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.
Summary
Wendy Berliner, the author of “Schools kill curiosity”, writes about school systems preventing youths from asking questions and being curious learners. “When teachers teach young children not to ask questions, it is not surprising that high-performing students studied by American researchers in 2013 were found to be less curious, because they saw curiosity as a risk to their results.” Paragraph 12, lines 62-64. This adapts the idea that children are taught to throw away curiosity to become more efficient. On top of that, it is mentioned curiosity with questions is shown to make the said ‘more efficient’ results even better. “the latest American research suggests we should be encouraging questions, because curious children do better” Paragraph 3, lines 11-12. Sourcing the University of Michigan CS Mott Children’s Hospital elaborating lightly on how questions create better results although it isn’t practiced. However it is mentioned due to children being influenced to be less curious it halts their academic growth. “the youngest children in an American suburban elementary school asked between two and five questions in a two-hour period. Even worse, as they got older the children gave up asking altogether. There were two-hour stretches in fifth grade (year 6) where 10 and 11-year-olds failed to ask their teacher a single question.” the youngest children in an American suburban elementary school asked between two and five questions in a two-hour period. Even worse, as they got older the children gave up asking altogether. There were two-hour stretches in fifth grade (year 6) where 10 and 11-year-olds failed to ask their teacher a single question.” Paragraph 9 lines 47-51. Overall, Berliner explains and elaborates on how children don’t ask questions and in turn is causing a problem towards their futures.
Rhetorical Analysis
The article is feature piece. Wendy Berliner stands at a credible standpoint from the cause of have writing a book, dubbed “How to Succeed as School. What every parent should know”. Not only that, the location the article was published from, “The Guardian” is known for publishing articles of this nature with a lot of them being reliable sources. Berliner wants her audience readers of parents with children to advocate for children to become more curious individuals who grow up to be more interested in educating themselves. This article was made during 2020 which is an up to date year on information. With all of this we can deduct that Berliner is a credible writer through all these points.
Notable Quotes
1. “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.” (Berliner 6)
2. “The study’s lead researcher, Dr Prachi Shah, a developmental and behavioural paediatrician at Mott and an assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan, says: “Promoting curiosity in children, especially those from environments of economic disadvantage, may be an important, under-recognised way to address the achievement gap. Promoting curiosity is a foundation for early learning that we should be emphasising more when we look at academic achievement.”” (Berliner 7)
3. “When her team logged classroom questions, she found the youngest children in an American suburban elementary school asked between two and five questions in a two-hour period. Even worse, as they got older the children gave up asking altogether. There were two-hour stretches in fifth grade (year 6) where 10 and 11-year-olds failed to ask their teacher a single question.” (Berliner 9)
