Quill English Academy

Curiosity

“Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.” -Samuel Johnson

It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention.
We’d suggest that curiosity is its father. The simple act of wondering if something could be done better – the simple act of fantasizing, dreaming, imagining – is at the root of countless human endeavors that have generated tremendous, timeless value in people’s lives.

Fostering a climate of genuine wonder and inquiry with as broad a view of possibility as can be justified is what youth education calls for. Before every answer comes a question, and in our age of exponentially increasing amounts of data and historically unprecedented access to it – in our age of burgeoning empowerment and lightning change, finding good questions is more necessary than ever.

Keep the scope of your classes broad and remind students that no one has all the answers. Life is a brilliantly colorful,
fascinatingly messy, unspeakably beautiful process
of learning and creation. Have fun exploring the world with your class and help them to hone their abilities to better explore it themselves.

Some of the keys to welcoming curiosity into your classroom are:

Encouraging earnest questions;
Asking earnest questions yourself;
Showing your own deep curiosity about what it is that fascinates and energizes you personally;
Demonstrating an appreciation for the complexity of things, regularly running the risk of giving answers that you fear are ‘too complex’ for the age group you are working with;
Finding ample time to focus on activities that have no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer;
Showing your students that you’re not afraid to make mistakes, learn from them, and share your findings just as you hope they will.