Curious George - Mascot for 21st Century Education?

He's an interesting little fellow isn't he? Always getting into trouble, yet somehow managing to save the day with....curiosity?

It's true.

In fact, because of this, Curious George could very well be the greatest cartoon superhero of our time!  The mascot for 21st Century Learning, if you will.

Don't believe me? Check out what PBS says about our friend.

Now, depending on what virtues you value in a superhero or mascot, you may have other opinions than mine.

However, as an educator, student and a parent of a young child, I cannot help but take comfort in knowing that this little monkey's passion for learning about the world around him and the people in it, help shape his adventures everyday.

In fact, aren't we asking the same thing of our students today?

When we speak of 21st century learning, we toss around buzzwords like engagement, collaboration, active learning, social networking in the classroom, passion-based learning, problem-based learning, and many other terms that hold significant value and relevancy.

In the end, aren't these initiatives all bound by one commonality - curiosity?

To understand curiosity a little better, let's take a closer look at it;

The Oxford dictionary defines curiosity as;  a strong desire to know or learn something:

Similarly, Walt Disney , a man of many quotes on the subject, once stated "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths".

As Master of Education students, my peers and I have a strong desire to learn more about how we can become better educators, and how we can improve the educational institutions we are a part of. For each of us, our ability to spark the curiosity of our students will be of the utmost importance. In some cases, our teaching styles and learning initiatives will help to ignite this curiosity. Other times, our students will arrive, ready to explore the world within our classrooms and beyond.

And sometimes, we might just need to ask our students exactly what it is they are curious about. Once we know, we can use our abilities as Educators to help them  them navigate the wonderful learning possibilities that surround them.

I do this with my seven year-old daughter all the time. In fact, I asked her to help contribute to this blog entry, by asking her what she is curious about right now. Here is what she said;

1. I wonder, if you chew gum for a really, really long time, whether it disappears?
2. I wonder if a bunny could dance with chocolate?

I don't have the answers, but they are definitely intriguing questions. Especially the second one! I don`t know how we`re going to figure that one out, but we'll certainly have fun trying...

I wonder if Curious George would know? Or you?

Let me know your thoughts about these and other curious questions you might have. While you're at it, please share how curiosity impacts you in your role as a student or educator?

I'm curious to find out.

Brett

Hear Director James Cameron discuss how his own lifelong curiosity for learning, has propelled him to fantastic places in the world of motion pictures!