Our minds crave closure, but when we latch onto it prematurely we
miss beautiful and important moments along the way -- Jamie
Holmes
How to Spark Curiosity
in Children Through Embracing Uncertainty - By Linda
Flanagan
In the classroom, subjects are often presented as settled and complete.
Teachers lecture students on the causes of World War I, say, or the nature of
matter, as if no further questioning is needed because all the answers have been
found.
In turn, students regurgitate what they’ve been told, confident they’ve
learned all the facts and unaware of the mysteries that remain unexplored.
Without insight into the holes in our knowledge, students mistakenly believe
that some subjects are closed. They lose humility and curiosity in the face of
this conceit.
But our collective understanding of any given subject is never complete,
according to Jamie Holmes, who has just written a book on the hidden benefits of
uncertainty. In “Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing,” Holmes explores how the
discomforting notions of ambiguity and uncertainty affect the way we think and
behave. Confronting what we don’t know sometimes triggers curiosity.
He wants students to grapple with uncertainty to spark their curiosity and
better prepare them for the “real world,” where answers are seldom clear-cut or
permanent. Whether exploring black holes or a Shakespearean sonnet, students
should be comfortable challenging the received wisdom. There’s already a
believer of the uncertain in science — Columbia neuroscience professor Stuart
Firestein, who argues that “insightful ignorance” drives science.
“We’re much more certain about facts than we should be,” Holmes said. “A
lot of this will be challenged, and it should not be embarrassing.”
If students can be made to feel comfortable with uncertainty — if they’re
learning in an environment where ambiguity is welcome and they are encouraged to
question facts — then they are more apt to be curious and innovative in their
thinking.
Approaching knowledge this way is difficult for students and teachers,
however, because ambiguity spurs unpleasant feelings. Indeed, studies show that
the typical response to uncertainty is a rush for resolution, often prematurely,
and heightened emotions.
“Our minds crave closure, but when we latch onto it prematurely we miss
beautiful and important moments along the way,” Holmes said, including the
opportunity to explore new ideas or consider novel interpretations. And teachers
have additional challenges in presenting facts as fluid: appearing less than
certain about their field of expertise can feel risky in a classroom of
merciless teenagers.
But teachers who hope to inspire curiosity in their students, and to
encourage tolerance for ambiguity, can take steps to introduce uncertainty into
the classroom. Holmes offers several recommendations.
Address the emotional impact of uncertainty. “The
emotions of learning are surprise, awe, interest and confusion,” Holmes said.
But because confusion provokes discomfort, it should be discussed by teachers to
help students handle the inevitable disquiet. “Students have to grow comfortable
not just with the idea that failure is a part of innovation, but with the idea
that confusion is, too,” Holmes writes. Teachers can help students cope with
these feelings by acknowledging their emotional response and encouraging them to
view ambiguity as a learning opportunity.
Assign projects that provoke uncertainty. One way
to help students grow more comfortable with confusion is to assign projects that
are likely to flummox them. Holmes identifies three techniques for doing so:
inviting students to find mistakes; asking them to present arguments for alien
viewpoints; and providing assignments that students will fail. “The best
assignments should make students make mistakes, be confused and feel uncertain,”
he said.
Adopt a non-authoritarian teaching style to encourage
exploration, challenge and revision. Teachers who instruct with a
sense of humanity, curiosity and an appreciation for mystery are more apt to
engage students in learning, Holmes explained. “Those with an outlook of
authority and certainty don’t invite students in,” he said. Also, when teachers
present themselves as experts imparting wisdom, students get the mistaken idea
that subjects are closed. “Teachers should help students find ways to think and
learn,” he said. “The best teachers are in awe of their subjects.”
Emphasize the current topics of debate in a
field. To give students a clearer sense of the mutability of
facts, discuss the ongoing debates among academics and others on some “settled”
subjects. Sharing what researchers, historians and theorists are arguing about
now makes clear that questioning and challenging facts are what drive
discovery.
Invite guest speakers to share the mysteries they’re
exploring. In his class on ignorance, Columbia professor Firestein
welcomes scientists across a spectrum of fields to talk about the unknowns
they’re investigating. Chemists, statisticians, zoologists and others share with
students the ambiguities that excite them, opening students’ minds to the vast
unknowns waiting to be examined.
Show how the process of discovery is often messy and
non-linear. Rather than present breakthroughs as the logical
result of a long trek toward understanding, teachers can share with students how
discoveries are often made: through trial and error, missteps, happy accidents
and chance. Firestein describes scientific discovery as “groping and probing and
poking, and some bumbling and bungling, and then a switch is discovered, often
by accident, and the light is lit.” All the poking around in the unknown, he
adds, is what makes science exhilarating.
How Could This Look At Home?
When Mollie Cueva-Dabkoski was growing up, her mother took her to the
library every week to read stories together. When the storytelling ended, her
mother asked questions that challenged the narrative and pressed Mollie to
reconsider the protagonist’s motives, or to rethink the gender norms.
“She pushed me to question the world around me,” Cueva-Dabkoski said.
Cueva-Dabkoski, however, was troubled by all that she didn’t know. Raised
by a single mother in San Francisco, and educated at an underfunded public
school nearby, she worried that her ignorance about all manner of subjects would
interfere with her ability to perform at college. Cueva-Dabkoski had always been
curious and driven, but she doubted whether she possessed sufficient
intellectual tools.
Awareness of the gaps in her knowledge spurs Cueva-Dabkoski to learn. So,
she decided, “I taught myself how to be a critical thinker.” Today, she’s a
junior at Johns Hopkins University, majoring in sociology and public
health.
Though Cueva-Dabkoski laments what she calls the “product-driven” nature of
higher education, she continues to challenge and explore, inside the classroom
and out. As a teenager, Cueva-Dabkoski began to make a list of concepts she
wanted to understand by age 20, and she continues to work her way down the list.
Some subjects on that list? String theory, democracy in Burma, the history of
Bhutan. How to explain her wide-ranging curiosity? “There are big gaps in my
knowledge,” she said.
Be The Change: Practice curiosity today: each time you feel sure
about something, explore where there might be some uncertainty behind your
conviction.
