„I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”

Albert Einstein

What is curiosity?

Well, curiosity is observed in all human beings as we play, explore and reflect in ways that move our ideas forward.  There is a natural curiosity about the world around us and the world of our thoughts.  Curiosity encourages progress, innovation, and creativity.  Curiosity has led to the biggest ideas and innovations in science, mathematics, computing and design and technology.

All children are born to be curious.  This is a capacity that we value in them as they explore the world they discover.  Young children quickly begin to observe and question the behaviour of others, wonder about the objects in the night sky and even become curious about their own thoughts and feelings, including their own acquisition of knowledge.

Therefore, schools should aim to be hotbeds for curiosity.  One of our greatest aims at Avalon International School is to keep up this curiosity and make learning, the experience of learning enjoyable and joyful.  We believe that the world needs people who have a desire to learn, to solve problems, and to question.  However, this is not always an easy path, we need to help our students to keep going. Our aim is to cultivate curiosity and curious learners.  Therefore, we scaffold learning with challenges, explanations, and invitations to think and act.  If we teach children – in their formative years – they will then remember our actions and words for years if we model and encourage curiosity, value it, and reward it.  We could be empowering learners for a lifetime.

We truly believe that we need to encourage all learners to ask questions, to keep asking questions until they fully understand a problem.  Our teachers’ task is to listen to these questions and to answer them or find the answer to them together with their students.

Be curious, ask questions, find the answers!

Source:  Alan Cross, Alison Borthwick, Karen Beswick, Jon Board, Jon Chippindall:  Curious Learners in Primary Maths, Science, Computing, and DT, SAGE Publications, 2016