Slides from my National Coaching Conference Questioning Workshop 2015 with David Robertson

1. USING QUESTIONING TO
DEVELOP PLAYERS’ CRITICAL
THINKING, EMPOWERMENT,
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
David Robertson & Dr. Stephen Harvey
West Virginia University, USA
Presentation at the SHAPE National Coaches Conference, Morgantown,
USA, 9-12th June, 2015

2. Workshop purpose
• Know and understand the purpose of
questioning.
• Know, understand, and be able to explain to a
peer at the workshop the benefits of related to
the coach’s use of questioning as it pertains to
athlete learning and development.
• Know, understand and be able to apply at least
one of the questioning methods overviewed in
the workshop in a specific coaching scenario.

3. Questioning

4. Discourse
• Written or spoken communication or debate
• Content, transmission and pacing of classroom
patterns of behavior by teacher and students
(Clarke, 1992, quoted from Prain & Hickey, 1995, p. 76)
• Discourse overly focused on “performance
pedagogies” (Tinning, 1991, quoted from Prain & Hickey, 1995, p. 76)

5. Shielding the ball in soccer

6. Observation Tasks
• Stopwatch – coach vs. player talk
• Types of questions
• Directed to – ind, small groups, team
• Response latency

7. Session 1
• Simple shielding practice
• Pay attention to the
discourse
• Some of you will be
asked to monitor this
discourse

8. Data collection
• Stopwatch – coach vs. player talk
• Types of questions
• Directed to – ind, small groups, team
• Response latency

9. Questioning
• IRE/F exchange
• Initiation
• Response
• Evaluation OR
• Feedback
• How can this be avoided?
• Q: Are you getting low?
• A: Yes / No.
• Q: Is the ball on the off
defender foot?
• A: Yes / No.
• Q: Did you make a fist
• A: Yes/No.
• Did that help you?
• Yes/No.
• How?
• Because it made me more
rigid.
• Good!

10. Session 2
• Development of first
shielding practice
• Pay attention to the
discourse
• Some of you will again be
asked to monitor this
discourse

11. Questioning

12. A format for questioning
(Cope & Harvey, 2014; adapted from Butler, 1997)
Blooms taxonomy
level
Time Space Risk/Safety
Knowledge What does having
time on the ball
mean?
When should you be
calling for the ball?
What type of pass is
often most accurate?
Application How would you make
more time for yourself
when in possession of
the ball?
What examples can
you give that enable
you to create space?
How would you apply
what you have
learned about when
to play a short pass in
order to recognise
when it is appropriate
to play a long pass?
Synthesis How would you
improve your
communication in
order to increase
possession of the ball?
Can you propose an
alternative way to
creating space to
those ways that you
have already given?
How would your
decision as to
whether to pass or
dribble change if you
were in a 3v2
overload situation?

13. Questioning

14. Sample Questions
• What are the similarities/differences between, for
example a high and low body position?
• What specific situations could you employ this skill?
• What is another aspect of shielding you are using to
keep the ball from your opponent?
• How are you deciding to employ specific aspects at
specific times?

15. Structuring
Questions
How..?
When…?
What…?
Tell me…?
What might you do
if…?
For what reason…?
If you were…?
Could you expand
on…?
Frame the
Question
Where…?
Who..?
Given that…?
How would you/
might you…?
Remind me…?

16. 6 P’s Process
(Harvey & Light, in press; adpated from Piggott, 2015)
• Purpose
– What specific aspects of your technique are enabling you to
maintain possession of the ball?
• Play
• Pause
• Prepare
– Tell me about a specific situation you would use this skill?
• Probe
– Can you explain more about that?
– Can anyone else tell me their perspective/have any opinions?
• Plan

17. Session 3
• 2 vs. 2 Game involving
shielding
• Pay attention to the
discourse
• Some of you will
again be asked to
monitor this discourse

18. Questioning Methods
• GROW Model
• Debate of ideas
• Reflective Toss

19. GROW Model
(Gallwey, 1974)
• Establish the goal of the activity
• Examine the reality: here the learners describe
their current reality
• Explore the options/obstacles: in this step the
learners can discuss what else they could do to
reach their goal and what changes need to occur
for that to occur
• Establish the will/way forward: in this final part of
the framework, the discussion is converted into
an action decision/action plan

20. Debate of ideas
(Gréhaigne, Richard, & Griffin, 2005)
• Identify the particular strengths of your
opposition team?
• What things did your team/you do well to cope
with these strengths?
• What things does your team need to do to
counteract the strengths of the opposition team?
• How will you do the things you have mentioned
in question 3 can you address in order that you
can be effective in the next part of the game?

21. Reflective Toss
(van Zee and Minstrell, 1997)
• Q: How can players without the ball help the player with the ball?
• A1: Be in a position to receive a pass
• Q: Where might that be?
• A2: Away from a defender
• Q: How specifically?
• A3: Well, the player would need to get in an open passing lane
• Q: Can you describe the need for the open passing lane?
• A3: Well, if I am in an open passing lane, it means that the pass is less risky
and we do not have to play an overhead pass and thus we are more likely to
maintain possession of the ball.
• Q: Can you give me an example of when this may occur in a game in a
specific area of the field?
Learners get together and provide the teacher/coach with a demonstration of
when and how this would occur and then teacher/coach resume small-sided
game play

22. Posing
Questions –
Coaching
Points
Know why you are
asking the question
Plan and prepare
clear, concise
questions
Ask one at a time
Use follow-on
questions where
appropriate
Avoid random and
arbitrary questions
Use silence; resist the temptation
to rephrase or amplify original
question too soon. Allow people
time to respond
Actively
listen
Respond to answers with warmth,
enthusiasm and as constructively
as possible
Paralanguage
Choose the right
focus, pitch and
level
Demonstrate positive
body language/
paralanguage
Sequence questions
in a logical order

23. Theory Underpinning Questioning
• Social Constructivist Theory
– Vygotsky (1976) – cognitive mediation, scaffolding
– Complex Learning Theory (Davis and Sumara,
2003)

24. Transformational leadership
• Idealized Influence –role model
• Intellectual Stimulation – change agent
• Inspirational motivation – a vision
• Individual consideration – attend to ind. needs

25. Transformational coaching
(Cote, 2015)
1.Encourage athletes to ask questions
2.Empower athletes to contribute to new and alternative ideas
3.Use consistent and patterned modes of interaction
4.Use a positive intervention tone
5.Demonstrate personal beliefs
6.Model pro-social behaviors
7.Create a mastery-orientated motivational climate
8.Employ an autonomy supportive coaching style
9.Communicate a compelling vision
10.Hold high expectations
11.Provide individualized feedback
12.Recognize different needs and abilities

26. Take home messages
• Plan ahead of time (Gordon, 2009)
• Ask divergent or value questions that require learners to
critically think about their answer (Daniel & Bergmann-Drewe, 1998;
Wright & Forrest, 2007)
– Questions should not limit the possible responses but,
instead, expand them (Wright & Forrest 2007)
• Wait time (Blosser, 2000; Cazden, 2001; Chambers & Vickers, 2006)
• Individualise learning by asking questions to individuals
or small groups rather than the whole group (McNeill et al., 2008)
• Let learners discuss amongst themselves. This creates
dialogue, which is essential for learning (Wiersema & Licklider, 2009)

27. Questions?