The Power of “Why?”

My four year old’s bright blue eyes twinkle as she squishes her hands through the “Oobleck”, made specifically for the occasion in our kitchen. As the concoction changes form, from goopy to hard and back again, she squeals with delight before looking up to ask one of my favorite questions: “why?”  Her gleeful sense of wonder, her unbridled curiosity, and her fearless experimentation make her the ideal student. She embraces the opportunity to learn, always hungering for more.

I find myself wondering, what will happen when she goes to kindergarten next year? I’ve taught so many kind, thoughtful, and intelligent kids throughout my career who have struggled to trust their internal curiosities. It seems that many of these students learned, through no fault of their own, that education is about passively waiting to be told what they should study. They seem to believe that it doesn’t matter what they want to know, but instead it matters what they are told to learn. I remember feeling that way too. But now I know that educators everywhere want to encourage critical and creative thinking, active engagement in the learning process, and resiliency. So how is the glimmer of curiosity lost? And how can I, a secondary librarian, address the dormancy of something so natural, so essential in my students?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to my questions, but I do believe that innovations in teaching and librarianship have the power to encourage and facilitate these qualities in students. Approaches such as: 

Carol Collier Kuhlthau’s Guided Inquiry Design: http://goo.gl/jemHkP & https://goo.gl/OgbpGu

52 Weeks of Guided Inquiry Blogs: https://52guidedinquiry.edublogs.org/

Fairfax County Public Schools’ vision of a Portrait of a Graduate: http://goo.gl/FMZVIC

The International Baccalaureate Learner Profile: http://goo.gl/F53xcw

AASL’s Standards for a 21^st Century Learner: http://goo.gl/W57hU

My desires to cherish and preserve children’s natural curiosities and passions are at the forefront of my personal and professional goals. I’m grateful that my new position as a secondary librarian enables me to work with even more students, more curricula, and more teachers than ever before.

I believe in the power of educators, all seeking to move beyond the sage-on-the-stage models of the past to more engaging, inquiry based approaches to teaching and learning. I believe in the power of curiosity, the power of wonder, dancing in a child’s eyes.  

Image shared with permission from Serg C, via Creative Commons license to "Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format”.