ABSTRACT
A class of Australian 12-year-olds is learning about the First Fleet and the initial European settlement at Sydney Cove in 1788. In the middle of a discussion of the difficulties facing that settlement, a student asks: ‘But why was it the British who settled here?’ Questions like this, often unexpected and often insightful, will sometimes occur in any classroom at any level where students feel able to initiate ideas. The questions indicate that the students have been thinking about the ideas being presented in the lesson, and have been trying to extend and link them with other things they know. The questions also reveal much about the students’ understanding.
