Curiosity
Curiosity comes from the Latin word, curiosus, and is akin to the word “cura” or care/cure. According to Etymonline, to be curious means to be “careful, diligent and to inquire eagerly”.
When one hears the word “curiosity”, people often think of the expression “curiosity killed the cat”, which totally does not conger up a positive image or motivation to inspire one to become more curious.
But if we think about cats and how they are inquisitive, yet careful, when something new is introduced into their environment, the concept is magical.
How many cat videos and memes have been uploaded and viewed on the internet as a way to seek calm, practice self-care of de-stressing and to get a dopamine hit of “ahhhhh, how cute!”?… especially during the pandemic!
In any personal or spiritual growth practice, the first step is to get curious. What is coming up? How am I feeling? When does this happen? Who is involved?
This is what I call the “WWWWWH?” We can’t pounce on a problem or challenge or situation like a cat who is not practicing curiosity. Maybe that’s when there are dire consequences.
We need to be careful, yet diligent and inquire eagerly at all angles through WWWWWH?
WWWWWH? = Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
These are the basics of Bloom’s Taxonomy for learning and growth.
But in the real world, it is just the basis and foundation of living and moving forward one step at a time.
We have to find the answers to the WWWWWH? of life for ourselves. No prescription, no multiple choice, no true/false, no “one-size-fits-all”.
So, what does curiosity look like in the classroom, and why is it the essential and critical first step on the learning journey?
I think a new mantra and greater understanding for the classroom should be:
What am I curious about in this lesson, and what are the answers to the WWWWWH? that will help me grow greater understanding about myself and the world around me?
If we pounce on the concepts, facts, pages, activities and the prescribed textbook or district driven curriculum too quickly, we will not be motivated to be curious for our students or for ourselves, as teachers.
Curiosity allows for more care, more inquiry and for more growth in learning as we WWWWWH? our way one personal step at a time that leads to more motivation and meaning.
So, what does curiosity in the classroom look like?
A teacher who gets curious and carefully plans a lesson with differentiation in mind.
A student who actively participates in their own learning and is inquisitive and eager to find out the WWWWWH? in the lesson.
A teacher who considers the following when planning a lesson and asks their students for input: what the students want to learn, how they want to learn it, when will it be relevant and applicable to their lives and the world in which they live, who else has had this experience or made the same connection, why is what they are learning important and meaningful to them and where can they go next to expand that learning to even greater meaning and purpose.
A student who cares about learning and seeks to learn more through further inquiry such as using “Google” or asking another person or exploring the concepts through real world experiences.
A teacher who cares about their students and gets curious as to how they can better meet the social-emotional needs of the students.
A student who becomes aware of the social-emotional needs of others in the class and cares enough to reach out with kindness and compassion rather than judgment and bullying behaviors.
A teacher who doesn’t merely want to prescribe a “cure” for ignorance by doing more and expecting more or covering more in the book, but who listens to the students and to their own needs in order to put a lot of loving, nurturing, self-care into the lesson plan recipe.
A student who demonstrates a desire to know and an effort to find out the answers to the WWWWWH? of life in order to grow into the greatest version of themselves to show up in the world for the greater good of us all.
A teacher and a student who care enough about their relationship and dynamics to ask questions and cure any misunderstandings so that greater growth and learning can be achieved.
Curiosity shows us how to care for one another and ourselves.
Curiosity helps us to hold hands and move forward together.
Curiosity relieves anxiety and cures the racing mind and need to know right now.
Curiosity cures all the boo’s, boo-boo’s and the boo-hoo’s that life throws at us.
Suggestion: Add this to your lesson plans every day:
Today, CURIOSITY visited my classroom, and it looked like this:
As a teacher:
1.
2.
3.
As a student:
1.
2.
3.
Here are a few resources to help you become more enlightened and empowered to bring more CURIOSITY into your classroom:
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_cultivate_curiosity_in_your_classroom
https://www.eschoolnews.com/2019/04/15/build-curiosity/
https://www.teachthought.com/learning/10-strategies-to-promote-curiosity-in-learning/
Inspirational song:
Curiosity Killed the Cat by The Little River Band
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