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From high school graduate to Swiss Alps attendee to ITZA intern—18-year-old Dana Rennie reflects on how a simple nudge from a teacher set off a life-changing chain reaction. Read how pursuing a passion for geography and sustainability turned skepticism into a winning opportunity, global friendships, and a clear path forward.

The thinking behind questioning has been examined in several studies including Dillon (2009) which examines the purpose of questioning from different perspectives. Dillon argues that understanding questioning depends on fundamental questions in education related to seven elements: teacher, student, subject, circumstance, aim, activity, and result.

“Miss, how do you know that this isn’t AI-generated?” one student quips as I project a famous scene from the Bayeux Tapestry onto the board. The comment sends a ripple of laughter through the class, but the question is more perceptive than it first appears. In fact, despite sighing in exasperation at the tenth interruption of the lesson, I find it reassuring...

In schools around the UK, students are regularly told to “work independently”, which typically means working in silence, not looking at what others are producing and trying not to ask for help. On the surface, students who follow this instruction appear hardworking, and we often assume that their silence means they are thinking the hardest, too. Yet that is often not the case.

Why does facilitation require more expertise, not less, than lecturing Independent learning is just so teachers can slack off and not have to teach. Independent learning is not worth the time, it just creates chaos in the classroom. Independent learning is just a pupil studying alone.

As the challenges facing schools evolve, teachers are increasingly being asked to teach subjects or disciplines from outside of their formal specialism. While this can feel daunting at times, a few key strategies, coupled with solid teaching practice, can make teaching as a non-specialist remarkably effective and rewarding.