Curiosity is Key
I have been waiting all day to sit and write this post! It is 10,30pm and I really should be doing my readings for uni tomorrow (or in bed) but I just had to get these ideas out of my head!
I think I have found the key. The key to learning. The key to motivation...
Curiosity. Curiosity is the key.
Because science says so.
This week I stumbled upon this research about what is happening to our brains when we are curious. Basically, the research suggests that when we are curious about something, our brains release a chemical called Dopamine which gives us a high, happy feeling. The Dopamine seems to enhance the connections of the cells in the brain that are involved in learning (such as memory). In other words, when we are curious about something, it wakes up the part of our brain that learns new things. The study found that curious brains were able to learn not only about what they were curious about, but were able to remember "boring" things more efficiently as well.
Basically, curious brains are better at learning.
OK, so we kinda already know that when we are interested in something, it makes it easier to learn about. We want to know, so we are more motivated to learn about it. But what I found interesting about this research is how the high states of curiosity can enhance our memory. Can we (potentially) spark curiosity and then learn something by rote more effectively?
Suddenly it makes sense to me. We should be tapping into this curiosity in the classroom ALL THE TIME! Can we hook our students in with their own curiosity, so they actually want to learn? Can we set that light off in their brains so they become better learners?
Early childhood centres, particularly those that are Reggio Emilia inspired, are really good at letting curiosity lead the way. So much learning occurs when the child can take control of their own learning. They become intrinsically motivated through their own curiosity. The reality of a Primary School setting means that curiosity perhaps cannot lead the way, It needs to be provoked.
I work at a school that is using the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP). I am pretty new to IB, but I am slowly getting my head around it. What I have learnt is that the PYP is all about inquiry learning -building upon the curiosity of the students. Teachers provoke this curiosity and the students run with it. It is awesome. Inquiry learning (not to be confused with "inquiry" -the subject that seems to have replaced "topic"/social studies from what I have seen) has the potential to transform learning as we know it. We can spark those connections to make learning more effective, I have noticed a lot of mainstream schools are using genius hour or discovery hour, which allows students to inquire further into something that they are interested in, I would be interested to hear if teachers notice a difference in the learning that occurs after that hour (once those brains have been lit up),
Provoking curiosity is really fun, you never really know where it will take you and you can almost see the sparks flying around the room! We are really lucky that we can access so many resources on the Internet. It is so simple to use websites, photos, video clips, interactive maps etc, to provoke wonder, I love the idea of the 'wonder wall' in the classroom where students can display their ideas and questions, See/think/wonder charts are really effective too when coupled with an object or a picture. Simply stopping to think about what you are looking at provokes some really wonderful questions.
I'm sure there is so much more to this idea of curiosity in the classroom and the sparking of brains. I'll definitely be on the look out for more ideas.
(google iamages)
Basically, curious brains are better at learning.
OK, so we kinda already know that when we are interested in something, it makes it easier to learn about. We want to know, so we are more motivated to learn about it. But what I found interesting about this research is how the high states of curiosity can enhance our memory. Can we (potentially) spark curiosity and then learn something by rote more effectively?
Suddenly it makes sense to me. We should be tapping into this curiosity in the classroom ALL THE TIME! Can we hook our students in with their own curiosity, so they actually want to learn? Can we set that light off in their brains so they become better learners?
Early childhood centres, particularly those that are Reggio Emilia inspired, are really good at letting curiosity lead the way. So much learning occurs when the child can take control of their own learning. They become intrinsically motivated through their own curiosity. The reality of a Primary School setting means that curiosity perhaps cannot lead the way, It needs to be provoked.
I work at a school that is using the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP). I am pretty new to IB, but I am slowly getting my head around it. What I have learnt is that the PYP is all about inquiry learning -building upon the curiosity of the students. Teachers provoke this curiosity and the students run with it. It is awesome. Inquiry learning (not to be confused with "inquiry" -the subject that seems to have replaced "topic"/social studies from what I have seen) has the potential to transform learning as we know it. We can spark those connections to make learning more effective, I have noticed a lot of mainstream schools are using genius hour or discovery hour, which allows students to inquire further into something that they are interested in, I would be interested to hear if teachers notice a difference in the learning that occurs after that hour (once those brains have been lit up),
Provoking curiosity is really fun, you never really know where it will take you and you can almost see the sparks flying around the room! We are really lucky that we can access so many resources on the Internet. It is so simple to use websites, photos, video clips, interactive maps etc, to provoke wonder, I love the idea of the 'wonder wall' in the classroom where students can display their ideas and questions, See/think/wonder charts are really effective too when coupled with an object or a picture. Simply stopping to think about what you are looking at provokes some really wonderful questions.
I'm sure there is so much more to this idea of curiosity in the classroom and the sparking of brains. I'll definitely be on the look out for more ideas.
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