“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” – Andre Gide
When we moved to Australia from England at the beginning of 2013 the whole period was memorable and distinct for many reasons. But there is one emotion or memory that still strikes me, that of the feeling of being in limbo, between places and our lives being in transition, in flux. It was primarily on the plane journeys and the whole idea of having only bought one way tickets. The relief of getting to that point, after months or organisation, soon subsided and I wondered about the future.
It is a powerful memory because we rarely take such extreme decisions and as it immersed us, as a family, in the unknown. There were so many questions we all had. I recall meeting a few other families who had made the trip across from Europe at the same time and were also settling into life in Australia, it seemed we shared that experience and perhaps shared something in our characters to make the decision in the first place.
In learning more about the curiosity we recognise in our young children and how this continues to change throughout our lives, I have been particularly interested in the innateness of a curious mindset, an explorers disposition and how this grows and diminishes.
In a fascinating article, “Restless Genes” David Dobbs outlines that this innate disposition to explore, discover and curiousity for the world around has been mapped to a specific part of the human genome.
“If an urge to explore rises in us innately, perhaps its foundation lies within our genome. In fact there is a mutation that pops up frequently in such discussions: a variant of a gene called DRD4, which helps control dopamine, a chemical brain messenger important in learning and reward. Researchers have repeatedly tied the variant, known as DRD4-7R and carried by roughly 20 percent of all humans, to curiosity and restlessness. Dozens of human studies have found that 7R makes people more likely to take risks; explore new places, ideas, foods, relationships, drugs, or sexual opportunities; and generally embrace movement, change, and adventure.”
A combination of DRD4, high dexterity from our hands (as tools), big brains for imagination and the greater levels of mobility we have from our limbs than most other mammals, compose a set of traits uniquely suited for creating explorers.
Dobbs refers to Alison Gopnik’s work, a child-development psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who says that humans have a longer childhood, a slower path to puberty in which “we can exercise our urge to explore while we’re still dependent on our parents” and have “an unmatched period of protected “play” in which to learn exploration’s rewards.”
Gopnik outlines that:
“Yet while other animals play mainly by practicing basic skills such as fighting and hunting, human children play by creating hypothetical scenarios with artificial rules that test hypotheses. Can I build a tower of blocks as tall as I am? What’ll happen if we make the bike ramp go even higher? How will this schoolhouse game change if I’m the teacher and my big brother is the student? Such play effectively makes children explorers of landscapes filled with competing possibilities.”
Typically we see the play based disposition change as we get older and young adulthood often swamps our willingness to explore, often replaced by a desire for habit and familiarity.
In the classroom or at home there are many simple things that you can do to continue to encourage and protect this love of exploring and curiosity:
- Embrace a supportive approach to asking and sharing questions.
- Change things – the classroom furniture, the displays, pictures on the fridge.
- Try new things together – modelling a willingness to explore and discover together is a powerful motivator.
- Give children time to think – space, time and the encouragement to think, ponder and mull over questions or new ideas is important.
- Offer provocations – these could be images, quotes, films or artefacts that make us wonder and challenge our thinking.
- Say it is OK not to know – let your children hear this from you, that sometimes wondering is more important than having all the answers
There are so many ways we can design the conditions for ongoing discovery and support children’s disposition towards exploring and their natural curiosity. What successful strategies have you tried at home or in the classroom?
Image: almost may by paul bica