Part I MLA Citations
Berliner, Wendy. “‘Schools Are Killing Curiosity’: Why We Need to Stop Telling Children to Shut up and Learn.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 28 Jan. 2020, www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jan/28/schools-killing-curiosity-learn.
Part 2 Summary
The passage ‘Schools are killing curiosity’: why we need to stop telling children to shut up and learn, by Wendy Berliner is about how the current educational system has been defined to be obstructive to students’ curiosity as a result of schools being too focusing on students’ academic performance. According to Wendy Berliner, schools are discouraging kids’ curiosity because teachers mainly aim to teach them based on learning targets. She illustrates a scene in a U.K. school, kids are pointing at the storms curiously but the teacher draws their attention back to the lesson that is also talking about weather. Kids are curious naturally, and they can learn from curiosity, but schools are killing curiosity. Wendy Berliner relates to Dr. Prachi Shah’s research, indicating that promoting curiosity in children who are at an economic disadvantage is important because it helps to address the achievement gap. Wendy Berliner also connects to Susan Engel’s research that explains children are less likely to ask questions when they enter school. Moreover, Berliner shows an anecdote about a school that replaces two-year-old toys with house items such as old phones and plumbing supplies. This approach encourages children to be more creative and imaginative. Finally, Wendy Berliner concludes the message by Paul Howard-Jones, who emphasizes the point that teachers should provide time for kids’ curiosity even if it is challenging.
