Pedagogy First. Technology Second.

Questions That Drive Enquiry

The strategy, as published

Exactly as it appears on the card

Part of Student-Generated Questions in 04 Questioning & Discussion, where it sits alongside its neighbouring strategies, the infographic and the thinking for the whole area.

Why you might use it

The problem it may help with

The know and want-to-know routine is familiar enough to feel like habit. King's research gives it a firmer footing: questions connected to prior knowledge produce the most powerful learning, and asking students to write what they know and what they want to know surfaces both halves at once.

Their questions become the entry point into the content, rather than an opening activity to be filed away.

What it might look like

One version of it, in a classroom

Opening a unit on space, pupils write two short lists: what they already know, and what they want to know. The teacher reads both before planning the next lesson. The first list shows the prior knowledge to connect to, and one misconception to unpick; the second supplies three questions good enough to teach through.

Try it

A way to begin

Ten minutes at the start of your next new topic: know and want to know, written and collected in, not just discussed.

What to notice

Reading what happens

  • Prior knowledge you did not expect, in both directions.
  • Which pupil questions could anchor a whole lesson, and which reveal what the class thinks the topic is about.
  • Whether pupils notice their own questions being answered as the unit unfolds.

Things to think about

Before and while you use it

  • Entry point, not itinerary. The scheme of work still sets the destination, and what to do with the questions it cannot accommodate is your call.
  • Collecting the lists in writing keeps every pupil's starting point visible, not just the confident talkers'.

The wider thinking

Where the evidence sits

King's finding about prior knowledge connects this card to a principle that runs through the whole guide: new learning holds best when it is fastened to what is already there. The card’s attribution stands as published: King.

The fuller picture, sources included, is in further reading and evidence for Questioning & Discussion.

Keep exploring

Where next?

Back to this strategy in 04 Questioning & Discussion, across to what you're trying to improve, or into all 144 at once.

Want to take this further?

Support is available

Pedagogy First gives you a starting point. If you want support exploring how approaches like this can work across your school, trust or professional learning programme, that work is available.

Work with Mark