Careful curiosity

‘We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.’

- Walt Disney

When we go back to basics and to questioning everything, there is a danger that we might throw out good stuff as well as the dross. To overcome this, we need to undertake this work through the lens of careful curiosity. The aim is to create a distance where we can consider things dispassionately and truly consider what they might contribute in a way that makes sure that we really do sort the wheat from the chaff.

There are a number of strands to the idea of careful curiosity. The first is to keep in mind what we are trying to achieve: to cut back on anything that gets in the way or takes up time from our core business. This means taking our time, because if we rush then we might just prune back things that would actually add value. We might slash too much, when actually what is needed is less hacking and more nuanced pruning back.

To take some examples, the first from the classroom. Let’s suppose that we are considering the amount of time it takes to put up display boards taking to and maintain in our classrooms and corridors. We might then ask questions about this through the lens of careful curiosity. The first stage is to consider the purpose of classroom displays. Why do we actually have them? Now, how we answer the questions will determine what we do next. If the answers are on the lines because we have always had them, because we are expected to, because they make the classroom look pretty, then those answers are not getting to the heart of the question. They are not getting to the absolute rationale for them as they are just superficial reasons. And the question ‘why’ needs to be asked again, until we are absolutely crystal clear about why we have them, the purpose they serve and the gains they make to pupils’ learning. So, the answers might go like this: ‘We want to showcase pupils’ work.’ ‘We want to share some of the images and artefacts that relate to this subject or topic.’ ‘ We don’t like blank space.’ ‘We want something simple, time efficient that adds to pupils learning.’ ‘We don’t want anything on our walls.’ To which further questions might pose the following:

‘Will we showcase all pupils’ work, or just some?’ If so, how will we manage this? We could use examples from work to praise and share? In which case, does the time taken warrant the impact? It might do, but not necessarily. How are we making sure that these will be used for learning rather than just decoration?

What this process does is to help us to be more intentional about what we are considering cutting back and why. Instead of throwing out the baby with the bathwater we take time to consider the reasons for keeping or losing something. This takes us to a deeper space, we are far more likely to use the materials on the boards purposefully, than if they are just there as a matter of habit or to cover up blank space. There might also be a case for having just one image or big word, or nothing to begin with and then adding to the imagery in a careful way over time. The big difference is that we are being intentional about this activity and are crystal clear about what its purpose is meant to be, in terms of pupils’ learning.

Another example might be staff meetings in primary and department or faculty meetings in secondary. The same process applies - why do we have them? What are they meant to achieve? What would happen if we didn’t have them? What is currently on the agenda? Do we have an agenda? Does the meeting focus on the main priority of adding value to learning? Again, when we ask the question why do we have these meetings, these might be some of the responses: ‘We have staff meetings because we have always had them’ in which case the further questions might be: ‘Why? How do we know they are helpful? ‘We use them to catch up with one another.’ Are there other ways of doing this?’ ‘We use them for admin.’ Could this be done through an email? ‘No idea, they are a waste of time.’ ‘Why and who have we raised this with?

Then, to take an example for governing body meetings. What sort of information do governors need about standards? If the response is progress data on a spreadsheet, then we need to ask ‘Is it valid and is it reliable? How do we know?’ Internally generated data from most commercial tracking systems do not present an accurate picture of standards. This is because they are based on levels (even if the term levels is not used) rather than viewing the curriculum itself as the progression model. It might be a more productive question to ask whether governors would find it more helpful to have samples of pupils’ work from across year groups and prior starting points, in order to get a clearer purchase about standards achieved by pupils currently in the school.

The purpose of careful curiosity is to ask questions to make sure that we are able to extract value from anything we are doing. Through a process of careful curiosity, we allow ourselves to take time to think through and justify why we are doing what we are doing. We might come to completely different conclusions, that doesn’t matter, it is the process of thinking through our reasons that is the point.

And of course, if we decide to keep going with what we have already, this is good. What we have done is to take our practice off the shelf, given it a good dusting and considered carefully why we have it in our arsenal. We all have an obligation to ask why - if we think that something is a waste of time, we should ask why it takes place. Done in the spirit of careful curiosity this can be both respectful and challenging. It is not a crime to ask why. The process itself is renewing and refreshing. ‘The disciplined pursuit of less.’