Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Importance of Curiosity

One student was curious about tornadoes. Photo from NPR.

I look forward to getting the Marshall Memo via email. This week I found myself reading an Edutopia article entitled “Curious Homework: An Inquiry Project for Students and Parents” by Suzie Boss. It emphasizes the importance of curiosity in life and education, and laments the fact that students don’t always find a way to express their callings and passions in the context of school.

In the article, we learn about a teacher named Scot Hoffman who started his work on curiosity by bringing in folks with interesting careers or passions - a mountaineer, a doctor - and interviewing them in front of the students. Then it was the students’ turn to explore their own sense of curiosity. It would be fun to try this in the Burlington community, let students choose and interview folks, and partner with community members in addition to parents in order to pursue their own interests.