Curiousity

Tony Wagner and I have this experience in common.  I agree with what he states on page xxiii of his book, The Global Achievement Gap, "...I have observed that the longer our children are in school, the less curious they become.  Effective communication, curiosity, and critical-thinking skills...are more than just the traditional desirable outcomes of a liberal arts education.  They are essential competencies and habits of mind for life in the twenty-first century."

Before I was hired as a full-time teacher, I had the opportunity to substitute teach in a variety of settings at all levels.  I taught in poor schools as well as upper class schools (or as upper class as it got in my county).  I taught in elementary as well as high school; my favorite was middle school classes.  I also taught high school math courses at the local private school, before I decided to leave the school systems altogether.

The elementary children were always trying to out do each other in answering questions and in asking curious questions as well.  Teachers had to implement "pick me" sticks - a system to fairly call on students to answer teacher-posed questions based upon whose stick gets drawn out of a container.  The students were disappointed when they were not 'picked'!  They raised their hand anyway in case the 'picked' student did not know the answer or got only half the answer right.  Most students did not care if they got it wrong in elementary school - the enthusiasm was still there when the next question was orally given.  Hands all go up in an effort to raise higher than the person beside them.  Students were always asking, "Why?" "What are we going to do today?" "How does this work?" "When can we learn about...?"

High school students on the other hand would hardly raise their hand at all.  One student in particular was very brilliant, but would NEVER raise his hand to answer or ask a question.  He got an "A" on practically every assignment.  Some students would wait and hope I would answer the question and avoid all contact with my eyes!  Others would look at me and answer the question posed when I called directly on them, but did not volunteer to give answers!  With each missed answer, they withdrew even more - even with my encouragement to try again.  I asked all the questions - except this one:  "Will this be on the test?"  If the answer was "Yes", then there would be an influx of clarification questions.  This was the extent of their curiosity except near report card time.  They suddenly became curious about their average in the class.

Middle School was somewhat different depending on the student; some were still eager, but others were apathetic.  It was definitely a slower pace of answering; students were pretty sure they knew the answer before raising a hand to volunteer an answer.  Often I had to call on students who seemed to want to answer, but were afraid to offer a response in front of the other students.  Sometimes I had answers like, "I don't know!"  Not in the most pleasant of mannerisms.  I know this is an awkward age, but I believe it is because the students are not taught to think and not getting prepared to answer the higher-level, open-ended questions of middle school.  Students feel unprepared, embarrassed, or worried about peers' opinions?

When students enter their educational career at the age of five or six, they are like a sponge to soak up what they can learn.  When given the right environment, this curiosity would not be suppressed.  At first children are eager to learn new things - anything in which you show interest.  The alphabet and counting are exciting, because the teacher says so.  Science is "hands-on" and outdoors.  History comes alive with vivid stories or culture studies.  Learning to read is exciting!

Somehow after a few years - around middle school - things change.  The students are no longer excited to learn.  They see other children not answering questions and not curious.  The teacher is asking all the questions and the students are not interested in the topics.  If a topic is explored in which the student is interested, it can only be studied for a day or two due to the high volume of topics per year that need to be covered. 

Homeschooling would allow the security of a child continuing to be curious throughout his or her school career, because other children would not spread this apathy prevalent in school systems.  The children would see mom get excited about a topic, a book, a trip, the library, a classical movie, etc. and get excited as well.  Children could answer questions without fear of missing an answer.  Parents can facilitate meaningful communication, encourage curiosity about any topic, and insist on critical-thinking skill competencies.  Students could research and learn about any theme in which they showed an interest. 

How have you seen your child's curiosity change over the years as he or she got older?