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While big questions are becoming more common in classrooms, it’s important to note that there is currently no one-size-fits-all definition. Some schools may define big questions as overarching, broad questions that guide learners through an entire unit or semester, while others may define them as specific questions that help their children connect ideas within a smaller scope. Ultimately, the definition of a big question will vary from school to school, and even from teacher to teacher.

The questions themselves should be designed as open-ended and thought-provoking, encouraging learners to think deeply about the subject matter and develop a deeper understanding of the world around them. The key is to identify questions that challenge students to think critically, make connections, and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways.

Big questions were included in a small selection of IPC units, however, these task-based questions were not big enough to connect learning. The big question concept continues to be developed by IPC teachers in their classrooms and applied in different ways. In this article, we will explore how four teachers from different IPC schools in Asia use big questions in their classrooms to improve learning.

Life worthy questions in Vietnam

Yvette Jeffrey, Principal at TH School in Vietnam, believes that the key to effective big questions is to make them “life worthy” and relevant to the children’s lives. In the unit “Existing, Endangered and Extinct,” TH School’s big question is “Can we preserve biodiversity on this planet?” This question encourages their children to think about their impact on the environment and how they can take action to preserve the natural world. By posing a big question that connects to the learners’ passions, they are empowered to take action and make a difference.

Evaluating understanding in Malaysia

At Nexus International School in Malaysia, Janine Grassby, a Year 3 teacher and IPC leader, uses big questions to measure and evaluate understanding. Nexus’ big questions can be answered with a yes or no, but students must always justify their answers by making connections to knowledge and experience. By using an “understand-o-meter,” the children can place themselves on a continuum in answer to the question and adjust their thinking as the unit progresses. The school believes that big questions provide an opportunity to connect learning and reveal the interdependence of subjects.

Accessibility and relevance in Japan

Tom Greene, a Year 3 teacher and primary coordinator at St. Michael’s International School in Japan, presents big questions when explaining the theme of a unit and revisits it before each task. A recent big question at St Michael’s was “How do forces help us live?” By making the big question accessible and life-relatable, the children are encouraged to connect their expanding knowledge to the question.

Daily learning links in Brunei

Maura Murphy, IPC Leader for Learning at Panaga School in Brunei, uses big questions to guide the direction of a unit and make learners think. At Panaga, the children are introduced to the big question after explaining the theme, and daily learning links are made to the question. To prepare for the Exit Points, children use the big question as a scaffold, explaining their learning from the unit in a coherent way.

As these IPC schools highlight, big questions can be a powerful tool for guiding student learning, promoting critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity in the classroom. By encouraging children to explore complex and multifaceted issues, they are able to apply their knowledge. In doing so, as educators we can help them to develop a deeper understanding of the world around them and to build important skills that will serve them well throughout their lives.

Big questions can challenge students to engage with content in a meaningful way and become active, lifelong learners. As such, they can become a component of thematic learning, strengthening connections within and between subjects.

In the IPC lessons, teachers implement various international projects, as the curriculum allows us to adapt the lesson activities to students’ needs and interests. Heritage International School has been involved in the Climate Action project, Plastic Project and SDG projects for many years. Recently the SDG 2023 project started and as we were learning about inventions in IPC and ESL it was very easy to involve the students. We helped them realise how inventions have changed people’s lives and what can potentially be invented, to make the world even better.

Heritage International School has been involved in the Climate Action project, Plastic Project and SDG projects for many years. Recently the SDG 2023 project started and as we were learning about inventions in IPC and ESL it was very easy to involve the students. We helped them realise how inventions have changed people’s lives and what can potentially be invented, to make the world even better.

It was a surprise when on the second day, one of my students entered the room and exclaimed: “This IPC is such an interesting thing. It helps us explore the world”. Students like learning when they understand why they do it.  The projects connect with the famous Benjamin Franklin quote: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”

Heritage International School has also become a Climate Action school. This means that all the teachers cooperate to involve students in learning activities that awaken their responsibility as global citizens. In order to help learners to achieve a better comprehension of environmental problems, ESL teachers cooperate with homeroom teachers to organize various shared activities. This might be inviting a specialist in the field to explain the problem from a professional point of view, going on a field trip, or leading lessons together.

