Being Passionately Curious

I saw this on Twitter this morning, and I can't stop thinking about it.  When I went searching for the post so that I could take this screenshot, I saw other examples of it-  but this image with the wings captures my thinking better than any of the other "inspirational picture quote" versions I came across.

I love the vibrancy of this image.  I love that interwoven into this vibrancy is a diverse set of images that span a large cross-section of interests and abilities, thoughtfully interwoven and layered to create movement and energy.  Possibility. 

I think I take issue with it just a little bit-  to me, being Passionately Curious is a special talent.  In fact, I believe the art of nurturing oneself, and others, toward being passionately curious is the most special talent of many educators.  It's what we do when we engage everyone in exploration and foster the sense of wonder the compels all of us to keep reflecting and learning even when the lesson is complete.

It's the bit of bird's nest that comes in after we've looked at habitats in science class.  It's the toppling, sticky-taped, toilet-roll-and-bent-straw ramp that shows up after we've talked about forces and gravity.  It's the outlandish-but-interesting connection that someone offers during lit circle that we keep talking about all week.  It's the Reggio Inspired primary program that has little ones building, creating, inventing.  It's inquiry, and maker-space, and innovation and problem-based learning. 

But it's not just for our kids.  It's for us, too.  It's finding ourselves in deep in the cupboard looking for solo cups or shimmering elastic thread because the perfect community building lesson dawned on us when we woke up at 3 in the morning still thinking about yesterday.

It's the gathering of 2-3 colleagues to plan a special activity, or outing, or buddy project because we're all excited about the same thing.  It's also the energy that builds after reflection on student work samples, or assessment data, and we begin moving forward as a school team in crafting an approach to help propel our leaners to the just-right next place.

I'm not the first person to be inspired by this notion.  A bit of a websearch around this idea landed me some pretty interesting websites to explore almost instantly-  check out the Passionately Curious Kindergarten, the work being done at UBC regarding Transformative Educational Leadership.  or even the goings-on at Science World.

It's such a fantastic time to be a BC Educator.  Embracing a competency-based approach with open-ended exploration is the very best way to be passionately curious students and adults.  Every day, I am blessed to wander throughout my building and hear the buzz of learners and teachers co-creating learning opportunities and exploring ideas together.  It's pretty special to be passionately curious as a community.  And it works. Our learners move forward together when we engage them in what they are curious about as individuals.  Good thing, because They're All Our Kids!