العقل الجائع: منابع الفضول في الطفولة

by Susan Engel, عبلة عودة (ترجمة)

يسعى هذا الكتاب إلى الإجابة عن عدد من الأسئلة المتعلقة بفضول الأطفال، الذي يبدأ في مراحل مبكرة جداً، ويتبلور في مرحلة ما قبل المدرسة، حين يبدأ الأطفال بالتعرُّف على العالم من حولهم، فتَتَملّكهم رغبة ملحة في السؤال والاستفسار عن كلِّ شيء، وأي شيء. وتؤكد مؤلفة الكتاب أهمية الاستجابة لفضول الطفل، ورعايته، وتنميته، وهي تسخِّر خلفيتها الأكاديمية في علم النفس، لتقدم الأبحاث الدالة على تأصُّل فضول الأطفال، ودوره الجوهري في التطوُّر النفسي، والفكري، والاجتماعي لديهم، وتقدم ذلك كلَّه بأسلوب بسيط شيق يجتذب القارئ العادي والمختص في الوقت ذاته. تروي المؤلفة في كلِّ فصل قصة حقيقية من حياتها الخاصة، أو حياة أحد أفراد عائلتها، أو أصدقائها، لتدعم بها ما تقدمه حول أهمية الفضول في حياة الأطفال والبالغين كذلك. وتؤكد المؤلفة أنَّ الطفل الفضولي يتعلم أكثر، لكنها ترى أنَّ هذه الخصلة الرائعة تخبو وتتلاشى مع تقدم الأطفال في العمر، وتعزو هذا التراجع إلى توجه المدرسين نحو تنفيذ المناهج الدراسية المعتمدة بحذافيرها، وتجاهل الإجابة عن الأسئلة التي يحفزها فضول الطلبة، فبعضهم يظنها مضيعة للوقت.

Genres: Education, Parenting, Nonfiction, Science, Psychology

265 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2015

About the author

Susan Engel is a developmental psychologist in the Department of Psychology at Williams College and the founder and director of the Williams Program in Teaching. She wrote a column on teaching for "The""New York Times" called "Lessons" and is a cofounder of The Hayground School in Eastern Long Island.

Reviews

[Usfromdk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd expected more from a Harvard University Press publication. The book has too many personal anecdotes and too much speculation, and not enough data; also, the coverage would have benefited from the author being more familiar with ethological research such as e.g. some of the stuff included in Natural Conflict Resolution. However it was interesting enough for me to read it to the end, despite the format, and I assume many people who don't mind reading popular science books might like the book.

[Brian Cleary · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are not a huge number of books that address how to cultivate curiosity in school-age children and Dr. Engel does a great job of that. This fact alone makes this an important book for educators to read. The research is laid out nicely. I found the anecdotal segments engaging and relatable.
I am, however, left with the feeling that there is a great deal more to the topic that is left unexplored here. for example, the suggestion throughout the second have of the book is that schools currently suck the curiosity out of students. I will not completely disagree with that assessment but it makes you wonder where all the discovery, curiosity, and exploration of the 20th and 21st century came from.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teacher, I enjoyed reading about how to identify and develop curiosity in children. It was shocking to read how often teachers stifle their students’ curiosity because their questions are “off topic” or they have so many learning things to accomplish. I know I’m guilty of this, too, and I want to promote more inquiry in my classroom to keep my students’ curiosity alive and well!

[Stuart Macalpine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good general survey of what we know about curiousity in childhood, tracking from babies up through school, looking at how children explore the world and ask questions, and which factors effect this in their life outside and inside school. Nothing that an interested reader is probably not already aware of if they are interested in this field, but nicely developed and a really good overview.

School comes out of this really badly for diminishing and discouraging children from being curious and inquisitive - and there is much authenticity to this from what I have seen out there in the world.

One thing I really struggle with is in books like this where authors set up theories that heroise a middle class, white view of the world, and then confuse outcomes which could be social economic, with causality... like the classic 'how many books in house, vs. outcomes'. I found the book to be sutblely racist to be honest; such as black girls talk more about 'gossip' from a small study - really? You feel confident citing that as it is might reflect a universal truth? But museum visiting white folks, who have domestic help and famous authors dropping in for supper come out really well - and the author rather pointlessly writes her own experiences in, so we are in no doubt about where she sits. Sometimes the mileau in which one lives is so self-congratulatory and privileged that one might not be aware how awfully it reads in a book with is not supposed to be an autobiography. So that I found hard. But the actual content on curiousity, if you tune out the white middle class self congratulatory stuff, is actually quite helpful and well put together.

[Elisabeth Marksteiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have already recommended this to others in different fields than education. The cutural aspects of how we tell stories was new to me. I was saddened to see how curiosity was killed in the classroom.
And it seems to me you need to encourage the asking of why…

Im interested in the development of teenagers, but and support and encouragement of questions are essential to the open mind.

What I like best is that this has caused me to think further and deeper…
Always a good thing

[Kelly Weingust · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for all educators!

[Kirsten Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slap in the face for "aligining the curriculum to the TEK" and any and all SWBATADB. Definitely need to pursue more of these as time goes forward. Definitely did some of them.

[Farah Alharbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

خليط من فلسفة و أبحاث الكاتبة مع تجربتها الشخصية، لذلك وجدته أقرب للسيرة الذاتية .
لا يخلو من الفائدة و يحتوي على مواضيع مثيرة للانتباه.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find my thoughts about this book on my blog:

http://leaningstack.blogspot.com/2015...

[Mills College Library]

155.4133 E573 2015

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 3.5