Curiosity & Wonder

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Why it works

Curiosity, the desire to know and understand, is a powerful driver of attention, engagement, memory, and learning, and wonder, the sense of awe and open questioning about the world, fuels it. Yet curiosity can be dulled when schooling emphasizes getting the right answer over asking questions, covering content over exploring it, and compliance over interest. Fostering curiosity and wonder means creating the conditions for them: posing intriguing questions and puzzles, making room for student questions and exploration, modeling your own curiosity, treating not-knowing as exciting rather than shameful, and connecting learning to genuine interest and awe. Research links curiosity to deeper learning and memory. Teachers who deliberately cultivate curiosity and wonder re-engage students in learning as something intrinsically worthwhile, not just required.

The research: Research on curiosity, wonder, and learning.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: create the conditions for curiosity

Teachers leave with ways to spark curiosity and wonder in learning.

Pose intriguing questions, puzzles, or phenomena that spark curiosity.
Make room for student questions and exploration.
Model your own curiosity and treat not-knowing as exciting, not shameful.
Connect learning to genuine interest and wonder.

Spark the desire to knowCuriosity drives deep learning and wonder fuels it. Pose intriguing questions, make room for student questions, model curiosity, and treat not-knowing as exciting, to re-engage students.

Facilitator notes

Pose intriguing questions and puzzles, and make room for student questions.
Model curiosity, and treat not-knowing as exciting.
Connect to interest and awe.

Schooling that prizes answers over questions dulls curiosityEmphasizing right answers and coverage over questions and exploration dulls curiosity. Pose intriguing questions, make room for wonder, and model curiosity to keep it alive.

Adapt it

Elementary: wonder, questions, exploration, model curiosity.
Secondary: intriguing questions, exploration, awe, curiosity.
All settings: pose questions, make room for wonder, model curiosity.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Curiosity & Wonder: spark the desire to know

The engine of learning: intriguing questions, room for exploration, modeled curiosity, and not-knowing as exciting.

The intriguing questions, puzzles, or phenomena I pose:
How I make room for student questions and exploration:
How I model curiosity and treat not-knowing as exciting:
How I connect learning to interest and wonder:
A way to spark curiosity this week:

Make it stick

Spark the desire to know:

Create the conditions for curiosity.
Model it.
Bring a curiosity-sparking practice to the next PLC.

Common questions

Isn't curiosity just something students either have or don't?

Curiosity is a disposition that can be fostered or dulled. Schooling focused on answers over questions dulls it; posing intriguing questions, making room for exploration, and treating not-knowing as exciting re-kindle it.

Why does curiosity matter for learning?

Curiosity drives attention, engagement, and memory, and is linked to deeper learning. Fostering it makes learning something students want, not just something required, re-engaging them intrinsically.

How do I foster curiosity and wonder?

Pose intriguing questions and puzzles, make room for student questions and exploration, model your own curiosity, treat not-knowing as exciting, and connect learning to genuine interest and awe.