Up until these last few months, I thought one of the most important qualities a person could have is intelligence. However, after exploring the ideas of Warren Berger and Thomas Friedman I have discovered the importance of the willingness to question, being passionate, and curiosity and how each of those things are actually more important than being intelligent.
As I consider my role as an educator, being passionate is a quality that shines through. I am passionate about helping my students learn while building relationships with them. Having this passion for my students leads me to push them “to embrace uncertainty and follow their own spirit of inquisitiveness” (Berger, 2014, p. 179) like Jacqueline Novogratz challenged college graduates to do. I want to encourage my students to explore their inquisitiveness because I am curious to see what strategies they will take to explore their questions. My students always have some type of question that I am unable to answer and I am curious about the best way to support them in trying to answer that question.
In order to help guide my passion for my students and remember not only to push my students to be curious but myself too, I created a poster (see below) that I can display in my classroom. This poster will be there as a reminder to always question, be curious, and have passion for whatever we are doing.
References
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.
Jansen, C. (2021). PQ + CQ > IQ. Canva. [Image].