Something Inspiring: Sparking Curiosity
- Elizabeth Bowey
- Feb 15
- 3 min read
I stole this TED talk from one of my super talented ECTs. She has come to teacher training fierce and determined to be the best teacher for her students and is using her non-contact hours with such purpose. She is very inspiring.
In her meeting minutes with her mentor I found a link to this video which builds nicely on my own investigation into inquisitive classrooms. In it, Ramsey Musallam, a chemistry teacher, shares his three rules to spark learning in students. His approach is driven by curiosity, experimentation and reflecting on the learning process.
He uses his four year old as an example and it made me think about my own four year old - his minds is a sponge. My son, Wilf, wants to know everything, he challenges everything and he loves to have me explain why. We regularly conduct experiments at home, testing the theories or questions he presents us.
So where does this go when they get bigger? Why does it go?
It isn't just me that has noticed (obviously) and if you google 'why do kids lose their curiosity?' sadly there are a lot of articles and books exploring this question.
In his book, The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan explores how young children are naturally curious;
“Many of these children are natural-born scientists — although heavy on the wonder side and light on the skepticism. They’re curious, intellectually vigorous. Provocative and insightful questions bubble out of them.”
Sagan goes on to explain that while it could be peer pressure or consumerist society, he actually thinks we are killing the curiosity earlier than that peer pressure starts;
“Too many teachers and parents answer with irritation or ridicule, or quickly move on to something else… Children soon recognize that somehow this kind of question annoys the grown-ups. A few more experiences like it, and another child has been lost to science,” Sagan wrote.
This is mirrored by the 2020 headline in the Guardian;
‘Schools are killing curiosity’: why we need to stop telling children to shut up and learn
The article, by Wendy Berliner explores the importance of curiosity for student development and achievement;
"The latest American research suggests we should be encouraging questions, because curious children do better. Researchers from the University of Michigan CS Mott Children’s Hospital and the Center for Human Growth and Development investigated curiosity in 6,200 children, part of the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. The study is highlighted in a new book by Judith Judd and me, How to Succeed at School. What Every Parent Should Know.
The researchers gauged levels of curiosity when the children were babies, toddlers and preschoolers, using parent visits and questionnaires. Reading, maths and behaviour were then checked in kindergarten (the first year of school), where they found that the most curious children performed best. In a finding critical to tackling the stubborn achievement gap between poorer and richer children, disadvantaged children had the strongest connection between curiosity and performance.
Further, the researchers found that when it came to good school performance, the ability to stay focused and, for example, not be distracted by a thunderstorm, was less important than curiosity – the questions children might have about that storm.
Teachers who concentrate on developing focus and good behaviour because of the links to good academic performance, now need to take on board that developing curiosity could be even more important."
I could copy the whole article here - it is wonderfully written and very insightful so I encourage you to read it. In a quick summary she cites evidence that children go from asking 107 questions an hour before school, to some students by year 6 asking no questions at all. She cites research that literally saw curious questions squashed and silenced. This is a travesty. But any teacher will already be thinking 'I don't have time for these questions...'
In line with my commitment to share my ambition for the questioning classroom with my students, I asked my year 8 why they didn't question the content of my lesson. One student shrugged and said 'it's the curriculum, we have to do it' - I explained, we don't! Its KS3, we can do what we want in Art!
There was some more chatter and discussion and then a bright and able student put up her hand and said
'we used to ask questions, but then we were told that this is just the way it is, enough times that we don't bother asking anymore'.... and Sagan is proved correct.
Now this is one student, in one class, in one school - but it lands quite accurately doesn't it?
Links;
I will be ordering How to Succeed at School: Separating Fact from Fiction. What Every Parent Should Know, by Wendy Berliner and Judith Judd, is published by Routledge and will let you know what I learn.
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