preaching to the
choir. We are
already convinced.
Our lives have been
dramatically improved
by the spirit of inquiry
that lies at the heart of science.
However, inquiry in science
happens at a distance from most
of us. We enjoy the outcome,
but we do not participate in the
process. Can a spirit of inquiry
enrich ordinary daily life as well?
Take stories as an example.
Everyone loves a good story, and
some of us have spent signifi cant
parts of our lives helping young
people read and understand
them. Curiosity about the ending
of an exciting story does not need
to be taught. Once a storyline has
captured our interest, we want
to know how things turn out.
What needs more prompting is
curiosity about other elements of
a rich story — elements like the
attitudes and values that make
characters act in certain ways,
the circumstances that shape the
characters’ lives, and the ‘take-
away’ connections that readers
have to a story. The deeper and
wider our curiosity is, the richer
our experience of a story will be.
What is true of stories may be
true for many areas of life — the
deeper and wider our curiosity
is, the richer the outcomes can
be. Consider an area that we all
have in common: learning how
people from various cultures
and languages can live together.
All around the world, we see
how easily tension builds when
a fear of diff erences occurs
between people with dissimilar
backgrounds. Our relationships
can be better, even richer, if we
are not afraid of diff erences, but
instead curious about each other.
What we are likely to discover — if
we are deeply curious — is that,
while we are very diff erent, we
are also alike in surprising and
wonderful ways.
Curiosity and wonder seem to
keep company in life. In children,
wonder and a spirit of inquiry
may be like two sides of one coin,
but wonder is likely to come fi rst.
Later, the order is often reversed.
The deeper and wider our
curiosity is, the more likely we are
to stand amazed by the wonder
of what we have discovered.
Sometimes we fi rst need to be
curious to experience wonder in
the end. ●
Lloyd Den Boer is the Dean
of Education at The King’s
University in Edmonton. He
also taught and administrated
in elementary and secondary
schools in both BC and Alberta.
We wish to thank Peggy
McDonagh for writing our
Spirituality and Wellness
column for the past fi ve
years. She has covered a
vast range of spiritually
meaningful topics from
self-permission to the
power of community. Peggy
recently commented, “I
have been blessed in the
years I have written for
the magazine by the many
emails, messages, and
phone calls from readers. It
has been a rich experience
and for that I am grateful.”
news&views WINTER 2019 | 43