Every discovery ever had and still has one thing in common.
They are all the result of curiosity.
The desire to know, to explore and to test hypotheses is a
basic human characteristic.
We see it most clearly in young children trying to make sense of
the world through their senses and through questions and testing
boundaries to see what will happen.
But then for some reason as we grow older our curiosity seems to wane.
We don't push the boundaries so much anymore
and we ask fewer questions and we appear to accept the status quo as it is.
Curiosity is a valuable commodity.
It's the curious, among us that solve problems, look for better
ways of doing things and conduct experiments to find things out and
push the boundaries of exploration.
In modern times, someone like Elon Musk is an example of what
having a curious mind can achieve.
Geniuses is like Elon of course are few and far between.
And we mere mortals cannot and must not compare ourselves to the likes of Elon.
Firstly, because that's really unrealistic and unhealthy.
And secondly, because we don't have to invent rockets or electric cars to
be able to make a difference or live full and rewarding lives, solving
our own problems, being, genuinely interested in the world around us,
challenging ourselves, and exploring the boundaries of our own creativity.
So how can we nurture our own curiosity and why is it even important?
Well as educators,
and please let me remind you again, that when I say educators, I also and
automatically, always mean parents.
Parents are the first educators.
And we have a huge responsibility to ensure that we are doing the very best
we can for our children in our care.
To do the very best we can as educators means we cannot
just be passive passengers.
We must be active pursuers of information and constantly be problem-solving.
We're constantly asking ourselves, how can I do better?
How can I help this child reach his or her milestones?
How can I better engage children in my lessons?
Why is this child disengaged?
Why are the children not getting the information I'm teaching?
Why, why, why, why.
But curiosity, my friends is often a double-edged sword.
Although it is valued and deemed necessary for innovation leaders in
organizations often discourage it.
In an article focused on businesses in the Harvard business review.
I'll put a link in the show notes.
A research study into curiosity found that although leaders valued curiosity,
because it led to new and innovative ways.
Leaders often discouraged it.
Because they felt that the company would be harder to manage if people were all
allowed to pursue their own interests.
The research showed that although they listed curiosity as desirable
leaders frequently rejected creative ideas because exploration means
people question the status quo.
And leaders don't often welcome that.
But questioning means not just accepting the first answer, which
means that in the long run, it could actually get you a better result.
And another reason why curiosity is discouraged is because
companies value efficiency.
An example of this was the Ford motor company, Henry Ford, had one goal
and that was to reduce the production costs and produce a car for the masses.
And he was really successful for a long time in doing just that.
But then in the 1920s, consumers began wanting greater variety.
But Mr.
Ford was so focused on efficiency that he lost his market share to General
Motors because he stopped innovating.
And subsequently fell behind.
These two reasons, illustrate why curiosity, declines in adults.
The longer we remain in a job where curiosity is not valued, the
more our own curiosity, declines.
The author of the Harvard article conducted a survey that found that
employee's curiosity declined by 20% over six months, because they
were under pressure to complete their work, leaving little time
to ask questions or be curious.
And this business example is not dissimilar to what's happening in
schools and education in general.
Unless the school has a culture that values, curiosity, innovation,
it's difficult for individual educators to be that way inclined.
If the administration deems them as hard to manage, because they're
always questioning the status quo.
That's a tough call.
Similarly, this could be the same for government entities pushing
a single style or pedagogy as we get in education departments.
But these kinds of organizations actually lose out in the long
run because they simply accept only one way of doing things.
In a micro context, this could also be a classroom or even a family.
If the educator does not value, curiosity and questioning children
are going to become less and less curious and eventually lose interest.
And how sad is that that even before children have had an opportunity to
discover their talents and gifts, they'v already been squashed.
And what impact would that have on children?
If we only valued efficiency over curiosity.
If we only valued assessment performance over curiosity and wellbeing.
If we only valued direct instruction, for example, over inquiry, because
that helped our test scores so that we could say to everyone, look how
fabulous, our children perform in tests look how well, we're doing.
Nevermind that, they aren't curious, they can't solve problems,
they aren't at all resilient,
they can't do a single thing for themselves without having
an adult hover over them or give them a script or a template.
Last week I was interviewed by Victoria Hackett.
Yes, my very first interview by someone else.
Um, on her outdoor classrooms podcast, and she asked me what
resources I would recommend for educators if they wanted to create
inquiry-based learning environments.
Hey, subscribe and follow by the way, this podcast
so you don't miss out.
And also follow me on Instagram and Facebook
@edslessons if you want to be notified when Victoria publishes that episode.
My answer to Victoria was simple.
It was to be brave and curious yourself.
As adults, you are the most important influence and resource when it comes to
influencing children and their learning.
Everything you do and say has an impact on children.
So if you want children to be curious, to be creative, to problem
solve, to ask questions, then you need to be modeling that.
To be curious, we need to be asking questions of ourselves because
that's what we were doing as kids.
And for whatever reason we've stopped.
And there are many reasons we stopped being curious as children.
I explored that in episode 17.
So go back and listen to that episode to find out what some of these reasons are.
As adults.
We have the ability and the choice by the way to be curious.
And I say this from a place of love and from a place of personal experience.
We adults need to make whatever changes we need to make in our lives to be better
for our children because we influence the path that our children will take.
So if your curiosity has been a little stunted or suppressed, for whatever
reason, What can you do to be more curious and model that to children?
In a recent newsletter to my subscribers,
I talked exactly about this and if you want my insights into what's going
on in education and how to encourage curiosity and inquiry or educational
resources to help you implement inquiry with your learners then go to
edslessons.com and subscribe to my weekly newsletter and click on the resources tab
and you can check out all the resources there that can help you
integrate inquiry into your lessons.
