4 keys to unlock students' curiosity and critical thinking

Key points:

As an educator, I have always been fascinated by the innate curiosity of my students. Since childhood they have an insatiable desire to learn. Anyone who spends time with young children will find themselves plagued with questions, questions and more questions. “Why is the sky blue?“, “Why do my fingers wrinkle in water?“, “Why do dogs move their tails?“This natural research can be a powerful force for education. So it's a bit disappointing that modern teaching tools and strategies ignore (or subvert) this incredible curiosity.

Education does not have to be guided by rigid definitions and practices. We can transition from linear, hierarchical teaching to a richer, more experiential form of learning.

It all starts with four simple shifts toward deeper investigation:

1. Curiosity: If we want to foster student curiosity, teachers will first have to move away from the idea that our job is to tell students how they are “supposed” to do something. Instead, we want to encourage students to be thinkers and problem solvers. An easy way to make this happen is with the Mystery Learning Targets strategy. Post learning objectives on the wall, but hide some keywords. Students will engage more intensely when they need to figure out what the exact goal might be, and you'll be able to preserve an element of mystery!
2. Choice: When we give students options, we allow them to determine what path they want to follow and how they will figure things out as they move forward. A useful strategy for introducing choice into lessons is choice boards or learning menus. These increase student ownership by providing a bingo board or learning menu full of intellectually rich activities. Simply allow students to choose which activities to complete to complete their boards.
   
3. Explanation: We want students to build their understanding by explaining their thinking, and we want to encourage that explanation in innovative and creative ways. One way to do this is to ask students to make a mascot that represents something they are learning about. Have students explain the symbolism behind their mascot as a way to test their understanding of the topic. This encourages them to delve deeper into their learning and consider information from multiple angles.
4. Cognitive load: Cognitive load is about transferring most of the thinking to our students. We don't want to overwhelm you, but we do want to encourage you to start investing in your own learning. A good strategy to accomplish this is to have students record or create lessons that could be used to teach the same content to next year's students. Not only can this provide you with useful resources to help other students learn, but it also reinforces the learning that students have when they think about how to teach it to others.

When we recognize the potential of inquiry learning to cultivate and capitalize on student curiosity, a whole new horizon of possibilities opens up in the education landscape. Let's not let this valuable resource go to waste. Let's build classrooms where students can embrace their innate curiosity and creativity. In doing so, we create a world where the promise of discovery is found around every corner.