Technolandy

Day 27 (of SOL 2025) Summer of Learning… Dear Dr  @chrkennedy

In his annual year end blog, Chris had some good questions… here is question 

27. What is the role of wonder in learning and how do we protect it?

Wonder is our opportunity to have students explore how to think, not wonder ‘what does the teacher want?’ (A query my Governor General award winning daughter excelled at, and froze my son with his anxiety of not knowing which of the thousands of possibilities running through his brain was ‘the one’ the teacher was wanting) 2+2=5 (I read it in  book… discuss how this is correct?)

Some protections: 

1. Get rid of ‘one right answer’ worksheets and similar tasks.
2. Focus on questions leading to more questions rather than answers… even (especially)when dealing with maths!  Good questions/prompts may help in future jobs when collaborating with AI and other people. 
3. Embrace curiosity and the rigor of delayed gratification in working out those answers. Don’t rush to rescue with a quick rush to correction – allow and reward the struggle (also don’t let them metaphorically drown – dive into anxiety, don’t live there)
4. Wonder = play (much better to use and create with LEGO than just look at the directions and finished projects – though that can be part of the gradual guided release of responsibility process…) one of the few products/companies I’d entertain sponsorship/collaboration with (I’m really liking the Soundwave kit)
5. Embed geniushour (imagine 20% of the day/week being given to students and adults to explore a passion…) and give grad credits for this

And reinforce the mindset that none of this is a ‘break’ from learning, but a route to much deeper understanding than any textbook can provide! Wonder is learning. Sir Ken was right. Let’s stop killing creativity. Let’s protect wonder and make our ultimate data measurement for success be how many students graduate with the same level (or more!) of excitement and curiosity that they had when they started kindergarten…