Nurturing lifelong learners: How to help children discover their internal curiosity and drive

In the race to ensure that students have mastered their various subjects, there is a skill that schools sometimes overlook: learning how to learn. Fortunately, the tide is changing, and more and more educators are focusing on the importance of developing metacognition, or “learning to learn” skills. 

After all, in today’s fast-paced environment, it is not enough to merely retain facts and figures, or to recall memorised information. With such rapid technological change, the challenges – and professions – of today will not be the same tomorrow. How can we best prepare students for success in this dynamic landscape? By encouraging internal curiosity: the fuel that keeps children engaged and motivated, even (and especially) in the face of new problems.

What does internal curiosity in children look like? We can consider this the “Explorer mode” of learning. In this state, students are motivated not by the desire to achieve top grades (or worse, the fear of failure), but rather by the pursuit of answers to questions that matter to them. This is learning for the sake of learning: an ideal attitude that builds resilience and drives students to achieve their goals, no matter the obstacles.

This is where metacognition comes in. According to research by Nord Anglia Education, metacognition involves three key processes: self-awareness (knowing yourself as a learner – are you paying attention? Daydreaming? Frustrated?), regulation (if you’re stuck on a task, can you change to a new strategy? Or keep going when the work is tough?), and transfer (can you apply your knowledge from one context to another?). In other words, metacognition is about putting students in the driver’s seat of their own learning: taking a proactive approach based on the awareness of individual strengths, challenges and goals.

At Collège Champittet, our teachers aim to cultivate this approach by encouraging students to apply classroom learning to real-world problems and to explore the real world as an inseparable part of their education. Parents can also play a vital role in developing engagement, particularly through the way they talk to their children. Open-ended questions and conversational dialogue on topics that interest the child are a great way to build curiosity and exploration.
For more insights, read the Nord Anglia Education article: How to Raise Curious Kids in an Age of Change