Curiosity is the key. Isn't it?

[Or-Tal Kiriati]

Addressing younger Israeli scientists, Ada Yonath, winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Chemistry said - curiosity was the key to scientific progress. "If one has curiosity, then one stands the chance of attaining a high level of scientific inquiry."
Read more here: http://is.gd/4deEp.
What room does the education system - with its busy curriculum - leaves for curiosity today?
Where can curiosity be encouraged and developed in your view?

[Mike]

Hi All.... hope this finds you all well.

Found and interesting site: http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/chomeduc.html

The internet is simply a great place to find cool stuff and education is also about what we choose to learn outside of formal places of learning.

As Mark Twain said long ago:"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."

and "Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned."

be well.......mike

[Janet Navarro]

Thanks to all of you who have been adding insightful, deep, and important ideas to this discussion. It's a very important one, from my point of view. I said to a friend, just the other day, that in my teacher education classes, if the only thing the students take from the class is the disposition to be curious (especially about the children they will teach) then I've done enough. Bottom line, I said, it's not really about the content I'm teaching (with curiosity, they can learn to teach children how to read strategically -- it's all in books and it's all on the internet) it's about the development of a way of being in the world -- the world we live in, the world we will help to create -- or destroy -- the world beyond the one in which we were raised, and the worlds of the children they will teach. It's better to be curious about whether or not you are teaching this child the things that will move him/her forward, whether or not you have the right books, strategies, tools set up for them, than to be able to pass a test on what those strategies are....
Yes --whoever coined the adage "Curiosity killed the cat" started us in the wrong direction. Maybe we could say, "Curiosity fed the cat!"

[Or-Tal Kiriati]

Thanks, Janet. This is really great! Get the cat fat! ;-)

[Anna Billings]

Greetings Or-Tal, Ian, Mike, Shali, Ellen, Janet,

Great discussion. I agree, curiosity is a powerful force, essential for the pursuit of real learning. It’s the fire in us that engages us with the world.

I like what Ian said about how it all starts with wonder — our boundless capacity to observe and be awestruck; to be fascinated, intrigued, and — curious, wanting to find out for ourselves, to explore and discover.

And I agree with Shali that to learn through curiosity is what makes learning enjoyable. It’s what brings education alive instead of killing it with too much rote-memorization, teaching students to spew out accumulated information that ultimately leads to boredom. Without encouraging and engaging our questioning minds and the power of curiosity, we risk falling into rigid mind-sets of preconceived ideas, closing the door to new understanding by instilling a false belief that we already know the answers.

Or-Tal, Mike, Ian — you add depth to the inquiry of how teachers can foster curiosity — given the current constraints of the cultural-mind and limitations placed on teachers by way of established systems. How can we break free from the industrial world-view, as Mike said, and foster connection, mastery, independence, and generosity? And, as Ian pointed out, how can we keep education open to the unprogrammed, unanswered questions? And I would add, can we encourage pursuit of the unanswerable questions, simply for the value of exploration and open-ended inquiry?

Ellen, I love that quote by Einstein — “The supreme art of the teacher is to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” Great!

And Janet, thanks for this, “it's about the development of a way of being in the world — the world we live in, the world we will help to create -- or destroy -- the world beyond the one in which we were raised, and the worlds of the children they will teach. It's better to be curious about whether or not you are teaching this child the things that will move him/her forward, whether or not you have the right books, strategies, tools set up for them, than to be able to pass a test on what those strategies are...”
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And to all of you who have contributed to this discussion (and so many of you on Fireside), much gratitude to you in all you contribute as teachers. As Or-Tal said, you are — “teachers who chose this profession out of love of teaching, passion for education, a feeling of a life mission.”

[Janet Navarro]

And, thank you Anna for the wonderful synthesis! It's nice to be able to recap points of interest and to see what stands out for someone who is reading the posts. Wonderful.

[Ellen Pham]

I debated whether to address this point... it seems so basic, that it is foolish and inhumane to judge someone by his or her physical appearance. I don't think this prejudice is inevitable. From my experience, any child or adult can outgrow it. Anyway, this is what I came up with : )

[Or-Tal Kiriati]

You know, not in all of these images you get to see the person's eyes. But I know some of these faces pretty well - and those eye are bright with this special light of curiosity and revelation and more then that - enthusiasm. This last one conquers the hearts of learners.