The Art of Essential Questions
—Based on an interview with Patricia Stuhr
Essential questions are a key feature of an integrated curriculum. Professor Patricia Stuhr, chair of The Ohio State University's Art Education department, answered some questions you may be asking about essential questions.
Why are essential questions valuable in an integrated curriculum?
Essential questions help define the concepts that connect the disciplines and maintain a focus on those concepts. They promote inquiry and encourage teachers and students to think in terms of possibilities. They make the curriculum more relevant and important to students' lives.
What are the major characteristics of powerful essential questions?
Powerful essential questions are formed around important, complex concepts that cut across disciplines and can be viewed from many perspectives. They help to clarify what students already know, uncover what they should know, and discover what they would like to know. For example, some essential questions around the complex concept of "violence' might be: 1) What is violence? 2) How is violence reported in the mass media? 3) How does violence affect your community?
How can a staff get started developing essential questions?
They can start by looking at the state standards and their curriculum guide for an important concept that crosses the disciplines. School leaders should make sure the staff has sufficient planning time to think about the concept and discuss it. It also helps to invite a teacher who has used essential questions before to share what he or she learned. Many college faculty also would be willing to work with the staff.
This article was published in April 2005.
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