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:
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:
* 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?
Focus on Planning - Effective Planning and Assessment in the Foundation Stage, LEARN, 2004, page 51 (tel: 020 8695 9806).
