Questioning for All: Reframing to Support and Stretch Without Increasing Workload

The Early Career Framework states that teachers should learn how to... Meet individual needs without creating unnecessary workload, by reframing questions to provide greater scaffolding or greater stretch.

Meeting the individual needs of pupils is a professional responsibility that lies at the heart of inclusive and effective teaching. But in an age of escalating workload, increasing complexity in the classroom, and heightened accountability, this principle can feel overwhelming. How can teachers support learners with a wide range of abilities, backgrounds, and needs without spending hours preparing separate resources or differentiated worksheets?

One powerful and sustainable strategy is to focus on how we question. More specifically, teachers can meet individual needs and enhance learning outcomes by reframing questions to offer greater scaffolding for those who need support, or greater stretch for those ready to go deeper. This pedagogical approach places the focus on what we ask and how we ask it—without requiring any additional planning time or workload.

The Importance of Questioning in Teaching and Learning

Questioning is one of the most frequently used—and arguably most impactful—teaching tools. According to Rosenshine (2012), effective questioning underpins several of his Principles of Instruction, including checking for understanding, guiding practice, and supporting retrieval from long-term memory.

However, research also shows that questioning is often underused or inconsistently applied. Dylan Wiliam (2018) notes that many classrooms rely too heavily on simple recall questions, often asked to the same pupils, leading to superficial engagement and missed opportunities for deeper thinking or support.

To meet the needs of all learners, teachers must move beyond the “hands-up if you know the answer” model and learn to reframe questions to differentiate through interaction rather than worksheet.

What Does Reframing Questions Mean?

Reframing questions means changing the structure, phrasing, or intent of a question to make it more accessible or more challenging, depending on the learner. It does not mean writing separate sets of questions for different pupils. Instead, it’s about adapting in the moment based on who you are asking, what they need, and how they respond.

For example:

• Original question: What is the significance of the Treaty of Versailles?

• Reframed for scaffolding: Can you name one term of the Treaty of Versailles and explain why Germany might have disagreed with it?

• Reframed for stretch: How might the Treaty of Versailles be considered a cause of World War II? Justify your answer with historical evidence.

This approach allows the same learning objective to be explored by all pupils, but with varying levels of support or challenge, depending on their needs at the time.

Why This Reduces Workload

Unlike traditional forms of differentiation, reframing questions:

• Requires no additional physical resources.

• Can be embedded into whole-class teaching.

• Works across all subjects and phases.

• Encourages responsive teaching, making use of what happens in real time rather than pre-emptive over-planning.

As Tom Sherrington (2020) argues, great teaching is not about producing three different tasks per lesson—it’s about using rich questioning and responsive instruction to adjust the level of challenge dynamically.

By shifting the differentiation from planning to pedagogy, teachers can meet needs effectively without doubling their workload.

Scaffolding Through Questioning

Scaffolding refers to the support provided to help pupils bridge the gap between what they can currently do and what they are expected to learn (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976). Reframed questions can act as scaffolds in several ways:

• Breaking down complexity: Instead of asking pupils to explain a process in one go, break it into smaller steps.

• Using prompts and cues: Rephrasing a question to include a hint or a multiple-choice option can provide a necessary nudge.

• Offering sentence stems: Starting questions with “Can you describe…”, “What happened when…”, or “What do you notice about…” can help pupils get started, especially those with SEND or EAL.

These types of reframed questions reduce cognitive load (Sweller, 1988), increase engagement, and build pupil confidence—particularly for those who may otherwise remain silent.

Stretching Through Questioning

On the other end of the spectrum, well-reframed questions can also stretch pupils who are ready for deeper thinking. This can include:

• Justification questions: “Why do you think that?”, “Can you prove it?”

• Counterfactual thinking: “What would happen if…?”, “How might it be different if…?”

• Synthesis or evaluation: “How could we combine these ideas?”, “Which approach is best, and why?”

Such questions encourage higher-order thinking in line with Bloom’s taxonomy (Bloom, 1956), providing challenge without additional materials. Crucially, these questions can be offered as follow-ups during discussion, supporting adaptive teaching.

Cold Calling and Reframed Questions

Effective questioning isn’t just about the question—it’s about who you ask and how. Techniques like cold calling (Lemov, 2015), where the teacher selects pupils to answer rather than relying on volunteers, can be powerful when combined with reframed questions. For instance:

• You may scaffold a question for a pupil you know is less confident.

• You may extend a question for a high attainer by asking a supplementary “why” or “how” question.

Cold calling ensures wider participation, while reframed questions ensure that participation is meaningful and tailored. When used together, they form a robust approach to responsive differentiation.

Building a Culture of Talk

For reframed questioning to thrive, classrooms must be safe spaces for dialogue and thinking. This means:

• Normalising mistakes as part of learning.

• Using “no opt-out” strategies so that all pupils engage (Lemov, 2015).

• Modelling thinking aloud to show how complex questions can be approached.

Teachers can also encourage peer dialogue, using questioning stems or paired discussion before whole-class responses. This provides additional support without isolating any pupil and further reduces the need for resource-heavy differentiation.

Practical Strategies to Get Started

If you’re new to reframing questions, here are some manageable ways to start:

• Write three versions of one key question—basic, mid-level, and stretch—and practise using them with different pupils.

• Create a list of question stems for scaffolding and challenge and keep them visible while teaching.

• Use a “no hands up” rule to encourage inclusive questioning.

• Build time into lessons for “stretch and support” responses—allowing pupils to choose between levels of depth.

As with any strategy, consistency matters more than complexity. The goal is not to reframe every question, but to build a habit of adapting questions thoughtfully and responsively.

Conclusion: One Question, Many Pathways

Meeting individual needs doesn’t have to mean meeting different objectives. With carefully reframed questions, teachers can ensure that all pupils access the same curriculum, but with the support or challenge they need to succeed.

Best of all, this strategy does not rely on additional marking, resourcing, or planning. It relies on professional skill, subject knowledge, and a willingness to listen and adapt in real time.

By refining the way we question—not the quantity of tasks we produce—we create more equitable, responsive, and sustainable classrooms where every pupil is challenged and supported appropriately.

References

• Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Longman.

• Lemov, D. (2015). Teach Like a Champion 2.0. Jossey-Bass.

• Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of Instruction. American Educator, 36(1), 12–19.

• Sherrington, T. (2020). Teaching Walkthrus: Five-Step Guides to Instructional Coaching. John Catt Educational.

• Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive Load During Problem Solving: Effects on Learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.

• Wiliam, D. (2018). Creating the Schools Our Children Need. Learning Sciences International.

• Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89–100.