Last year, within the SDG project we learned about the third global goal “Good Health and Wellbeing”. Students did research into various situations using texts from both their native language and English. They also had online meetings with professionals in the field, such as a nutritionist and psychologist; a field trip to the Botanical Garden and other activities supported the aim to consolidate students’ knowledge and understanding. For trips and meetings, learners would use the English language for communication as the ESL groups are formed of students of the same age, but from the Russian and Romanian classes.  Their common language is English, by mixing the IPC/ESL groups with six students from the Romanian class and six students from the Russian class the children are motivated to use English while being empathetic to the different communication skills. Learners recognize that English is an effective way to present their knowledge and share their projects with our international community.  They can extend research by using English to communicate with their peers from various corners of the world. By understanding the power of the medium, they become more conscious of their learning and more motivated.

For five years, the IPC brought us only positive experiences, when learners engage through the different subjects, they are very happy and willing to learn more and more about the unit topic.  It is of paramount importance that learning from one year to another increases, both within and beyond the IPC. Learners will continue to improve their language proficiency through repetition and reinforcement of previously acquired knowledge and broaden it with fresh information and comprehension from one academic year to the next.

 We are delighted to hear about students’ enthusiasm for learning. They say that they only learn interesting and useful knowledge in the IPC, which will help them in their future life. What can be more rewarding than seeing learners’ inquisitive minds being fulfilled? As Iwan Welton Fitzwater said, and what I also truly believe, “The future of the world is in my classroom today”.

The inauguration of Heritage International School in 2017 was a novelty in the educational market in the Republic of Moldova, as it came with a more modern, innovative air and the curriculum was not known in our country. Implementing the IPC was a big challenge; we wanted to include our youngest learners and both the English and bilingual sections of the school.

For the classes where subjects are taught in English, we could easily adapt and implement the IPC. The challenge was to accomplish this in the bilingual classes, which follow the national curriculum. Learning takes place in the native languages of Russian and Romanian; English is taught as a second language. Teachers had to implement the IPC while respecting all the requirements of our national education system. Cross-reference research was completed where experts from our institution identified the common learning goals between our national curriculum and the IPC. From this starting point, we were able to achieve our aim of a mixed curriculum.

To implement the IPC and develop students’ ESL competencies, it was decided to select six units for each academic year. We selected units to inspire children’s curiosity and motivate them to discover more about the world. The biggest challenge was how to ensure we improve learning when teaching the themes in a foreign language. Cooperation between ESL and homeroom teachers was needed to develop students’ holistic perception of the world and to show children that what they are learning is relevant beyond their English classes, it is related to the challenges and reality of the world around them.

All the IPC units are created to guide learning and encourage learners to ask themselves relevant questions. They know that they are going to do research work, investigate, collaborate, and try to find answers to achieve a common goal. They learned to apply their language skills from the very first unit where they study with ‘Brainwave’. While students learned about the brain and how it works, they developed language skills using vocabulary specific to their milepost. This enabled them to talk about their knowledge and express their understanding of the theme.

In the 4th grade unit ‘Myths and Legends,’ we learned about types of stories and how people used these to explain natural phenomena through IPC and language lessons. During language learning, students discovered that many countries have similar stories, legendary figures, or mythological creatures that are connected to shared areas of the human experience. For example, a spirit that takes care of the house when people are not home or while they are sleeping, in Moldova it is called “Spiriduș”, in Slavic traditions such as Russia and Ukraine it is ”Domovoy”, “Hob” in Northern England and “Kobold” in Germany.

Children were so impressed that they decided to make their own superheroes which would help not only their country but the whole world. Through the ESL, Romanian and Russian lessons they learned about the structure and features of legends and myths, reading stories in different languages. They reinforced their knowledge by studying other World mythology in the IPC tasks.

A major success is seeing children being curious about research or impatient to present their findings and share their learning with their peers. Our students like helping each other and praising each other’s work; but our favourite moment is when they celebrate not only the result but also the learning process. Another achievement is when they realise that the theme connects learning across the subjects including ESL, Romanian, Russian, Mathematics, and Science, etc., this is the moment they understand that all these pieces are parts of a whole.

Learners enjoy sharing their experiences with parents and siblings. They look forward to planning the Exit Point, so they can present their new knowledge, demonstrate their skills, and share their deepening understanding. They use their newly acquired English for the Exit Points when they invite the community to share in their findings and view projects.