How to Ask Better Post-Observation Questions
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder discusses why principals should ask how instead of why when talking with teachers after an observation.
Key Takeaways
- Avoid Why Questions - Asking "Why did you do that?" often puts teachers on the defensive and limits honest reflection.
- Use How Questions - Asking how questions helps teachers explain their thinking and gives you better insight into their decisions.
- Lead With Evidence - Start with a specific observation such as "I noticed..." to ground the conversation in what actually happened.
- Invite Elaboration - Prompts like "Talk to me about that" and "Tell me more about that" encourage fuller, more useful responses.
Full Transcript
Don't ask why, ask how. If you're an instructional leader and you want to understand a teacher's practice, if you want to understand the instructional decisions they made while you were observing, you're talking with the teacher afterward, if you ask, why did you do that, you are inevitably going to put the teacher on the defensive.
So, don't ask why. Instead, ask how questions. Or better yet, share some evidence. Cite something that you saw in the lesson, like from these questions I have on my note cards.
I noticed blank. Talk to me about that. Tell me more about that. Getting the teacher to elaborate and asking them how questions that draw out their perspective are going to give you much better information than if you ask a why question that puts the teacher on the defensive. Let me know what you think.