Always Be Curious: The New ABC's
It is 1974. I pull up my knee socks, buckle up my white patent leather shoes, and race out for the bus. Just like my big brother - I am getting to go to SCHOOL! I am excited! I have a thousand questions, and THIS is where I am going to find out those answers.
Except it isn’t. It turns out, you are not supposed to ask questions here. It turns out, you are supposed to sit quietly and follow directions. Even if those directions don’t make sense to you. I have vivid memories of constantly having my hand in the air. And also of getting in trouble for “talking back” and being very confused by that comment. I wasn’t trying to be difficult, I was trying to understand.
It became clear to me at 5 years old that school was no place for curiosity. School was a place for compliance, rule following, and sitting quietly. It took me two more years of being confused why questions were a problem and getting in trouble for “talking back” before I accepted things and learned how to play the game. I pushed down all of those questions and became a model student. I largely had success in school, but that spark of curiosity did not find its way back into school for me. Thankfully, that spark found other ways to stay ignited.
So, why did this happen? Why wouldn’t a school embrace curiosity? What are the factors that make a hand-raising, enthusiastic learner shut down? Does this still happen today? These are all very important questions to be curious about and to explore. I could talk about this particular excerpt in my learning journey for hours on end. I am guessing you have stories, too.
Erik Shonstrom in his commentary writes, “Fostering curiosity is the key to learning, yet it's difficult to achieve in the classroom. This is in part because curiosity itself is so misunderstood. While we can change pedagogy or curriculum, for the most part, students who want to learn, will. It's usually because they're curious.”
As educators, we should never shut down innate curiosity. Specifically, in mathematics, it is important to encourage others to be curious about the patterns and the connections and the reasoning behind the mathematics we are learning.
There are three focus areas for curiosity that are important to explore. They are curiosity about: yourself, your students, and your teaching content.
Curiosity about yourself
It is important to take regular inventory of how you are doing.
When are you excited in your teaching?
What kind of lesson are you teaching?
When is it going so well that things are just moving along and all feeling right?
When do you notice JOY?
And then there’s the opposite of those moments.
When you feel stressed, what is happening?
What are the specifics of the situation?
Why do you feel that way?
Is there a pattern there that could be disrupted?
How would you go about disrupting those patterns?
We need to become curious about our reactions and feelings about our teaching experiences. Instead of getting defeated or putting up various walls, we need to step back and be curious about ourselves. We need to seek more of what brings joy. We need to search for solutions and practice self care when we feel stressed.
One way I work on this is by using this gratitude journal. This is a practice that I consciously bring into my daily routines.
Curiosity about your students
We need to be curious about all aspects of our students.
Who are your students?
What do they like? Dislike?
Who are their friends?
What motivates them?
There is so much to pay attention to. We have to be curious about each student, and be interested in their unique story. I recently participated in the Leading Equity Virtual Summit, listening to amazing interviews with a range of educators. One guest, Cornelius minor (@misterminor), reminded me that we need to pay attention to the data that we receive in alternative forms - not just test data, written or verbal information, but noticing data about students that comes in other forms.
What is the affect of a student as they enter the room?
How are they behaving?
What is their behavior telling you?
How is that impacting their learning today?
Asking open ended questions helps us to be curious about how students are understanding the mathematics. For example,when beginning a new topic, you can ask students, “What do you know? What do you want to know?” Student’s think about these questions, share ideas with a partner, and then the teacher gathers their responses on a class chart. You can use this information in planning for future lessons. I recently had an opportunity to use this approach with a second grade classroom about to begin a unit on shapes. One student said, “I wonder, what is the shape with the most sides? What would that look like and what is it called?” Another student asked, “Where did shapes get their names?” They had so much curiosity that when we began our lesson with a shape sort, they could barely wait to dig in. The teacher now had valuable information to go forward in the unit in a way that addressed the students’ curiosity.
Here are some other questions that convey to your students that you are curious about them:
I see that you ____, tell me more?
What can I do to help you learn this?
What do you want to know?
I am curious about why you ___, can you share that with me?
What do you notice about this problem?
What do you already know about ___ ?
What questions can you ask?
Jane Santa Cruz’s article Inquiring Minds: Curiosity as a Catalyst to Discovery states: "Asking questions is the gateway towards curiosity and building an endless path for learning … while there is a noticeable lack of natural curiosity and exploration in our daily habits, our natural sense of curiosity is certainly not lost forever. We must find ways to bring exploration back and implement habits around continually asking questions. By starting with questions, we can spark new interests and increase personal growth; and by continuing to ask questions as a society, we can create organizational cultures that value curiosity without larger expectations and generate new ideas for 21st century needs.”
Curiosity about your teaching content
As a math educator, we need to foster our own curiosity and understanding of mathematics. In particular, this comes into play during lesson planning. Part of preparing for a lesson is making sure you have a complete understanding of the mathematics yourself.
Do you know why a particular rule or algorithm works?
What is the real world connection to a particular procedure or problem?
What is the history of the mathematics that you are teaching?
What is the prerequisite knowledge needed to understand what you are currently teaching?
How do students make sense of this mathematics?
What tools could support their learning?
How can you extend this task?
The study of mathematics is an eternal practice of curiosity. It is a discipline that is centered on finding and solving problems. As a mathematics educator, it is important that we model our own curiosity as we explore and appreciate the beauty of mathematics.
It is my belief that we truly do need to remember this ABC: ALWAYS BE CURIOUS. It is through curiosity that we connect with ourselves, with others, and with the content that we teach. It is through this endeavor that as humans we grow.
What experiences have you had around curiosity? Do you have stories to share? Please share in the comments box below.
Take care,
Sue