I had raced into the wrong field. My question was an invitation to walk through the imaginative gate, but he was having none of it.
For him, at this moment, the magic was in how the potion was made, not what it made possible.
Graham Powell classifies questions into three categories: open, closed, and functional1.
Open ones invite ‘extended and speculative responses’.
Closed ones emphasise ‘shorter, “right” answers’.
Functional ones are ‘concerned with classroom management’.
Sure, my question was open - it invited speculation - but it was the wrong sort of open: he needed an open question that helped him dive deeper into how, not one that shut the gate on that and herded him into the different cognitive field of what.
Good on him for walking away and not playing please the adult; when kids play that all questions become closed ones, no matter how good the open question is.
Today’s message from Pluto:
“We go awesome places when you help me follow my nose. Woof!!!”
You can read more about these on page 233 in the book Powering Up Students: The Learning Power Approach to High School Teaching