Part One 1: MLA Citation
Berliner, Wendy. “‘Schools Are Killing Curiosity’: Why We Need to Stop Telling Children to Shut up and Learn.” The Guardian, 28 Jan. 2020. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jan/28/schools-killing-curiosity-learn
Part 2: Summary
The article “Schools are Killing Curiosity” is an informative piece of writing in which the author Wendy Berliner states that the current way of teaching in schools is not allowing students to explore what they’re curious about through asking questions. She states that students don’t have enough time to ask questions and when some do they’re often told that questions aren’t allowed at the moment and to stick to the set curriculum. To support her argument, the author provides several studies, one of which shows that as students got older they asked fewer questions, and the ones they did ask were less about them being curious and only asked to help them pass a class. In another study at Ilminster Avenue Nursery School, they took away the toys from the children and replaced them with regular household items. They found that the children had taken to these new irregular toys which required them to use their imagination, and had realized that the children had preferred this over their old toys when so few asked for them back.
Part 3: Rhetorical Analysis
The genre of the article written by Wendy Berliner, is a feature piece. Wendy Berliner is a credible author because she has won many awards, such as the British Journalism Award for News Provider of the Year and the Press Award for Daily Newspaper of the Year. In the article, the Author uses the rhetorical appeal of ethos when she states that she wrote a book called “How to Succeed in School.” She also uses logos when she cites the research she uses to support her argument. The author also uses the rhetorical appeal of pathos when she informs the reader of a study that took place at Ilminster Avenue Nursery School. The tone of the article is informative an objective.
Notable Quotes
“Teachers who concentrate on developing focus and good behavior – now need to take on board that developing curiosity could be even more important.”
“Further, the researchers found that when it came to good school performance, the ability to stay focused and, for example not be distracted by a thunderstorm, was less important than curiosity.”
