Teachers’ Art of Questioning: A Response to Raising Academic Performance of Reticent Learners

A common problem encountered by many teachers is the learners’ reluctance to speak and participate in classroom activities. The art of questioning may change learners from passive into an active participant of information in the learning process. This study determined the art of questioning in response to raising the academic performance of reticent learners of Momungan Elementary School. A descriptive-correlational method was used in this study. The instrument used was the Reticence Scale with six dimensions: anxiety, knowledge, timing, organization, delivery, and memory (adapted from Keaten, Kelly, and Finch, 1997). The respondents’ perception of the teachers’ art of questioning was based on the level of art of questioning (adapted from Lingan, Calanoga, Julian, and Frutas, 2019). The results revealed that the respondents were “reticent” in terms of anxiety, timing, organization, and memory. Learners rated “often” for teachers in the art of questioning in relation to the quality of questions, techniques of questioning, handling learners’ responses, and handling learners’ questions. Other findings of the study showed no significant relationships between teachers’ art of questioning and respondents’ level of reticence to their academic performance. Further, socio-economic profile in relation to age is a predictor of the respondents’ reticence in terms of anxiety, and sex is a predictor of respondents’ level of reticence in terms of anxiety, and delivery. Furthermore, the results recommended conducting further research on the Art of Questioning to refine the quality and relevance of the questions.