They were so curious about the Falls and the history, which empowered them to ask questions and find the information. Turns out most of these I had no idea what the answer was- well, except the ice cream- but we talked about what they thought, read the information provided and then googled the answers and found out even more. Where is the water coming from? Where are the American vs Canadian borders? Who decided on the borders? How many gallons per second flow? Can we get ice cream? We went to Niagara Falls and as we walked along the Falls, the questions just started flowing: This point was driven home shortly after the conference as I traveled to the east coast with my husband and two kids who are 9 and 10. This holds true for how we learn many important skills- both academic and social. When children are exposed to different languages early on and they pick it up, not because they are linguistically gifted but because humans are naturally curious and the more we are exposed to, the more we develop. If we want students to learn, it is foundational to spark curiosity in our learners to help them develop the new skills, knowledge, and mindsets that we are tasked with teaching them. Otherwise, without curiosity, we might teach but they may not actually learn. For example, this study shows that curiosity essentially primes the brain for learning.” Studies show that those who are more curious about a topic tend to learn faster. The importance of sparking curiosity in our schools is highlighted in this article, The Importance of Developing Curiosity noting that “Curiosity is the engine of intellectual achievement. The point here is that young children are curious and their brains are malleable. I’d be willing to bet that the other 248 people in the room had taken many classes in a foreign language like I have but only a few people raised their hands when he asked if we were fluent in another language. For example, he polled the audience and found a few people that spoke 3 and 4 languages (so jealous!) and by no coincidence, they were also exposed to these languages at an early age and learned them through communicating, interacting in context, rather than through academic channels. One connection he made for all of us was the combination of curiosity, exposure, and the development of skills. Oxford DictionaryĪ few weeks ago I had the opportunity to hear Sir Ken Robinson’s keynote at EdInnovateLive, a conference at the University of San Diego.
Curiosity– a strong desire to know or learn something.