for a happy hour on Saturday. Here’s the invitation.

December 2024 to March 2025: Celebrating Rural Maine: Community Civics and Place-Based Inquiry. If you’re an educator in Maine, this professional learning series from the National Council for History Education and the Maine Department of Education is free. It incorporates the QFT.

Jan. 27: The Power of Question Formulation for Scientific Innovation, Agency, and Identity. Keynote talk at the Science Education Council of Ohio Symposium.

March 4-24: Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions: Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique. Register by Feb. 24.

April 8-28: Questions at the Core: Extending the Question Formulation Technique to Sustain an Inquiry-Based Culture in Schools. Register by March 31.

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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