Nursery World - The importance of using open-ended questioning

One of the key findings of recent Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) research (Technical Paper 10, DfES/Institute of Education, 2003, London) is that, 'Good outcomes for children are linked to early years settings that provide adult-child interactions that involve open-ended questioning to extend children's thinking.' However, the majority of questions that practitioners ask (over 90 per cent) are 'closed' questions. Closed questions require a single correct answer, for example:

However, the majority of questions that practitioners ask (over 90 per cent) are 'closed' questions. Closed questions require a single correct answer, for example:

* What colour is your jumper?

* How many cars are there?

* Do you want milk or water?

It is vital that practitioners plan to increase opportunities to ask open-ended questions (where various correct answers are possible). Examples include:

* How do you think we could dry the clothes?

* What will happen if we add water?

* Why do you think Nikki isn't at nursery today?

* Can you think of a way to fix the boxes together?

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