Pedagogy First. Technology Second.

Wait Time 1: After You Ask

The strategy, as published

Exactly as it appears on the card

Part of Wait Time & Thinking Space 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

Mary Budd Rowe timed teachers waiting after their questions and found most give less than a second before speaking again: rephrasing, prompting, or answering themselves. Under a second is not thinking time for anyone.

Extending the pause to three seconds costs nothing, needs no resources, and changes the answers. Silence after a question is not dead air; it is where better thinking often begins.

What it might look like

One version of it, in a classroom

A teacher asks why the character makes the choice she does, then counts three in their head. The silence feels far longer from the front than it does from the desks. The first answer that comes is a sentence rather than a word, and a second pupil builds on it unprompted.

Try it

A way to begin

Pick one lesson and hold three seconds after every substantive question. Counting silently is not a gimmick; the urge to fill the gap is strong enough to need a mechanism.

What to notice

Reading what happens

  • The length and complexity of answers, which is exactly what Rowe measured improving.
  • Who answers. The extra seconds bring in pupils who compose before speaking and were always beaten to it.
  • Your own discomfort. It fades with practice, and it is the price of the better answers.

Things to think about

Before and while you use it

  • The pause after a pupil answers matters too, and is its own strategy; the pair are stronger together.
  • Three seconds of silence only helps in a room where a slow answer is safe. If cold calling feels threatening in your class, the climate work comes first.

Inclusive practice

The lens this connects with

Through the inclusive practice lens, this is one of the approaches that may reduce barriers around:

The wider thinking

Where the evidence sits

Rowe's wait time studies are the origin; her line that slowing down may be a way of speeding up is still the best one-sentence case for it. The card’s attribution stands as published: Rowe.

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.

Work with Mark