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Professional Development
The Practitioner Certificate in Question Formulation supports a powerful instructional shift from delivering content to cultivating a deeper culture of inquiry where students learn to ask effective questions and use them to pursue their interests, solve problems, and navigate complex situations in classrooms, schools, and organizations.
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In accordance with Harvard University policy, Professional Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education affirms the right of all individuals to equal treatment in education without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The Practitioner Certificate in Question Formulation is designed for educators, leaders, and practitioners who want to deepen their ability to foster curiosity, critical thinking, and agency in their learning communities. Through two thoughtfully sequenced programs, Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions: Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique and Questions at the Core: Extending the Question Formulation Technique to Sustain an Inquiry-Based Culture in Schools, you’ll learn to harness the power of effective questioning to spark student-driven learning, strengthen critical thinking, and expand inquiry practices across classrooms, schools, and organizations.
This two-part certificate supports educators, leaders, and practitioners in transforming questioning from a classroom technique into a foundation for lifelong learning and organizational change. The certificate welcomes interest and registrations from all practitioners in the field.
You’ll begin with the foundational program, Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions, developed by the creators of the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), Luz Santana and Dan Rothstein, and explore how teaching students to formulate their own questions fosters engagement, independence, and democratic participation. Guided by Sarah Westbrook, the Right Question Institute’s director of professional learning, you’ll learn how to apply the QFT in diverse learning environments and adapt it to your own context.
In the second program, Questions at the Core, you’ll expand and apply those skills to develop a sustainable culture of inquiry at the school or system level. You’ll develop practical strategies to embed questioning into teaching, leadership, and professional learning, and create an action plan to implement across your community.
The certificate is built on a constructivist learning approach, recognizing that participants bring unique perspectives, backgrounds, and expertise to the experience. Rather than delivering a one-size-fits-all curriculum, the courses emphasize active, peer-to-peer learning, metacognition, and meaning-making. You’ll be encouraged to ask your own questions, seek out answers (and more questions), solve problems collaboratively, and reflect on your practice, resulting in learning that is personal, adaptive, and applicable to your unique context.
To earn the Practitioner Certificate in Question Formulation, you must:
Note: Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions must be taken first. Questions at the Core builds upon the concepts and skills developed in the initial course.
Each course runs for three weeks in a fully asynchronous online format. All course materials, including videos, readings, prompts, and resources, are available at the start of the program. Participants can complete activities on their own schedule, with optional opportunities to attend live webinars and virtual office hours. Learning experiences include discussion forums, peer collaboration, individual reflections, and application-based assignments. While the programs are self-paced, they are structured to encourage active participation and peer engagement.
Each program requires approximately 10–15 total hours, or about 3–5 hours per week. Participants who complete all required assignments and engage in discussions will receive a certificate noting 15 clock hours of instruction per course (30 hours total for the certificate).
Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions runs three times a year, typically in March, July, and October. Questions at the Core runs two times a year, typically in January and July.
Nonie Lesaux focuses on promoting the language and literacy skills of children from diverse linguistic, cultural and economic backgrounds.
Dan Rothstein is the co-director of the Right Question Institute and the co-author of Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions.
Luz Santana is the co-director of the Right Question Institute and the co-author of Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions.
This certificate is ideal for anyone interested in deepening their use of questioning to support inquiry, agency, and engagement in learning environments, including:
This certificate welcomes both individuals and teams. First-time registrants need to create a Professional Education account to register.
Individuals: Click the "Register" button at the top of the individual RQIC program's page to log into your Professional Education account and access the registration page. Proceed with the individual form until submission. Invoices will be immediately available upon the submission of the form.
Teams:
Designate one participant or an administrative staff member as the Coordinator.
Tuition assistance is available for the programs in this certificate on a need and application basis. Tuition assistance is granted based on participant and institutional needs. Requests for tuition assistance do not affect an applicant's prospects for admission. You may access the tuition assistance application after you have submitted your program application. Tuition assistance applications should be submitted at least one month prior to the final application deadline.