Dr Sally Stephens, Director of Science, Acting Dean of Studies and Planning
Recent educational thinking around the idea of curiosity reads like a crime drama. Curiosity is the victim. In a shocking twist, the crime is thought to have been an inside job; the prime suspects in the murder of curiosity are adults aided and abetted by the very educational system charged with fostering it. The teaching of Science is one of the crime scenes. The pundits have got hold of the story, and the headlines are grim: theoretical physicist, Dr Michio Kaku, and astrophysicist, Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson report that curiosity has been ‘squashed’, and ‘crushed’ out of our children (Kaku, 2014; deGrasse Tyson, 2010), while Sir Ken Robinson opines that:
Education is the system that’s supposed to develop our natural abilities and enable us to make our way in the world. Instead, it is stifling the individual talents and abilities of too many students and killing their motivation to learn. (Robinson & Aronica, 2009, p. 16)
It is alleged that adults destroy intellectual curiosity in the young by inciting fear. Apparently children are so afraid of failure, being wrong, making mistakes, ridicule, and the displeasure of the significant adults in their lives that by the age of ten most children will not ask questions at all (Holt, 1982). There is also strong evidence to suggest that the absence of an invested adult is an impediment to the enthusiastic exploration of the curious child (Perry, n.d.). The suspects, then, are adults, but the modus operandi runs the gamut from disinterest to displeasure.
As in all such cases, tributes to the victim from notables are many. According to Anatole France, ‘the whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards’. Bruce Perry warns that ‘curiosity dimmed is a future denied’ (Perry, n.d.). Psychologist, Todd Kashdan, praises curiosity as ‘the spark plug that ignites other factors that contribute to happiness and meaning in life’ (Kashdan, n.d.). Einstein himself argued that ‘curiosity is more important than knowledge’ (Chang, 2006), and offered the modest but telling self-assessment, ‘I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious’ (En.wikiquote.org, 2015).
We all know that (cats aside) curiosity makes both life and learning more effective and enjoyable. Peterson, Ruch, Beermann, Park, and Seligman (2007) investigated the relationship between twenty-four character strengths (such as zest, hope, love, and gratitude) and well-being. They studied over twelve thousand adults from the US and 445 from Switzerland, and found that curiosity featured as one of the character strengths most highly linked to life satisfaction and the three routes to happiness – engagement, meaning and pleasure. Curiosity is ‘a positive emotional-motivational system associated with the recognition, pursuit, and self-regulation of novelty and challenge’ (Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004) and, as such, ‘is a mechanism for achieving high levels of well-being and meaning of life’ (Kashdan & Steger, 2007). Curiosity is an observable and desirable trait in a healthy baby and routinely ranks number one in the traits of a good scientist (Decker, n.d.; Katz, 2015).
Forensics only adds physiological gravity to the crime. Last year, researchers at the University of California conducted a series of experiments involving brain scans to discover what is happening in the brain when curiosity is aroused. They discovered that once their curiosity had been piqued, people were better at remembering not only the intended learning but other unrelated information as well. Curiosity appears to be able to put the brain in a state that is more conducive to learning and more prepared for long-term memory. The scans showed that when the participants’ curiosity had been aroused, there was not only increased activity in the hippocampus, which is the region of the brain involved in the creation of new memories, but also in the area of the brain that has to do with reward and pleasure (Gruber, Gelman, & Ranganath, 2014).
As in all good crime procedurals, the authorities retrace the victim’s steps to pin down the time of death. Here the findings are disturbing. In a discussion paper prepared for the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority on learner characteristics, Reeve and Ainlee (2004) summarised the transition from Prep to Year 10 of behaviours related to curiosity and interest. They found that Prep to Year 4 students are attracted by new information and experience and are willing to explore what is novel. Students in Years 5 to 8 are developing their own personal interests, resulting in their responses to new knowledge and experiences becoming increasingly dependent on how they relate to emerging interests. By Years 9 and 10, the responses of students to new knowledge and learning experiences are now more dependent on their personal interests. It seems that as students age they are less likely to have their curiosity piqued by school activities.
And how is Science implicated in this tragedy? US studies reveal a developmental decline in intrinsic motivation in academic settings particularly in maths and science (Gottfried, Fleming, & Gottfried, 2001). In Sweden, students decide whether or not to pursue a career in science by 12 to 13 years of age (Lindahl, 2003). Pell and Jarvis (2003) found that 10- and 11-year-old students in the UK lack enthusiasm for science and perceive it to be difficult, while Jenkins and Nelson (2005) found that students were uninterested in their science studies by the time they reached their General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (15 to 16 years old). The story is similar in Australia. Even though the Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that jobs requiring Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills grew at about 1.5 times the rate of other jobs in recent years, Kennedy, Lyons, and Quinn (2014) assessed the decline in science and mathematics enrolments in Australian high schools from 1992 to 2012 to be Biology (-10%), Chemistry (-5%), Physics (-7%), multidisciplinary Science (-5%), intermediate Mathematics (-11%), and advanced Mathematics (-7%). It seems, as high school educators, that the death occurred on our watch.
