‘It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of enquiry’, Einstein is reported to have said.
Given recent developments in school culture, Einstein’s criticisms could equally be levelled at today’s education systems. It is hard to see where ‘the holy curiosity of enquiry’ is expected to sit alongside the intensification of high-stakes testing, the pressures of internal and external quality assurance processes, the adoption of knowledge-rich curricula and the rejection of ‘progressive’ methods of teaching in favour of direct teacher instruction, to name but a few, which have served to narrow the path along which learning is expected to progress.
Educational authorities agree with Einstein – at least in principle – that curiosity’s place within schools is worth considering. Several governments’ education departments have introduced policies aimed at promoting children’s curiosity (see for example Department for Education (England), 2014; Department of Education (Australia), 2015; Department of Education (Ireland), 2019). Researchers have claimed that there are numerous benefits associated with being curious, including increases in enquiry behaviours, motivation and interest in school subjects (Chin & Osborne, 2008; Wu et al., 2018).
