Wondering about Curiosity

My ideal student is one who is curious, who asks meaningful questions, and is willing to take risks in the classroom. I’m pretty sure that’s what all educators want. When I reflect on what I was like as a student, however, I recognize that I was not always that kid in high school. I know I was curious as an elementary school student, but somewhere in between the boys and the general teenage angst, I lost a lot of that curiosity. It was only later on in life that I learned to ask more questions and to challenge myself to push through the challenging moments that inevitably arise when learning. I was not my ideal students but I developed into one.

 

At Lakefield College, I am extremely fortunate to have many students who I can categorize as my ideal student, but I want to reach the students who have lost some of the curiosity they had a child. So as I sit here at my first face-to-face session of Cohort 21, this is something I’m wondering: How might we inspire our students to be more curious?

 

  The wisdom begins in wonder – Socrates

7 thoughts on “Wondering about Curiosity

  1. @sthompson – It was so great to meet you yesterday and I’m excited to spend this year as your coach. These are great questions and it seems like you’ve already got a good starting point for where your action plan might eventually lead.

  2. This question is one for the ages. Perhaps reaching out and having a conversation directly with your students about what makes them curious would be a good start? You have such a great relationship with your students, I think that an open-ended discussion with them just might work. I wonder what the ‘high school you’ would say if a teacher engaged you in a discussion on curiosity.

    Love this focus…take it on and run with it!

    Tim

  3. @sthompson – Curiosity is the key to intrinsic motivation, This is a wonderful start to what could be the defining of a new mindset for your students. Lovely to meet you yesterday and let’s keep the magical thinking going!

  4. Hey @sthompson – great dilemma to explore indeed! I like what @timrollwagen mentions about asking your students but I think Brett McKay also has some keen insights on why students detach, it’s particularly around boys but it’s a great listen! “Your son isn’t lazy! How to empower boys to succeed. https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/how-to-parent-teen-boys/

    I also wonder how flexible you can make the learning so they can take control of their learning. It makes me think of Seth Godin’s Stop Stealing Dreams – here’s a teaser… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0rUIdzgxgc

    It’s so great to have the time to think about these dilemmas and I excited to see where your journey will lead!

    1. @ddoucet Oh man, that Seth Godin teaser was amazing. I got so much out of that in less than two minutes! Thank you for the tips, looking forward to reading about helping boys to succeed. It’s funny how we can believe these things but the second something goes wrong when I try to break the rules or step outside of the box, I want to retreat to what is comfortable. Thank you for the reminders that we need to keep trying!

      @timrollwagen I agree that having the conversations is such a good way to start fostering curiosity. I am planning on having one-on-one sessions with each student in my English class this week. Hoping to learn a lot and start building from there!

    2. Another challenge that I am facing is how to motivate our students to read more, mostly boys in English but also in French? And become more fluent in the language, developing oral and written skills efficiently and ensuring a continuum from the primary to the secondary years?

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