How hard are you willing to work to see the truth?
I was taught early on that deep learning requires sober devotion, that a seeker must be willing to face the truth no matter how unpleasant. Valid enough, but a narrow approach that assumes a press through hard material. Such devoted, resolute focus can be as blinding as any craving to believe a splendid illusion.
Hunger to know truth is not the same as wonder. Resolution to face the next moment is not curiosity. Looking to confirm what we know — or to negate what we fear — is not seeking the truth.
Curiosity is a lighter stance. It allows a different sort of seeing and learning. It reveals subtleties.
Do you remember feeling wonder at the sound of a bell, or delight with a soap bubble? Apply that curiosity to a study of truth and see what emerges.
As teachers we get mixed messages about curiosity. We are told to encourage wonder in our students but to stay on topic. We are told to stoke a desire to explore but not to upset the parents.
A delight in uncovering, unwrapping, and discovery produces agile, self-propelled students. How do we open the door to wonder and curiosity as an approach, and yet honor the limits of the world in which we teach?
This is especially important with children. We steer them away from things for which they are not prepared. Sex. Religion. Family secrets. There are good reasons for children to learn about some things slowly, carefully, later, perhaps never. As Mr. Rogers says in Nuturing Curiosity, “Some things are for grownups. It’s all right to be curious, but if somebody doesn’t want to tell you, that’s all right. You can go on to be curious about something else.”
There are always limits. If nothing else, the day has only 24 hours and some of them are good for sleep. When we set limits for our students, we teach them about their world. Where we set such limits is not nearly as important as our attitude about setting them. As Mr. Rogers says, we can be curious about many things. The point is not what we are curious about but how. The approach, not the destination.
How do we teach curiosity and wonder? Asking questions is only the first part; we must be truly interested in the answers, in what arises in the moments after the questions are asked. This is not Socratic questioning, where we guide the student’s inquiries to lead them to the right answer. If we are busy considering our next strategic question, we are hardly in a state of curiosity and discovery. Our students can certainly tell the difference.
How do we nurture and ignite curiosity in our students? We start with ourselves.
What is around the bend? What is in that box? What will that bird do next? Look for intriging mystery. Seek wonder and curiosity within. Spark that to flame. Take that to your classroom.
Sober devotion, or in my case, sometimes it feels like grim determination. Indeed, the “lightness of being” approach is more effective, yet for some there’s heavy duty (note choice of words here as well) conditioning to dissolve first.
Thanks for making that distinction between Socratic questioning true curiosity. This feels like the difference between “solving a problem” and “discovering what’s there”
I suspect there is room in life for both sober devotion and open curiosity but for me the first has been easier to come by. When I realized the power of curiosity I naturally resolved to pursue it diligently. Now I try to approach my grim devotion with some curiosity.
Sometimes I find that solving a specific problem is easier than looking at the totality of the moment to see what it holds, and grim determination to learn is simpler than finding my own wonder.
I absolutely relate:-)