Fostering Epistemic Curiosity through Education

Epistemology, defined broadly, is a branch of philosophy that investigates the principles of knowledge. Derived from the greek term ‘episteme,’or knowledge, epistemology encompasses all theories regarding the structure, acquisition, and limits of knowledge. Curiosity has been an interesting area of study within epistemology due to its positive relationship with the acquisition of knowledge. The symbiosis in which curiosity and knowledge grow together is recognized as an integral component of cultivating intellect, and thus, has become a vital component in the field of education. Epistemological curiosity, within the context of education, holds value as it is believed to develop student’s problem-solving skills and cognitive faculties. For this reason, recent policy changes in education have altered to gear more towards fostering curiosity. This literature review will examine the process in which epistemological curiosity has integrated into the field of education, and in doing so, will present different scholarly perspectives on how best to nurture this curiosity through education.

In the realm of education, curiosity has often been viewed as an intrinsic trait that propels humans to desire knowledge. In his book, How We Think, American education reformer John Dewey, he investigates the role of curiosity in the cultivation of the mind. Dewey claims that "all persons have a natural desire—akin to curiosity—for a widening of their range of acquaintance with persons and things" (Dewey 150). Naturally possessed by their desire to "seek material for thought" (Dewey 31), human beings rely on their curiosity to guide them through their lives. The information that we gain through curious exploration accumulate and become a source of knowledge for future challenges. Curiosity helps human learn. To further his point, Dewey centers his argument around the cultivation of a young mind. A child’s brain, uncluttered by information, is always at its apex of curiosity. A young child’s brain is always fascinated by the smallest of things.

They poke and prod at everything in attempt to unravel the mystery behind their wonder. This exploratory behavior is developed into intellectual curiosity when the child begins to piece together everything he has learned into cohesive strings of thought (Dewey 33) and become aware of the missing pieces. Dewey believed that children acting on their missing pieces by asking questions is when curiosity is no longer "organic" (Dewey 33). and becomes a "positive intellectual force" (Dewey 33). This curiosity, however, is not an everlasting state. Dewey claimed that it was the responsibility of the teacher to keep this curiosity alive; rather than just teaching, his [the teacher’s] task is rather to keep alive the sacred spark of wonder and to fan the flame that already glows" (Dewey 34). The concept of curiosity that is discussed here begins as a biological trait. However, Dewey also believed that if this organic curiosity is not cultivated well, it would merely be a transitory state and never develop into intellectual curiosity. Dewey, thus, suggests that intellectually curiosity be integrated into the field of education as a principle objective. His ideas prompted the education system to encompass more than a passive learning structure. John Dewey’s ideas in How We Think was one of the first works that established a clear connection between epistemological curiosity and education. This, therefore, acknowledged the intellectual value of curiosity and kickstarted the integration of curiosity into the education system.

Paulo Freire in Pedagogy of Freedom, similarly to Dewey, was also a huge advocate for the cultivation of curiosity through an education system. Freire’s reference to education and curiosity, however, compared classrooms to governmental system. Clearly advocating for democracy, Freire strengthens his argument by likening a democratic government to that of a democratic pedagogy, claiming that while a democratic environment "is one in which learners progress in learning through their actual experiences" (Freire 80), an authoritarian classroom "suffocate the curiosity of the learner" (Freire 79). It is stated that a classroom in which learners are actively challenged and their curiosity is aroused is the basis of a democratic pedagogy. Freire, like Dewey, believed that all human beings were born with organic curiosity. This organic curiosity would later be developed epistemological curiosity if cultivated under the right teaching. Since authoritarian classrooms limit the freedom of their students, consequently, they also stifle the development of organic curiosity into epistemological curiosity. A democratic pedagogy, however, is one that maximizes the curiosity of both the student and the teacher.

An ideal classroom would consist of "a good teacher.. who manages to draw the student into the the intimacy of his or her thought process," (Freire 81) and students are thoroughly engaged in the teacher’s lessons to the point where they become tired due to their brains working but they do not fall asleep because they are engaged with the topic (Freire 81). This type of environment would be the ideal model for magnifying the role that curiosity plays into education. Irrespective of his political allusion, Freire was another scholar who approached education reform through the lens of curiosity. He, like others, saw the importance of curiosity and the urgency in need to foster curiosity in the classroom. He, however, used a more political approach to strengthen his argument by relating the ideas of curiosity to freedom and democracy. This elevates the importance of curiosity and gives curiosity a deeper meaning. While both Dewey and Freire provide the context for the integration of curiosity into education, the rest of the this literature review will explore the different branches of thought tackle the problem of how best to nurture this curiosity.

One approach to fostering curiosity in education that has become popular in the recent years is Virtue epistemology. Virtue epistemology, made popular by Jason Baehr in Intellectual Virtues and Education, is a subset branch of epistemology that parallel intellectual values to that of moral values. The word virtue, as commonly denoted by societal standards, "have strong moral and civic connotations" (Baehr 1). Virtue Epistemology, however, professes that a person’s character also contain intellectual values such as attentiveness, curiosity, and diligence. Similar to how the complete fulfillment of traits such as respect and kindness lead to a superior moral scope, virtue epistemologists claim that perfecting educational values result in the enhancement of cognitive faculties. Baehr’s book does not only use intellectual virtues as a framework for understanding curiosity in the classroom, but it also provides a guideline for a potential solution: intellectual therapy.

One point that Baehr makes is that though all children are born curious, some are merely born more curious than others (Baehr 222). It is entirely possible for a less curious child to increase their curiosity if their upbringing consists of integrating the wonders of the world in its daily exposures. Schools are also believed to share the responsibility in further igniting the curiosity in its students. The best method would be intellectual therapy. Intellectual therapy, defined by Baehr, is the "careful and sustained attention to another’s mind in the attempt to understand this person’s internalized representations of self and other that hinder virtue formation with the goal of providing a reparative relational experience that will help facilitate virtue formation" (Baehr 227). This postulates that a child’s representation of themselves is indicative of their ability to form virtues (curiosity in this case).

A child that has extremely low self-esteem has an extremely low chance of becoming intellectually proficient, because they themselves do not believe that they can achieve success (Baer 228). In cases like these, intellectual therapy seeks to solve the problem on a deeper level. It seeks out the psychological reasoning behind a student’s inability to form virtues, which in turn, allows them to figure out the root of the problem. From there, a different approach can be adopted to help students toward the path of forming their intellectual virtues again. Baehr’s ideas on intellectual virtues help guide teachers on how best to cultivate their student’s curiosity through intellectual therapy. It assumes that there is a psychological underlying behind a student’s lack of interest, and thus, provide solutions on how best to overcome these barriers. Baehr implies that if a teacher were to properly perform intellectual therapy, curiosity would be much easily fostered. For this reason, "the world of education support the idea that virtue epistemology is ripe for application to educational theory and practice" (Baehr 7).