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5.1 Understanding How Students Learn 5.2 Lesson Planning Fundamentals 5.3 Classroom Management 5.4 Student Engagement 5.5 Assessment Fundamentals 5.6 Differentiated Instruction 5.7 Communication with Students & Parents 5.8 Digital Teaching Fundamentals 5.9 AI Literacy for Teachers 5.10 Reflective Teaching Practice 6.1 Multilingual Classrooms: Uzbek, Russian & English Instruction 6.2 Teaching Large Classes Effectively 6.3 Early Literacy & Numeracy Foundations 6.4 Classroom Technology Basics 6.5 Working with Parents in a Multicultural Community 6.6 Wellbeing & Stress Management for New Teachers 8.1 Advanced Assessment & Feedback 8.2 Learning Analytics 8.3 Inquiry-Based Learning 8.4 Project-Based Learning 8.5 Critical Thinking 8.6 Differentiation & Inclusion 8.7 AI-Enhanced Teaching 8.8 Curriculum Design 8.9 Student Motivation 8.10 Action Research 9.1 Teaching STEM through Inquiry 9.2 Arts & Creativity Integration 9.3 Environmental & Sustainability Education 9.4 Blended & Flipped Classroom Design 9.5 Supporting Multilingual Learners 9.6 Gamification & Game-Based Learning 11.1 Instructional Coaching 11.2 Mentoring Beginning Teachers 11.3 Advanced Pedagogical Design 11.4 Evidence-Based Teaching 11.5 Classroom Research 11.6 Learning Analytics for Improvement 11.7 AI Innovation in Education 11.8 Designing Professional Learning 11.9 Peer Observation 11.10 Leading Classroom Innovation 12.1 Coaching Colleagues Through Instructional Rounds 12.2 Data-Informed School Improvement 12.3 Designing Assessment for National/International Benchmarks 12.4 Leading a Professional Learning Community 12.5 AI Tools for Personalized Learning at Scale 12.6 Special Educational Needs & Inclusive Pedagogy 14.1 Educational Leadership 14.2 Instructional Leadership 14.3 Teacher Development Systems 14.4 School Improvement 14.5 Leading Educational Innovation 14.6 Strategic Use of AI 14.7 Education Research & Policy 14.8 Coaching & Mentoring Systems 14.9 Professional Learning Communities 14.10 Change Management in Education 15.1 Education Policy & Systems Thinking 15.2 Building a Teacher Training Curriculum 15.3 Grant Writing & Resourcing School Innovation 15.4 International Benchmarking: AITSL, NIE & PISA Frameworks 15.5 AI Governance & Ethics in Schools 15.6 Scaling Innovation Across a School Network Programme (64) →

Session 2. Listening and Questioning

Objective. Listen actively, ask open questions and use silence so that a colleague turns a broad concern into one specific goal about pupils.

Why this matters

Most experienced teachers are good at solving problems, and that is exactly what makes coaching hard. When a colleague speaks, you already see the fix. But a fix handed over is rarely used, while a goal the colleague names is. This lesson goes deeper than the key ideas: what listening really involves, and how to move from a broad worry to a goal that can be seen in the classroom, using only paper, a pen and your attention.

Key ideas

Three ways of listening

Listening to reply: you wait for your turn and prepare advice. Listening to understand: you follow the facts. Listening for more: you also notice feelings and what matters to the colleague.
Show it by paraphrasing in fewer words: 'So the noise is worst after the break, and it worries you most when the head walks past?'
Then check: 'Have I got it?' A short paraphrase often makes the colleague say the real problem.

Questions that open thinking

Open questions begin with what, how, when: 'What do you see pupils doing?' 'What have you tried?' 'What would be different if it worked?'
Watch for advice in disguise: 'Have you tried group work?' is a suggestion, not a question. Ask 'What other ways could you try?' first.
After each question, wait. Count slowly to five before you speak again; the best thinking often comes after the first silence.

From a worry to a specific goal

A worry is broad ('they are noisy'). Ask for a picture: what do pupils do or not do, when, and how many? Move from feelings to what could be seen.
A specific goal names the pupils' behaviour, a number, a lesson and a date: 'In the group task after break, 5 of 6 groups start within one minute of the instruction, by the end of the month.'
Choose ONE goal. If the colleague lists five, ask which one, if fixed, would change the most for pupils.

