1. There’s no scientific evidence that you can 'foster' curiosity as a trait – but you can create situations that prompt and guide a child’s curiosity.‘I want to revise the thinking that someone can be a “more curious person,”’ Elizabeth says. Instead, she sees curiosity as a natural response to information. As such, a person’s baseline state of curiosity may not be malleable in and of itself. What educators and parents can foster are the specific contexts that provoke curiosity for certain kinds of information. Show
‘I want to distinguish this understanding of curiosity in a moment, a state of curiosity, versus something that is a human condition that’s going to exist regardless,’ Elizabeth says. Instead of trying to make kids ‘more curious,’ educators and parents should focus on creating moments that generate a curious response. \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\) Young children have a sense of wonder and a natural curiosity about objects and events in their world. Through exploratory play and experimentation with objects and materials, they discover how to make their car go downhill faster or how to control the movement and flow of water. They are excited to find out what’s inside a pumpkin, how trees change over the year, how the rain feels and smells, and why pill bugs curl into a ball. The preschool environment nurtures children’s innate or natural dispositions to observe and seek information and guides their curiosity into opportunities to observe, explore, and inquire about objects and phenomena in their environment. Teachers provide children with a purposefully planned, play-based, supportive environment that expands their explorations. Children’s explorations and guided investigations deepen children’s understanding of concepts in science and develop their attitudes, skills, and language of scientific inquiry.  While investigating concepts from physical, life, and earth sciences, teachers encourage children to ask questions, to observe and investigate, to predict and experiment with objects and materials, to draw conclusions, to document their work, and to share their observations and ideas with others. Such experiences not only develop children’s scientific inquiry skills, but also provide the context for learning and developing their language (building vocabulary in English and in their home language), literacy, mathematics, and social skills. Science also offers a special avenue to include families in the curriculum and bridge the home and preschool cultures. Preschool science is inclusive and prepares children for the scientific skills and knowledge they encounter later in school. It fosters a joy of discovery, a positive approach to learning, and the development of skills and attitudes necessary for many areas of learning throughout life. Pause to Reflect What aspects of the natural world are you curious about? How might that affect how you plan curriculum for science? ReferencesImage by Seattle Parks is licensed by CC-BY-2.0 The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 3 by the California Department of Education is used with permission This page titled 10.6: Conclusion is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jennifer Paris, Kristin Beeve, & Clint Springer. Part of the International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development book series (CHILD,volume 34)
Curiosity and wonder are considered fundamental for children’s development. However, no precise definition of curiosity exists, and there is little research on the nature of curiosity. There is also a lack of knowledge and ideas about how pedagogy can sustain and stimulate curiosity. Drawing upon empirical material from semi-structured interviews with seven Early Childhood Teacher Education (ECTE) lecturers from the disciplines of mathematics, arts, literature, drama, pedagogy, science and physical education about their view of children’s curiosity, the authors aim to explore the lecturers’ understanding of children’s curiosity and how this understanding varies between disciplines. Children enact their curiosity in a cultural-historical context. The cultural-historical tradition of outdoor play is a part of the institution’s practices influencing the children, while the children may use curiosity to influence the content of these practices. Although the lecturers are from different disciplines, their understanding of curiosity were consistent, particularly with regards to their focus on bodily expressions of curiosity. Expanding the concept of curiosity, we suggest the term bodily curiosity to recognise and operationalise a sensory, active and embodied search for answers. Similarly, we suggest the term bodily wonder about a kind of embodied philosophising. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution. Begus, K., & Southgate, V. (2012). Infant pointing serves an interrogative function. Developmental Science, 15(5), 611–617. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2012.01160.x CrossRef Google Scholar Berlyne, D. E. (1954). A theory of human curiosity. British Journal of Psychology, 45, 180–191. Google Scholar Berlyne, D. E. (1966). Curiosity and exploration. Science, 153, 25–33. CrossRef Google Scholar Chak, A. (2007). Teachers’ and parents’ conceptions of children’s curiosity and exploration. 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Corresponding authorCorrespondence to Marianne Presthus Heggen . Editor informationEditors and Affiliations
Rights and permissionsOpen Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Reprints and Permissions Copyright information© 2021 The Author(s) About this chapterCite this chapterHeggen, M.P., Lynngård, A.M. (2021). Curious Curiosity – Reflections on How Early Childhood Lecturers Perceive Children’s Curiosity. In: Grindheim, L.T., Sørensen, H.V., Rekers, A. (eds) Outdoor Learning and Play. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development, vol 34. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72595-2_11 How can you model creativity thoughtfulness and curiosity needed for exploration discovery and investigation?Adults can model creativity, thoughtfulness, and curiosity that is necessary for exploration. By showing their own interests in materials and experiences, adults can teach children about the value of exploration. Discoveries, investigations, and experiments can be related to a wide variety of areas or concepts.
Why is it important for children to explore and investigate?Exploring also gives toddlers a chance to work on important motor skills. Whether it's kicking a ball or climbing stairs, they can persist until they get it right. Doing so not only adds skills, it boosts their sense of confidence and competence. In other words, they begin to think: "I can do it!"
How can you encourage curiosity and discovery in the classroom?Practical Tips to Inspire Curiosity in Students. Be Curious Yourself. Model an open, inquisitive attitude to new and familiar activities, ideas, people, and cultures. ... . Ask Questions and Question Answers. ... . Practice and Encourage Active Listening. ... . Look for the Hook. ... . Present New Information in Chunks.. How can we encourage children to explore their environment?Top Ten: Ways to Teach Kids About the Environment. Lead by example. ... . Take your kids outside. ... . Teach children to use the appropriate receptacle for their waste: reduce, reduce, reduce, reuse, reuse and recycle as much as you can. ... . Give them chores, like helping you classify your recyclables.. |
