Alternatives to Questions
Dillon found statements and silence elicit richer responses than questions. Try: Tell me more. I had not considered that. Not every probe needs to end with a question mark.
Find this under Ask better questions
The strategy, as published
Exactly as it appears on the card
Part of The Quality of Questions in 04 Questioning & Discussion, where it sits alongside its neighbouring strategies, the infographic and the thinking for the whole area.
Why you might use it
The problem it may help with
Dillon's finding runs against instinct: statements and silence often elicit richer responses than questions do. A steady stream of questions can turn discussion into interrogation, with the teacher's voice as the engine and every exchange routed through the front.
Tell me more. I had not considered that. These hand the floor back without demanding a particular answer, and the card's own summary is the one to remember: not every probe needs to end with a question mark.
What it might look like
One version of it, in a classroom
In a discussion of a moral question in RE, a pupil offers a view. The teacher says, I had not considered that, and stops. The pupil keeps going, and a second pupil responds to the first rather than waiting for the next question.
What to notice
Reading what happens
- What follows a statement compared with what follows a question.
- How many questions you ask in ten minutes of discussion; counting is revealing in itself.
- Whether pupils begin responding to each other when you probe less.
Things to think about
Before and while you use it
- Silence is one of Dillon's alternatives too, which makes wait time the natural companion to this card.
- Statements work when they are genuine. I had not considered that only lands if you actually had not.
The wider thinking
Where the evidence sits
Dillon spent a career questioning the primacy of questions; his alternatives are the practical residue of that work. The card’s attribution stands as published: Dillon.
The fuller picture, sources included, is in further reading and evidence for Questioning & Discussion.
Keep exploring
Where next?
Back to this strategy in 04 Questioning & Discussion, across to what you're trying to improve, or into all 144 at once.
Want to take this further?
Support is available
Pedagogy First gives you a starting point. If you want support exploring how approaches like this can work across your school, trust or professional learning programme, that work is available.