In the article “Schools Are Killing Curiosity,” Wendy Berliner writes that while we know ‘curious’ children do better academically, most schools are failing to teach curiosity. Berliner cites research from the University of Michigan demonstrating that, as kids get older, their curiosity picture becomes bleaker. According to her, this decline is due in large part to teachers edging out questions in the interest of discipline and a quiet classroom where they are also not willing to listen.
The article emphasizes the significance of encouraging curiosity, which happens to be fundamental to successful early learning. For her part, Berliner argues that mentors and educators need to cultivate an environment of curiosity in any subject. Yet, over time and with consistent disregard of student-generated questions, eventually curiosity becomes labeled in the minds of students as a potential risk to their academic status — a threat that learning itself is penalized. For the most part, Berliner believes that the education system serves to crush curiosity, and instead, sees it as something some teachers try to instill in their classrooms.
In conclusion, Berliner highlights that it is unfair to turnaround and challenge teachers to turn this curiosity on in a classroom when they already have so many objectives. Instead, she advocates for systemic transformation to accommodate the fact that student curiosity matters. Directly or indirectly, Berliner is arguing that curiosity lies at the core of human learning processes — predicated upon encountering novelty — and so should be nurtured in the school context instead of deprived.
