The Linchpin

In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” Unleashing curiosity and valuing it as a crucial ingredient in engaged, purposeful learning is the beginning and end of our work at Griffin. We believe that without curiosity there is no joyful or deeply engaged learning. Curiosity is our linchpin; it drives learning, both for our learners and for ourselves.

Curiosity is the element of hunger; we want our learners to be hungry to learn. Active over passive, joyful over dull. I could reference the experts, but I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and you, dear reader, have seen it too. We’ve all seen the difference curiosity makes to the learning process and I'm sure we all know which we’d rather have. Teaching with curiosity is more delightful for learners but it's equally as delightful for us as educators, too.

A classroom where curiosity is the spark that ignites learning is a more joyous place to be. The act of learning is more joyful, the journey more joyful, the uncomfortable grapple is propelled by active pursuit of the joy, the success is more joyful. With an intrinsic desire to know, knowledge acquisition is transformed from 'work' to 'learning'. After all, we work for others; we learn for ourselves.

Across history, one might say that curiosity hasn’t always been viewed as a compliment, a desired attribute, or a gift. It once had connotations of being odd or strange, eccentric and different; not traits one would want to have been associated with. Today, curiosity is more highly regarded and its power is increasingly coming to the forefront.

The question of whether one can learn to be more curious is an interesting, complex idea. Being literate and numerate only seems insufficient in our ever-changing world. Without curiosity, innovation, a core 21st-century practice, might be limited. If we are to educate learners to thrive in our complex world then illuminating the ways in which curiosity can help us to learn is crucial.

At Griffin, our ongoing relationship with Wayne Craig is helping us to uncover and better understand the nature, theories, characteristics, and types of curiosity. We are learning that the drive, incongruity, and information gap theories can be deployed to ignite teaching and learning through specific actions; that understanding the characteristics of curiosity can shift our role in the classroom; that harnessing the types of curiosity can inspire more authentic learner-centered exploration.

If we have succeeded in our goal, the Griffin graduate will leave us more curious than when they arrived. They will be Literate, Numerate and Curious. Not one without the others. They will have discovered the power of their curiosity and how it benefits, not hinders, their learning. Curiosity is the linchpin. We aim to preserve the curious child. The Designed InGenuity learning framework is further illuminating the impact authentically harnessing curiosity can have.

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