What Is An Essential Question?

by TeachThought Staff

Essential Questions are thought-provoking and open-ended questions that serve as the core of a lesson or unit in a curriculum.

Well-written, they should promote inquiry and critical thinking, inquiry, and a deeper understanding of a topic. Essential Questions often do not have a single correct answer and can lead to further exploration and discussion.

Essential Questions typically guide the learning process and help students focus on the key concepts and ideas they should grasp by the end of a lesson or unit. They encourage students to think critically, analyze information, and make connections between different types of knowledge.

Teachers use Essential Questions to frame lessons and promote meaningful discussions, and they can be revisited throughout a unit of study to assess students’ understanding and encourage ongoing inquiry. These questions are–obviously–an essential tool in creating engaging and compelling learning experiences.

There is even a process to make ‘non-essential’ questions essential.

See also Examples of Essential Questions

Criteria For Essential Questions

According to the late Grant Wiggins, the criteria for essential questions are as follows: