Learning Curiosity

Successful teachers know to assume that students don’t know anything that has not been taught in their class because students often will not admit they don’t know something. However, I believe this mindset is often only applied to content knowledge rather than learning as a whole. We forget to consider that students have never been taught how to ask questions or how to wonder. Jeff Utecht’s podcast, Shifting Our Schools, addresses this issue perfectly by describing how most teachers aim to nurture curiosity in their classrooms, but do not teach their students how to be curious. When students are asked, they feel as though it is their job to answer questions rather than ask them. This mindset does not aid in an effective learning environment and needs to be addressed in classrooms. 

Personally, my primary goal as an educator is to grow curiosity and wonderment in my students, but like all else, we must know how to teach this. In a world where quick access to answers and overly structured curriculum, have killed curiosity, we must figure out ways to help our students relearn this. This should be the primary goal of all modern teachers.