Curiosity is our superpower

Curiosity is our superpower. So says Spencer Harrison, associate professor of organisational behaviour at INSEAD, considered to be one of the most prestigious business schools in the world.

Curiosity can be defined as the core motivation to learning – and researchers state that curiosity improves learning and memory. Curiosity is our superpower, and studies indicate that it is crucial to learning.

Strategies that help promote curiosity in learning include:

Be curious yourself – be open and inquisitive to new and unfamiliar activities, ideas, people, and cultures. Take on new tasks and share your experiences with your children – the excitement, the rewards, and the challenges. Curiosity is contagious.
Ask questions that encourage children to find their own answers. It’s the question that starts the journey.
- Open-ended questions could start with:
  - How would you feel if…?
  - What would you do if…?
  - What did you think when…?
- Renowned as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, the late George Carlin said, “Don’t just teach your children to read. Teach them to question what they read.”
- Intelligent questioning requires active listening. This must be encouraged and practised.
- Involve your child’s interests. If it is sport, for example, explore a favourite game – where it is played (geography), statistics (maths), or background on a favourite player (biography). Team names can have an interesting history, too. Ballet, the performers and the venues have fascinating stories – as do art, politics and religion. The options are endless.
- Be careful to keep questions and information within your child’s capacity – you don’t want him/her to suffer from information overload.
- Reward curiosity by answering – and then asking leading questions, however simple they may be. This encourages meaningful conversation.

Apart from its educational benefits, curiosity has physical advantages. New experiences release feel-good chemicals that make us happy – and lower the levels of anxiety. This creates a cycle because happy people are generally curious.