It Starts With Wanting to Know More
“Look at the map. Which is bigger in area, Greenland or Australia? Ah, Greenland you say. I traced the outline of Greenland and Australia and cut them out. Let’s look. How can we compare? Right. One way is to put one country on top of the other. You see Greenland is indeed larger. Now check your globes to make sure you’re correct.”
The students checked them and found that according to the globes Australia was about four times larger than Greenland. Questions began immediately. “Why is there a difference between the map and the globe? Which one is right? Why would the map and globe makers do that? Do these people know there’s a difference? Which one do we trust?”
This teacher certainly piqued his students’ curiosity! He did it by what cognitive scientist, Daniel Willingham, calls the information gap. In this case the students realized there was a discrepancy between what the map and globe showed, and they didn’t know why. They were eager to find some answers. With the teacher acting as a facilitator or observer, off they went in search of information. My guess is as they found the answer to one of their questions, they went on to find the answers to other questions and other questions and other questions.
How can we foster this kind of curiosity in the classroom?
Provide an Information Gap. This is what the teacher above did by showing the discrepancy between the globe and the map. Create your own scenario for showing your students an information gap. Use one or more of the following elements to spark their curiosity: Incongruity, Contradictions, Novelty, Surprise, Complexity, Uncertainty.
Encourage Students’ Questions. Do we really need to encourage kids to ask questions? This answer is yes! As Clayton Christensen says, “Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go. It hits your mind and bounces right off. You have to ask the question – you have to want to know – in order to open up the space for the answer to fit.” Think how much we learn from ages 0-5, and we learn by being curious and as we’re able asking questions. Researcher Chic Thompson says 5 year olds ask 65 questions per day most of which are why. 8 year olds ask about 41 questions. By age 44 we only ask 6 with most of them being how much, where, and when.
Create an Atmosphere Conducive to Student Questions. How many of us have failed to ask questions because we didn’t want to appear stupid? Questions reveal what we don’t know. It’s taking a risk to show others where we are lacking in knowledge and understanding. Asking questions requires courage from us and acceptance from those around us. Encourage your students to explain what they don’t know or understand. Make sure you do the same thing about your own uncertainties. Talk about how we all need to listen carefully to one another others and accept their questions without judgment.
Set Up Situations that Involve Communication. One example might be to have your students in groups come up with twenty questions about a topic they are getting ready to study or a task they are getting ready to undertake. They have to talk with each other and thereby increase their own and others’ curiosity. Also, encourage parents to ask their children not what they did at school but rather what questions they asked. In turn encourage your students to ask their parents what questions they asked at work that day. Share the pertinent questions you asked colleagues.
“Curiosity is something that can be nurtured and developed. With practice, we can harness the power of curiosity to transform everyday tasks into interesting and enjoyable experiences. We can also use curiosity to intentionally create wonder, intrigue and play out of almost any situation or interaction we encounter. It all starts with wanting to know more.” Todd Cashen
