Author: Emely (Page 1 of 5)

It sounds almost impossible to believe that a kid was uninterested in anything while growing up, but that is my incurious life. I never wanted to be a doctor growing up or wondered why the sky was blue, I just listened to what I was told and didn’t question. Frankly, I cannot remember my not so long ago childhood. However, I did become very interested in U.S history and current events when I was in Middle School (about 12 years old.) It was all thanks to my 7th-8th grade Social Studies teacher who introduced me to a history that could be interesting and encouraged my constant curiosity. I love learning about all aspects of U.S history because I think it is important to understand the significance of the land you’re walking on. Most people feel that history is irrelevant. Who needs to know what happened two hundred years ago? But I feel that everyday we see history repeating itself, and we need to learn from it to thrive and build a functioning society. Asking questions to any trusted adult or reading trusted news outlets has driven me to become more intrigued by the way our government works or even how to build a better one. Government is a … relatively “well” oiled machine with different aspects and working parts to it. I feel that the people of a country should be well informed about their governments, its laws and regulations in order to know their rights and figure out ways to fight for them. Any time something big happens on the news, I always ask for opinions of my peers or answers from anybody who is into politics or can actually explain to me what’s going on. They’re watering the social studies seed planted deeply rooted in me. My curiosity has only flourished over the years. I’m thankful I was given the opportunity to ask my questions and allowed to be curious in my history classes.  I constantly text my Middle School Social Studies teacher and my High School U.S history teacher about my questions on what’s happening with the world and what can possible outcomes mean for us. Now with all the craziness of the world and constant terrifying changes, I feel like my curiosity will only grow from here. 

1. “Children, full of questions about things that interest them, are learning not to ask them at school.” This one sentence at the beginning of the article just sets the tone for the entire article, as it’s something that I feel like every student should understand and relate to. If you are curious or ask questions, you’re often looked as rowdy to the teachers and dumb to students. I feel like this is why myself and others may not ask questions now that we’re older because we were taught at such a young ages that curious questions weren’t valid. You’re taught well and you’re supposed to understand it all just as well- no questions asked. 
2. “Teachers who concentrate on developing focus and good behaviour because of the links to good academic performance, now need to take on board that developing curiosity could be even more important.” This reminds me of our in class discussion where it was said that curiosity is a fuel to our life. It’s a desire or a motivation to keep going, to keep learning and to keep living. Without curiosity, you’re walking blank. It’s nice to see studies that are now giving a valid importance to curiosity because it’s just as important as answering questions right for good grades. And honestly, I’ve always said that the best students are the ones who always ask questions and are participating. I’ve noticed that a lot in my classes. 
3.  “In one lesson she observed, a ninth grader raised her hand to ask if there were any places in the world where no one made art. The teacher stopped her mid-sentence with, “Zoe, no questions now, please; it’s time for learning.” This is upsetting how common this is!! There should be a distinguishing difference between learning and asking questions. Asking questions is how a student should learn. Students should be heard and seen, not just taught or educated. 
4. “The questions they asked were aimed at improving their results, whereas the questions asked by more curious students were aimed at understanding a topic more deeply.” I resonate with this quote because most of the time, my questions are about how much am I gonna get grader, how to get a better grade or how much an assignment will hurt my grade. I rarely participate or ask questions because I feel like they’re too dumb and I should’ve already understood, or that my questions would be a pestering annoyance. 
5. “School kills curiosity. When do children get to ask questions about things that interest them? As soon as they are at primary school they have to shut up and learn. It’s not the fault of teachers. They have so many targets to meet.” This quote by Professor Paul Howard-Jones is especially relevant nowadays that we see schools or the “higher ups” that don’t care for students or teachers. It is why it is so common to hear that teachers aren’t being paid enough because they’re not! They’re not even given enough attention so how could we hold them accountable for not giving attention to their students. Most times their job is to get through units or fly through the curriculum to prepare students for the big end of the year test. So they do their jobs, no questions asked and not allowing questions to be asked to them. It’s a cycle that needs to be put to an end.