So, how can you nurture your curiosity?
Firstly, is there something you've always wanted to do?
Or think is really cool, but you've never had the courage to try it,
write a list down of all these things, even if it's just one thing.
And it's there on a piece of paper now it's tangible, right?
Then next, be curious and go and do it.
I know, does this sound too good to be true?
Well actively find out what you can do to go about doing this one thing and learn
more about it and actually follow up.
The present is a gift.
Open it up.
Find out as much about this as you can read, watch videos, talk to people,
do whatever it needs, whatever takes.
And then you share this with your learners, by the way, you let them
know you're trying something new, even if it's in the classroom and you
tell them you're afraid of failing.
Allow them to see that being afraid of trying something new is normal.
Let me share a personal story very quickly.
This podcast that you're listening to right now and my blog Ed's
Lessons is the thing that I thought of for a very long time.
But I was really afraid of doing it because I'm a perfectionist
and I'm afraid of failure.
But I'll be 59 this year people.
And I'm getting to this stage where it's now or never.
So here I am, I'm doing this.
I'm taking a risk and failure is not an option.
So you guys share this podcast with everyone, you know that through this, we
can keep more people and kids curious and meet their full potential in this world.
And that'll be awesome.
And I'll know that I've made a difference.
The third thing.
Thanks very much for that by the way.
The third thing is to be open to failure.
And being uncomfortable that things are going to be hard.
We've got to do the hard yards.
It's not everything.
Isn't easy, , we don't have to be gold medal winners all the time and you
don't always have to be competitive.
You don't have to be the best.
You just need to be better than you were yesterday and just keep going.
Just like I'm doing here.
And you do it for the sheer joy of it.
Now, some of you might be saying, I've come on.
How are we starting something new going to help me be more curious.
Well you're thinking aren't you.
You're asking questions of yourself.
You're taking a risk.
You're testing yourself and your abilities.
You're going to make mistakes and it's going to be hard and you going to show
resilience and you're going to keep going and you're going to keep showing up.
And that's exactly what curiosity is about.
It's the same process that scientists and inventors go through.
Fourth thing you can do to be more curious is being intentional and reflect often.
When you're trying something new, you going to stop now and again,
and evaluate how you're doing.
You're not just going to keep going and making the same
mistakes over and over again.
Remember Einstein said that was insanity.
We're going to test something new.
You're going to test a new or a different way of achieving your
plan if things aren't working.
This is exactly what the inquiry process is.
You being interested in something, actually makes you
a more interesting person.
In the same way, we're cultivating curiosity in children because we're
encouraging them to find their passions and give them the skills
and the tools to eventually be able to pursue their own interests.
Number five, shouldn't be a surprise.
Ask questions.
Ask why?
What if, how else could we, and then be honest, if you don't know something
acknowledge, you don't know the answer.
But you're curious to find out and in, so doing you're open
to others' points of view.
And when you accept that you don't know it all, you open yourself up to
exploration and so you enrich your knowledge and you create opportunities
for greater exploration and discovery.
Modeling, questioning and exploration is essential for creating
environments where curiosity and innovative thinking can thrive.
I created an eGuide
that's all about nurturing natural curiosity in young children.
And in the guide, I have a list of open-ended question openers to ask
children, to get them wondering.
There's a link on my landing page, or you just go to www.edslessons.com
and you'll find it there.
Number six.
Make having an inquiry mindset a part of your life.
I try and read something nonfiction every day.
Read a news article or listen to the news.
But don't just consume like a passive consumer, you then have to ask questions.
Could there be something else.
Could there be another reason why.
Look for bias and read from a variety of sources.
There is nothing, an algorithm loves more than you going back to the same
old thing day in and day out, and then it's just going to feed you
with whatever you're looking for.
So, if we want to grow our mindset, we also need to look at different sources.
Reading, as we know is the one thing that creates a world of possibilities.
So it's the most essential skill for anyone to have in order to
find and decipher information.
As educators reading is probably the one skill we prioritize and
rightly so, but we must also model reading for pleasure so the children
don't feel that reading is a chore.
Whenever we learn something new or make a discovery, we get a hit of dopamine
and by the way, that also keeps our mind sharp as we age, so nurturing our own
and our learners' curiosity should always be at the forefront of our teaching.
I recently attended a PD with Kath Murdoch and she said that whenever
you're teaching a lesson, any lesson, the question to ask yourself is how can
I bring an inquiry stance to this lesson?
In other words, how can you structure your lesson to get learners involved
in thinking, collaboration, testing, wondering, and being active in
the learning process, not just passive consumers of information.
Talking about structuring lessons, by the way.
I'm offering a one hour free coaching session to educators, either home or
classroom based, that perhaps needed a little direction or help with
integrating inquiry into lessons.
In the session, we will brainstorm how you might bring an inquiry
stance to your lessons and how we can integrate inquiry into your lessons.
Coaches are charging thousands of dollars for coaching sessions, but
I'm giving a limited number of you.
An opportunity for a free brainstorming and coaching session.
So if this is something that you would appreciate, then go to.
resources.edslessons.com/inquiry101coaching I will put a link in the show
notes, so you don't forget.
So I hope you found some value in today's episode and that it
gave you some food for thought.
If it did.
I would love you to share it because that's the only way this podcast grows
and more people benefit from its content.
So share like mad.
And leave me a review if you found it useful or interesting that'll really
keep me going and creating more content.
I really would appreciate that.
So I'll see you all next week.
I hope you found some value here today.
And.
Until I see you next week, or until you hear me next week stay blooming curious.