The Role of Social Curiosity in Promoting Adolescent International Mindedness

• In Event: Supporting Student Curiosity: Classroom-Based Research and Implications for Practice

Abstract

Objective. In 1962, noted educator Kurt Hahn established the United World College (UWC) international secondary schools to bring together diverse students from around the world to learn from and with one another. The need to foster such international mindedness (Savva & Stanfield, 2018) remains, particularly given the escalation of discrimination towards people of color and non-citizens since the onset of COVID-19 (Addo, 2020). To date, relatively little research has examined the ways in which cultivating adolescents’ social curiosity--a desire to learn more about how other people behave, act, and feel (Renner, 2006)--might contribute to the development of international mindedness, nor how to cultivate such social curiosity in secondary school settings. The present study aims to investigate this question.

Framework. Several curiosity frameworks propose a social dimension of curiosity (e.g. Kashdan et al., 2020). However, relatively little research has considered the educational ramifications of the distinction between social curiosity-- being curious about others-- versus relational curiosity -- being curious with others (Phillips, 2016). For relational curiosity, several studies have found that group learning contexts can evoke curiosity in others when particular curiosity behaviors are employed, such as arguing, sharing findings, justifying with evidence, hypothesis testing, and more (e.g. Sinha, Bai, & Cassell, 2017; Thoman, et al., 2019). For social curiosity, Phillips (2016) noted, “[social] curiosity can do more than facilitate meaningful encounters...It can interrogate, unsettle and even transform understandings of difference” (p. 16). Yet, more research is needed to know whether 1) a relationship between social curiosity and a greater understanding of difference holds true, and, 2) if so, how to cultivate social curiosity in secondary schools.

Methods/Data. The present study draws on interview results from a larger study of the UWC movement completed between 2018 and 2021. Our research team conducted 720 semi-structured hour-long interviews with 214 teachers/staff, 297 secondary students, and 209 alumni located across all 18 UWC colleges worldwide. The interview protocol was open-ended and wide-ranging; questions included views of the movement’s mission, personal top three memories, views of social impact, opinions on the IB curriculum, etc. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis, focusing first on broad areas of the interviews that mentioned “curiosity” or “questioning” and then focusing on more nuanced emic sub-themes, such as “family” (Braun & Clarke, 2013). Emic themes were re-grouped into broader themes when appropriate.

Results/Conclusion. Preliminary data analysis demonstrates that 1) social curiosity leads to tolerance of or openness to diversity, but also that 2) students become intra-personally curious (curious about the inner self) during their time at UWCs about their own differences (Litman et al., 2017). In regard to cultivation, participants spoke primarily to how UWC fosters social curiosity through creating feelings of safety, focusing on controversy and novelty in and out of the classroom, and allowing for students’ autonomy of choice. We are hopeful that this study will offer new insights into the ways in which educators can leverage social curiosity in the classroom in order to help build greater tolerance and understanding of difference.

Author

• Shelby Clark, Harvard University