In Part I of this series, I quoted Socrates: “Wisdom begins in wonder.” I introduced the idea of how a sense of wonder animates a sense of connection, which enlarges our empathy and capacity to see and feel things deeply. Within us, creativity soars as wonder loosens our imagination. Wonder is that fleeting and momentary experience that dissolves time and lets beauty, admiration, splendor, gratitude, and curiosity fill us with joy.
Wonder is wonderful. Diane Ackerman (1) says, “Wonder is the heaviest element on the periodic table. Even a fleck of it stops time.” Charles Darwin (2) proposed that emotions like wonder and curiosity and connection have evolutionary roots because they aid in the survival of the human species. Martha Nussbaumm (3), a researcher of ethics at the University of Chicago, says that wonder — the nudge to pause and take in an experience — is the root of compassion, empathy and connection. Wonder helps us survive and thrive.
Many schools leave students lacking the connected emotional experience of wonder. Schools are wonder deficient. The ensuing deficit reduces engagement, connection, and creativity. In my hundreds of classroom observations over the years, I have witnessed thousands of wonder-less activities. If, as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “the invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the ordinary,” the question for schools is simple: how do we make teaching and learning more inspiring and more filled with wonder? Gifting wonder is the challenge for all teachers. Moments of wonder decenter the student from the middle of the moment to the periphery where self-awareness is dropped long enough to be humbled before a uniquely powerful feeling of awe.
William Butler Yeats wrote that “the world is full of magic things, waiting for our senses to grow stronger.” Rene Descartes called wonder “the first of all passions.” Each summer, I teach a high school course in Biology. Planning for wonder isn’t hard. On the first day, in a darkened room, students crush tiny dehydrated crustaceans known as ostracods. Students add water and witness a wondrous blue glow emanating from their pestles. As the eerie blue light appears, students say, “Wow!” “This is so cool!” “Why does this happen?” Questions emerge. Engagement increases. In that moment we can talk meaningfully about chemiluminescence and bioluminescence and the wondrous characteristics of life. Wonder prepares minds to learn.
On another day, I take students to a large commercial nursery with plants of all varieties. We watch as water pearls on the waterlilies, observing the glistening spheres rolle down the hydrophobic surface of the leaves. We sit next to flowers and quietly watch while pollen-ladened bees of all shapes and sizes emerge from every imaginable form of flower. Students often remark, “I’ve never looked this closely at a bee before.” Wonder captures them. On yet another day, we visit an alpaca farm to talk about genetic variation. Students stand nose to nose with alpacas, As the alpacas nuzzle and nudge the students, the breeder talks about the quality and color of alpaca hair, genetic traits and DNA. As Marcel Proust once observed, “the real voyage of discovery is not seeking new landscapes but having new eyes.” Among the alpacas, students experience wonder, joy, and curiosity. The wonder enables learning. Concepts cruise into brains prepared by wonder.
In the 600 million (approximately) breaths of our lifetime, in how many of them do we gasp with wonder? How many times do we invoke wonder in our classrooms? This summer, I hiked seven miles from one mountain village to another in Spain. The heat of the day rapidly drained enthusiasm for the hike. As I hiked past an outcropping of rocks, a draft of cold air wafted over my body. I stopped short, stunned by the sensation. Wonder took over. If wonder is evolutionary, then I have to think that the experience of becoming attuned, curious, and attentive has benefits. At that moment, it did. I moved toward the frigid downdraft of air and discovered a fissure in the rock that opened to a broad ledge and cave. As the heated air of the valley moved up the mountainside, the colder denser air from deep within the mountain was literally falling out of the rocks, sinking down the mountain. I thought to myself, “This is the most perfect moment.” I forgot about how hot I had been only moments before. That moment expanded into meaning for me about the deep and unseen forces in the rocks around me. I was humbled. The moment was wondrous.
Research tells us that wonder reduces stress and lowers blood pressure. Practicing wonder can even lessen inflammation in the body. Wonder acts on our brain and nervous system in powerfully unique ways. Researcher Andrew Newberg (4) has shown that the parietal lobe (the part of the brain responsible for sensory integration) powers down in moments of wonder, leaving the person focused more fully on the total grandeur of the experience and allowing our brain to absorb rather than simply react. Scientists can actually “see” wonder happening in the brain during fMRI studies. Think of the power wonder has to open portals in the minds of students. Understanding this emotion can help us as teachers create the wondering minds necessary for the creative thought that produces novel ideas and solutions.
There are four important aspects of wonder to remember:
- Wonder is enduring and memorable. Instead of a momentary fact, wonder provides a landscape of memory attached to feeling and emotion.
- Wonder is a mindset of seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.
- Wonder and creativity are closely aligned. Discover the former and you ignite the latter.
- Wonder is ageless and timeless. Everyone can practice the art of the gazing and gratitude that wonder produces.
Last year, as one of my students closely inspected a bee suspended in an egg-sized chunk of translucent amber, she paused for a moment and said, “Let me get this straight, I am holding millions of years in my hand?”
“Yes, I said, that’s true. You are holding millions of years in your hand.”
“Holding time isn’t as heavy as I had expected,” she said, and then added, “This is so ancient and remarkable.”
The student’s appreciation for the vastness of evolutionary history encapsulated in a piece of amber filled her with amazement and wonder. So how do we create moments of wonder in the classroom? Now that we know how wonderful the experience of wonder actually is, the next installment in this series will talk about six practical ways to embrace wonder in the classroom and life.
Notes:
- Diane Ackerman (2011). “The Rarest of the Rare: Vanishing Animals, Timeless Worlds”, p.27, Vintage Press.
- Charles Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. 1872.
- Martha Nussbaum, Social Philosophy and Policy 13 (1):27-58 (1996)