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 September 2021 newsletter:
Harvard online course deadline
Our flagship online course, Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique, offered through the Harvard Graduate School of Education, begins October 19. The deadline to register is October 7, and space is filling up. This course explores the art, science, and importance of deliberately teaching students to ask their own questions. It’s our most comprehensive and in-depth course on the QFT. Those who fulfill the course requirements receive a certificate of completion from Harvard.
Learn more and register by October 7
Using the QFT with English language learners
Kendall Boninti, a library teacher, and Nicole Hart, an instructional technology specialist, share some great tips and examples for using the Question Formulation Technique with English language learners.
Election Prep 101 webinar
In celebration of National Voter Registration Day on September 28, the Greater Cincinnati Voter Collaborative hosted a webinar about using RQI’s “Why Vote?” model to connect more deeply with voters in the community. The webinar explored this model for engaging with hesitant voters to strengthen their motivation and determination to vote — a critical piece of the puzzle that makes traditional get-out-the-vote activities more effective.
Effective family engagement strategies
A new report by the Clayton Christensen Institute highlights “innovative tools and models” for building relationships between schools and families. The report, Family Engagement Reimagined: Innovations Strengthening Family-School Connections to Help Students Thrive, includes best practices and emerging strategies in this field (including RQI’s model for school-family partnerships).
The power of questions in higher education
This month we held a virtual conference called, Untapping the Power of Questions: Strengthening the Practice and Culture of Question Formulation in Higher Education. Participants joined us from colleges and universities around the country and shared ideas about building questioning skills for research, teaching, and learning. Thank you to Northeastern University for partnering with us and to the National Science Foundation for supporting this event.
What we’re reading
Here are a few recent stories that caught our attention.
- What Is the Purpose of School? — Education Week
- Social Studies Standards and Skills — Teaching Montana History
- Evaluating Primary Sources: Is Seeing Believing? — Teaching with the Library of Congress
- Where Are All the Men on College Campuses? — The Hechinger Report
- In Print or Onscreen? Making The Most of Reading With Young Children — KQED’s MindShift
Upcoming learning opportunities
September 29-November 2: Teaching Students to ASK Their Own Geo-Inquiry Questions. In collaboration with National Geographic. Register by October 3.
October 19-November 8: Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions: Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique. In collaboration with the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Oct. 23, Oct. 30 and Nov. 13: Teaching Students to Ask & Use Their Own Questions with the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). Hosted by Chapters International.
October 26-November 23: Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Primary Source Questions. Made possible by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program.
November 20: TPS + QFT Mash-Up: Off the Charts Student-Driven Research. Hosted by the National Council for the Social Studies.
You make a difference
When you support the Right Question Institute, you help bring free resources to teachers and schools. You also help equip people with skills and strategies for participating in decisions and advocating for themselves, their families, and their communities — something that’s very much needed at this moment in history.
Thank you for contributing to a more inclusive educational system, society, and democracy, where all people, even those furthest from power, can develop the skills and confidence to ask questions and make their voices heard about issues important to them.