Series 1: Essential Questions, Blog 1: A Culture of Inquiry

The ideal dealing with the answers will lead to more answers and more questions. Therefore, the essential question by nature leads to more questions. In this respect, the question becomes the teacher. And as long as we have not reached the point in which the essential question is seen as the teacher, then the culture of inquiry will not have been created. In other words, in an inquiry-based environment, the answer is simply a hypothesis to be tested, and not a fact ending the discussion and exploration.

As learners, it is imperative that we benefit from the question in our learning process, whether in the classroom or in our individual readings and studies. However the question remains: What exactly is this “essential question” mentioned throughout this blog post? How do we design this type of question?

It is no secret that learners have always searched for the tools to assist them in the pursuit of knowledge. Among these important tools-commonly forgotten- is the “question”. Books have been written about the role of the question in the educational and learning process, such as Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggings.

In their book, the authors discuss the importance of creating “a culture of inquiry”, and they mention eight elements for doing so. With regards to the “question”, they say that the “essential question” is what is important, not the answer. A proper question addressed is ultimately the goal, not the answer to the question itself. Why? Because the answer to an essential question will ultimately lead to more questions.

Based on this, we understand that the role of the answer to the question is different when the question itself becomes the goal. No matter how interesting and impressive the answer is, no answer can be final enough to end discussion and further investigation.

Read along in the next post…