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Loading...Curiosity and Care: the Core Necessity for Learning
Spring is brief where I live in Maine. It comes late and fast. For years I didn’t truly appreciate it because it was a far cry from the springs I was used to in Pennsylvania, where April birdsong was almost deafening and the abundance of colorful flowers kaleidoscopic. Here in Maine, there are certainly songbirds and flowers, but many fewer and much less spectacular than in Pennsylvania. But those days of missing the springs of the mid-Atlantic states have diminished as I’ve come to marvel at the abundance of amazing spring happenings here in Maine. In the past week I’ve seen the seals return to bask on the rocks at low tide and dozens of pairs of mergansers float by close to shore. The Spring Peepers – tiny frogs whose choruses are the Maine equivalent of mid-Atlantic cicadas in summer – are back, and the Bullfrogs, Green Frogs, newts and dragonflies have emerged at our pond.
A few days ago, I resumed my annual ritual of Seton-watching, sitting quietly outdoors in one spot to observe a small window for a period of time, usually around 30 minutes. When I first sit down, I usually have to remind myself to just wait and watch because invariably, nothing seems worth noticing for the first few minutes. But I’ve learned to persevere and quiet my chattering mind that keeps telling me to go back to work.
Surrounded by wonder
When I sat down this week, it didn’t take long to marvel at what was happening around me. A Bullfrog lay right by me, unperturbed, and a Green Frog also seemed comfortable with my presence. Another Green Frog, however, took one look at me and hightailed it away. It was the first time I realized that frogs have distinct personalities. Then the newts started appearing, and I couldn’t believe just how many I saw in so brief a time. But what was completely unexpected were the Spotted Salamanders and their dozen egg masses. I’ve never seen a Spotted Salamander in our pond before. They normally breed in vernal pools which, because they are seasonal, are not filled with predatory Bullfrogs and Green Frogs like my pond is.
Yesterday afternoon my husband and I went out to Otter Bog, where we stumbled upon a vernal pool filled with salamander and Wood Frog egg masses. It was marvelous. We had decided to go to Otter Bog instead of attending a vernal pool conservation talk that evening. We didn’t think we had time for both, and attending a presentation didn’t seem as exciting as heading outdoors with our dogs on a beautiful spring afternoon. But once we saw the vernal pool and realized how much we didn’t know about it we decided to head back in time to attend the talk.
We love learning
Which leads me to the purpose of this post: We humans love to learn. We are endlessly curious and eager gatherers of new knowledge. But we do need motivation to learn new things, and that motivation comes from our enlivening experiences and our ability to care. Most people have no reason to get excited or care about vernal pools and their ecology or conservation, because vernal pools mean nothing to them. Even if they stumbled upon a vernal pool in the woods, they would be as likely to find it mucky and gross as they would to find it amazing and compelling. There’s a positive feedback loop that occurs with curiosity. It is fed by care and some knowledge, which then inspires the desire to gain more knowledge and which makes us care even more.
Read more: animals, caring, compassion, curiosity, education, empathy, humane education, learning, nature, respect, responsibility, schooling, spring
Image courtesy of barochschloss via Creative Commons.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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20 comments
+ add your ownThank you Zoe, for Sharing this!
loved this and the comments. thanks
When you replace fear with curiosity, we all gain through experiences, and sharing them will help boraden our lives. People fear what they don't understand, but through understanding we become less fearful, and isn't that a better way to live?
agree...thanks for the article
Leonardo di Vinci's main principle in learning was CURIOSITY... he was curious about everything, and it was his curiosity that led to his greatness of spirit and mind.
It should be a common understanding that NO learning takes place without an emotional context. Nothing brings that out more than participating in the natural world. It is the best possible experience for young children. Unstructured play and integration in the natural world is the foundation for the development of "critical thinking skills." These skills serve as the foundation for academic success and cognitive growth. Get your kids outside, provide them with a safe environment and then let them explore, play and learn....and join in the game with them. Let them get dirty, let them have a scrape or two and let them learn the value of wonder and curiosity As a retired physical educator, I am distressed by the lack of any breadth to the opportunities we provide for our kids in today's technological, data obsessed, test dominated world . We have to do better, and when we do, they will also.
Curiosity is a saving grace for humans. Now, lets take our children and grandchildren out into Nature and let them really look! Let them explore. Show them some of the details their young eyes might miss.( Don't expect them to be that interested in what you say, at least not right away.) Let them have the chance to learn to LOVE MOTHER NATURE! Learn things yourself about our natural world.... then share the knowledge with all our young. This is how they'll grow up to have respect and love for our planet and all living things that we share the world with.
Zoe, you hit the nail on the head and I am so glad you followed it through.
"But we do need motivation to learn new things,..." My experience was not with nature, although I can't count the number of times I have sat by a stream or pond and watched the comings and goings of little creatures.
I can remember being briefly taught about the Civil War, but, of course, it meant nothing to me as it was a long time ago and it was over, wasn't it? Then we visited many battlefields and historic cites and it started me in on reading everything I could about the war, Lincoln and Grant. I'm so glad I did.
I wish kids could learn about nature and history in a way that gets them enthusiastic, but it seems that teachers just don't have time due to mandated tests and discipline and control.
Something has simply got to change.
Every child should have a pet and the guidance to learn how to properly care for it.
Spring Peepers are so cool,along with the Meadowlarks. But then Nature itself,is wonderful...
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