How to answer difficult questions in RSE

• Get some training in delivering RSE so you are confident in the knowledge and understanding of the subject.

• Ask more experienced colleagues what the common questions are and think about how you might answer them in advance of the lesson. You could also practice with a colleague answering some tricky questions. This helps you gauge any emotional response you may have to an issue and you can then allow for this.

• Some students may ask questions deliberately to try to embarrass you, you should be able to tell from the question, so ensure your ground rules [hyperlink] protect you from this. You could say to students: “please do not ask questions with the aim of embarrassing me, yourself or other members of the class, I can tell when you are doing this and you run the risk of none of your questions being taken seriously in the future, even if they are genuine ones.”  This usually stops questions that are not genuine.
  
  
• You can use distancing techniques to answer questions e.g.  “ I read that/ I saw on telly that/research suggests that…”

• You can also “park “ questions you can’t answer immediately. Go away, research and come back with answer (if appropriate) or ask class to “Google” it (depending on question!)

• Although most students will be able to ask questions within lessons some students may feel too shy. Establishing an anonymous question box for use in lessons is very useful.  Ask students to write down questions anonymously and put them into the question box.  You may prefer to answer the questions on a subsequent lesson to give you time to work out the most appropriate answers.  Ensure the anonymity of the box is maintained.

• If there is a question you don’t feel is appropriate to answer in a whole class setting because of age appropriateness or concerns about safeguarding– then say to the class that if anyone hasn’t had their questions answered they should come and see you after class. They may not, but it is important that you offer to answer all their questions. Follow your schools safeguarding policy if any concerns.

• It is very important not to make fun of a student’s question, or allow any other students to do so, as that will make the student asking the question feel silly and less likely to ask questions in the future. Even if it is a comedy question (you will get them!) you need to reinforce to the class that there are no silly questions, and since students are all at different stages of development then peoples questions will all be different but all should be answered equally.

• Some students may occasionally ask personal questions about your private life – firmly and pleasantly refer them back to your ground rules– that personal lives are not disclosed. 

• Finally always answer questions appropriately to the level you are teaching. Don’t be tempted to answer a question above the learning level agreed within the scheme of work for your class. This is true of teaching on most subjects.