Are Preschool Teachers Asking Children Too Many "Simple" Questions?

Researchers at the Ohio State University suggest that preschool teachers are asking too many simple questions that don’t engage with students’ critical thinking skills. Easier questions help with basic understanding and kids’ confidence in giving answers, but they do not help them learn new things and engage with the material in front of them. These findings also apply to parents and how they interact with their kids.

The study aimed to discover how different kinds of questions contribute to a child’s cognitive development. It mainly focused on how preschool teachers engage with the class when they’re reading together. Through story time, teachers can check for the class’ comprehension skills, opinion formation, and creativity. All this is wasted, however, when they only ask simple yes or no questions.

The team observed 96 kindergarten teachers during class story times, and they were able to record 5,207 questions. The teachers were videotaped reading a 25-page book called Kingdom of Friends, and researchers observed how they tried to get their class to engage with the text. Around 52% of these were simple yes or no type or one-word answer questions. The questions did not invoke complicated or well-thought out responses, so the kids didn’t engage with the text as much as they should have. 85% of the children’s responses to the questions were correct, and this suggests that they’re not being challenged enough.

Experts recommend that at least 40% of the questions in shared reading conversations should challenge the kids’ minds. This means that teachers should ask “how-procedural” questions to engage students’ critical thinking skills. Asking things like “how do you think the story will end?” or “what do you think about…?” encourages young students to reflect and come up with their own opinions.

One fear with more challenging questions is the embarrassment of being wrong. Easy yes or no questions are more likely to elicit a positive response from the teacher and peers, so kids don’t fear answering them. However, teachers need to show their class that it’s okay to be wrong sometimes because one can always learn and grow from it. Similarly, parents should also be encouraging their kids to share their opinions even if they aren’t sure the answer is right. The adults are there to guide them in the right direction, so they shouldn’t be scared of thinking critically and analyzing the things they learn.