What is big questions?

Pose a 'big', open question with no single correct answer Give learners genuine thinking time to explore the question Allow individual, paired or group research and discussion Share and debate different responses as a class

Big Questions | Rainbow Curriculum

How it works

Big questions are open, challenging questions that require more than recall to answer. They invite genuine thinking, reasoning and research. The word "big" matters. These are not quick-fire starters. They are the kind of questions that could sustain a lesson or even a whole unit.

Good big questions share certain features. They have multiple valid answers. They require learners to think rather than remember. They often start with "How", "Why" or "What if". Even a seemingly closed question can become big if the origins are probed. "When did the Second World War start?" becomes a big question when you ask "Does everyone agree on the starting point? Why might different countries give different answers?"

Give learners genuine time to think. This might mean five minutes of silent thinking, paired discussion, or research time. Big questions work well as homework challenges too, giving learners space to think beyond the lesson.

The value is in the process, not in reaching a single correct answer. The discussion, the reasoning, the evidence gathering, the changing of minds: that is where the learning happens.

Classroom example

A Year 6 Science and Technology class in a Newport primary school is studying materials. The teacher poses: "How could we build a bridge using only newspaper that can hold a bag of sugar?" Groups spend twenty minutes designing, testing and refining. Some groups try rolling the paper into tubes for strength. Others fold it into concertina shapes. The discussion naturally introduces concepts of tension, compression and structural strength without the teacher having to lecture on any of them.

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Curriculum for Wales connection

Big questions sit at the heart of the "Plan" strand of developing thinking. They require learners to activate prior knowledge, ask further questions, and determine strategies for investigation. They support the Four Purposes, particularly developing "ambitious, capable learners" and "enterprising, creative contributors".

Rainbow Curriculum's Thinking Tools lens helps you ensure big questions are being used deliberately across all AoLEs, not just in the subjects where they come naturally.

Tips

Write the big question on the board and leave it there. Refer back to it throughout the lesson.
Do not answer your own question. If no one responds immediately, wait. The silence is productive.
Start with questions that have genuinely multiple valid answers. If you already know the answer you want, it is not a big question.
A common pitfall: posing a big question and then giving learners thirty seconds to answer. These questions need time.
Keep a bank of effective big questions by subject and topic. Share them with colleagues.

Related tools

Collaboration in Formulating Questions

Teachers and learners work together to create high-quality questions, building a shared bank of powerful prompts that deepen thinking across lessons.

Learners Set Questions

A strategy where learners generate their own questions about a topic, developing deeper understanding because creating good questions requires more thinking than answering them.

Quescussion

A discussion format where participants may only contribute questions, never statements or answers, creating a deep exploration of a topic through the power of questioning alone.

Think-Pair-Share

A three-stage discussion framework where learners first think individually, then discuss with a partner, then share with the wider group, ensuring all learners engage with the question before whole-class discussion.