Questions Promote Cooperation in Schools

Matt Walsh/Unsplash, used with permission

When describing why he left the profession, former teacher Josh Waldron (2014) said he couldn’t remember a time during his six years of teaching when a single thing was taken off his plate. Instead, new demands were added without anyone helping to alleviate the workload he was already managing. When it comes to the tough job of helping students, cooperation among stakeholders is paramount. Otherwise, the job just isn’t sustainable.

Yet asking for cooperation – whether from staff, students, or parents – is not always successful. One key differentiator that can prime others to cooperate on campuses is the language we use. The words we use on (or in relation to) school campuses, with a shift into effective questioning, can get us the cooperation we need to help us help students.

Questions That Promote Cooperation

When facing a high teacher turnover rate, one elementary school director asked teachers what she could do to make their lives easier; she met their expressed needs by hiring a babysitter to watch teachers’ kids during Back-to-School Night and covering teachers’ early classes the morning after a late school event. As a result, she achieved a 91% teacher retention rate (Neufeldnov, 2014).

Too often we enter difficult conversations with a focus on what we want the other person to do or understand when instead we should be asking questions and listening more than we speak. We should put more energy into ensuring that we are understanding the other side. Not only does this make another stakeholder more receptive to hearing us and more willing to extend buy-in, it also leads to a better-informed solution. The following questions promote cooperation between those working to help students (Rankin, 2022, p. 203):

• Instead of saying “I don’t see how you can think that,” ask, “Can you please send me some of the studies you’re basing your opinion on?” or “I’m not understanding your stance. Can you please tell me more, because I really want to understand it.”
• Instead of saying “Read these articles,” ask, “Would you like to see some of the articles that have me feeling the way I do about this?” or “What resources would you like me to send you to communicate my concerns?”
• Instead of saying “This information will convince you,” ask, “What types of things would make you change your mind?” or “If we found data showing ___, would that change your mind?”
• Instead of saying “My solution is flawless,” ask, “What concerns do you have about the solution I’m proposing?” or “How do you think we could improve upon this solution?”

Ask How You Can Do Something

Imagine if a fellow educator or parent were to ask you, “How can we get more students to graduate on time?” or “How can we ensure teachers have the time needed to plan quality lessons?” Those are questions you – like most other people – would want to be associated with rather than against. They are questions that warrant solutions.

Asking how you can do something instead of if you can do it forces you to explain its benefits clearly. It also shifts the effort into a team endeavor, implies flexibility, and makes it easier for others to consent (Hess, 2015).

One More Thought

If you also pair your questions with solid evidence that a solution is needed and/or a problem is real, you can jump faster to how a solution can happen rather than if one needs to happen. With all the listening you’ve done and the cooperation you’ve garnered, your next steps together will be of greater service to the students you help.