In the article, “Schools are Killing Curiosity,” Wendy Berliner claims that it has been proven that curious kids perform better academically but the school system is failing to build curious students. The author mentions that researchers from the university of Michigan found that as kids got older, their curiosity levels weakened. The article mentions that since teachers prioritize behavior and staying focused, they dismiss any questions a student has. It was found that in order to have a good foundation for early learning, curiosity should be emphasized and encouraged in all classes by mentors. Berliner states that when teachers dismiss questions continuously, children became less curious and viewed it as a risk to their results/grades. While the system has chosen to dismiss curiosity, there are still a handful that do encourage it. The writer concludes that teachers have many targets to meet so it’s truly up to the school system to change it’s ways and views on motivated students. All in all, humans learn from novel situations and the act of curiosity is important to that process.