The crime metaphor is arresting (pardon the pun), but, to borrow from Mark Twain, reports of curiosity’s death have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, I can testify that curiosity is alive and well at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. Over the past few years, the Science Faculty has developed and implemented sixteen new curiosity-inspired Junior Science units. In their Physics units, students float across the ground on a hovercraft, build a shaduf and a solar-powered car, and investigate the safety of their mobile phones. They are equally curious during their study of biology, chemistry and earth and space science. And, in the senior school, when their study of science is no longer mandatory and students are able to select subjects that correspond with their interests and tertiary aspirations, over ninety per cent of our students routinely study one or more of the sciences.
Never is a science student’s curiosity more on display than when she is engaged in an extended experimental investigation (EEI). These tasks are infused with obstacles so that students can develop and use the set of life and scientific attitudes required to overcome them. Usually students are given the topic, but it is up to them to interpret it and design their own theoretical and experimental investigations to derive a solution. Quite often, teachers are required to rein in student curiosity or they would never stop experimenting long enough to write the assessable report. We know children possess curiosity and, irrespective of their performance on other forms of assessment, tasks like EEIs foster and reward it.
Girls Grammar aspires to be a leader in exceptional scholarship, and systematic curiosity in research and learning is fundamental to this aspiration. The School may not be a crime scene now, but what do we — as the adults in the girls’ lives — have to do to keep it crime free? It is clear that we need to activate a Neighbourhood Watch program which endorses and safeguards the sort of intellectual environment in which curiosity can flourish. The adult residents must foster a culture of uncertainty in which they entitle students to ask questions, to stray, and to explore without fear of making mistakes or being ridiculed. They must model curiosity and join in their children’s explorations. They must listen and provide continuous and effective feedback. They must value every question and every child-inspired insight as being worthy of their time.
Curiosity is not dead, it is not even wounded. It is thriving at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. And that is a good thing because it is what drives and shapes our intellect. It makes both life and learning more effective and enjoyable. We must not fail in our efforts to cultivate curiosity because when children are not given the opportunity to be curious and to have their curiosity satisfied, they are denied another opportunity to enrich their lives.
References
Chang, L. (2006). Wisdom for the soul. Washington, DC: Gnosophia Publishers.
Decker, F. (n.d.). Four attitudes and behaviors of a good scientist. Chron. Retrieved from http://work.chron.com/four-attitudes-behaviors-good-scientist-5668.html
deGrasse Tyson, N. (2010, February 25). On literacy, curiosity, education, and being ‘in your face’. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2010/02/neil_degrasse_tyson_on_literac.html
En.wikiquote.org. (2015). Albert Einstein – Wikiquote. Retrieved 10 November 2015 from https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein
Gottfried, A. E., Fleming, J. S., & Gottfried, A. W. (2001). Continuity of academic intrinsic motivation from childhood through late adolescence: A longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 3–13. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/232491259_Continuity_of_Academic_Intrinsic_Motivation_From_Childhood_Through_Late_Adolescence_A_Longitudinal_Study
Gruber, M., Gelman, B., & Ranganath, C. (2014). States of curiosity modulate hippocampus-dependent learning via the dopaminergic circuit. Neuron, 84(2), 486–496.
Holt, J. (1982). How children fail. Retrieved from http://iwcenglish1.typepad.com/Documents/Holt_How_Children_Fail.pdf
Jenkins, E.W., & Nelson, N.W. (2005). Important but not for me: Students’ attitudes towards secondary school science in England. Research in Science and Technological Education, 23(1), 41–57.
Kaku, M. (2014, May 2). Michio Kaku on how curiosity is crushed by the “education” system. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5mRK0m6n_Q
Kashdan, T. (n.d.). How Curious? will help you. Retrieved from https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/harpercollins-ems/Curious-Amazon.pdf
Kashdan, T. (2010). The power of curiosity. Experience Life. Retrieved from https://experiencelife.com/article/the-power-of-curiosity/
Kashdan, T., Rose, P., & Fincham, F. (2004). Curiosity and exploration: Facilitating positive subjective experiences and personal growth opportunities. Journal of Personality Assessment, 82(3), 291–305.
Kashdan, T., & Steger, M. (2007). Curiosity and pathways to well-being and meaning in life: Traits, states, and everyday behaviors. Motivation and Emotion, 31(3), 159–173.
Katz, L.B. (2015). 10 characteristics of scientists: Human nature concepts. Retrieved from https://humannatureconcepts.wordpress.com/category/10-characteristics-of-scientists/
Kennedy, J., Lyons, T., & Quinn, F. (2014). The continuing decline of science and mathematics enrolments in Australian high schools. Teaching Science, 60(2), 34–46.
Lindahl, B. (2003). Pupils’ responses to school science and technology? A longitudinal study of pathways to upper secondary school. Unpublished summary of PhD Thesis, University of Gothenburg, Kristianstad. Retrieved from https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/9599/1/gupea_2077_9599_1.pdf
Pell, A., & Jarvis, T. (2003). Developing attitude to science scales for use with primary teachers. International Journal of Science Education, 25(10), 1273–1295.
Perry, B. (n.d.). Curiosity: The fuel of development. Retrieved from http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/curiosity.htm
Peterson, C., Ruch, W., Beermann, U., Park, N., & Seligman, M. (2007). Strengths of character, orientations to happiness, and life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2(3), 149–156.
Reeve, R., & Ainley, M. (2004). Learner characteristics. Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Retrieved from https://pebblepad.latrobe.edu.au/pebblepad/download.aspx?oid=430958&useroid=0&action=view
Robinson, K., & Aronica, L. (2009). The element: How finding your passion changes everything. New York: Viking.