Essential Questions

According to McTighe and Wiggins (1998), we call essential questions "essential" because "they point to the key inquiries and the core ideas of a discipline" (p. 26). These type of questions are used to assure students are obtaining understandings that are enduring.

McTighe and Wiggins (1998) characterized essential questions by the following:

"Go to the heart of a discipline. Essential questions can be found in the most historically important and controversial problems and topics in various fields of study: Is a "good read" a great book? Was arithmetic an invention or a discovery? Is history always biased? Do men naturally differ from women?" (McTighe & Wiggins, 1998, p.27)

"Recur naturally throughout one's learning and in the history of a field. The same important questions are asked and re-asked as an outgrowth of the work. Our answers may become increasingly sophisticated, and our framing of the question may reflect a new nuance, but we return again and again to such questions." (McTighe & Wiggins, 1998, p.27)

"Raise other important questions. They invariably open up a subject, its complexities, and its puzzles; they suggest fruitful research rather than lead to premature closure or unambiguous answers. For example, What do we mean by "naturally" differ?" (McTighe & Wiggins, 1998, p.27)

Examples of Essential Qustions (provided by "Crafting Eduring Understanding and Essential Questions")

Must heroes be flawless?
How does technological change influence people's lives? Society?
How do we classify the things around us?
What is the value of place value?
What is electricity?