Resisting the urge to fix

You are experienced, so advice comes easily. But advice you give is often not used; a plan the colleague makes is more likely to be followed.
If you do share an idea, ask first ('May I offer an idea?'), give two options, and let the colleague choose or reject.
Keep the conversation to about 20 minutes. End by asking the colleague to say the goal in their own words.

Three levels of listening

Listening to replyWaiting for my turn, preparing advice

Listening to understandFollowing the facts and checking by paraphrase

Listening for moreNoticing feelings and what matters; allowing silence

Move down the levels; the deeper the listening, the more the colleague thinks.

What listening actually involves

Listening at the third level means noticing three things at once: the facts ('they start work late'), the feeling ('I am embarrassed when the head walks past') and what matters to the person ('I want pupils to take ownership'). You do not need to say all three. A paraphrase that touches the feeling often releases more than any question.

Silence is part of listening. After you ask, count slowly to five before you speak again. Most of us fill the gap very quickly, and so we get the first, polite answer. The second, more honest thought usually arrives in the silence. If the colleague is silent for long, say 'Take your time' and wait.

From a worry to a picture of pupils

A worry such as 'they are lazy' is about a feeling. To make it useful, ask for a picture: 'Think of the last lesson. What did the pupils do when you gave the task? How many? For how long?' Questions about a specific moment give facts and shift the talk from labels to behaviour.

Then turn the picture into a goal by adding a number, a lesson and a date. Test it with the four checks: does it say what pupils do, how many, in which lesson, by when? Finally ask the colleague to repeat it in their own words. If they cannot, it is your goal, not theirs.

Examples from the classroom

Advice that bounced

Scene. Sardor in Bukhara tells Dilnoza: 'Use group work and give roles.' She nods and does nothing. In the next meeting he asks: 'What happens in your class when you set a task?' She says: 'Five pupils start, the rest wait to see.' Then he asks: 'What would make the five easier to follow?' Dilnoza proposes starting with the first example on the board. She uses it the next day.

Insight. The idea Dilnoza produced herself was used; the one handed to her was not.

From lazy to countable

Scene. Jasur, a Grade 8 teacher in Tashkent, says his pupils are lazy. His coach Madina asks him to describe the last homework check. He says 12 of 30 had their exercise books ready. Together they set a goal: 24 of 30 pupils show completed homework at the start of the lesson, three weeks from now. Jasur repeats it in his own words and writes it on a card.

Insight. Moving from a label to a count gives a goal that both people can see being met.

The five-second count

Scene. Nodira, coaching a Grade 3 teacher in Samarkand, notices that she always speaks within a second of her own question. In the next goal conversation she counts to five in her head after each question. After one long pause the colleague says: 'Actually, what worries me is the quiet pupils at the back.' This was the real goal, and it was not on the first list.

Insight. A pause gives space for the second, truer thought.

Common pitfalls

Asking leading questions such as 'Don't you think group work would help?', which are advice in disguise.
Accepting a label ('lazy', 'noisy') as the goal instead of asking for the picture.
Filling every silence within two seconds.
Finishing the meeting with your goal instead of the colleague's words.

Hands-on activity · ~65 min

Goal Conversations in Trios

Pairs (10 min): in the Kit, turn each 'advice or judgement' line into an open question. Compare with another pair.
Trios (30 min, two rounds of 15): roles are COACH, COLLEAGUE and OBSERVER. The colleague takes a concern card or a real worry (no names). The coach has 8 minutes to reach a specific goal using only questions and paraphrases. The observer uses the checklist and gives 4 minutes of evidence-based feedback, then 3 minutes of discussion. Rotate roles.
Whole group (5 min): read out three goals that came out of the trios. For each, the group checks: pupil behaviour? a number? a date? one goal?
Second short activity (10 min): the silence drill. In pairs, one person talks for one minute about a real teaching worry. The listener may only say one paraphrase after counting to five. Swap, then say what changed in what you said.
Alone (5 min): write your school-based task from the Kit.

Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.

Questions to discuss

When did you feel the urge to give advice? What did you do instead?
What changed in the colleague's face or voice after a paraphrase or a pause?
Which of the goals you heard would you be able to see in a classroom, and which not?

Reflect

How long can you stay silent after asking a question? Try it in a lesson.
Which of your own phrases are advice in disguise?
What is the difference between a goal about the teacher and a goal about pupils?

Try it tomorrow

In the next meeting with any colleague, replace one piece of advice with a question and count to five.
Collect three worries you hear this week and write a possible picture and count for each.
Ask your colleague to say the agreed goal back in their own words and write it down together.