John Barell

"Inquisitive minds are the safeguards of our democracy, now and forever." John Barell
John Barell, states in his insightful book Developing More Curious Minds, that student questions are the attainment of the highest thinking skills. Some will be tempted to take this thesis for granted. But think of actual classroom practice. Too often, in most of our classrooms, student questions are a distraction from our plan and our pacing. Listening to questions, thoughtfully responding to questions, guiding students to discover their own answers to questions rather than supply the answers for them takes time and skill. Time is the one thing most of have in very, very short supply.
But Barell gently reminds us that questions signal thought processing which is the goal of effective classroom interaction. This book is unique in that Barell offers actual teaching practices and ideas to facilitate higher order thinking in our classrooms. Developing More Curious Minds details how to teach for student inquiry.

Too many books declare the importance of inquiry teaching. But after the studies are noted and the experts quoted, there are very few pages left for the actual implementation of inquiry-oriented teaching. It's About Time that a book came along that speaks to "how" to reach and develop curious minds. I was glad to finally read a book that quotes and highlights the practices of other learning specialists and educators in the field. I especially liked the student responses and the modeling of effective inquiry teaching practices.

Anyone who has opened a computer's user manual knows that effort is the key to success. I may know what all the words in the user's manual mean, but only when I attempt to carry out their instruction is success a possibility. IQ alone will not equal technological competence or school and life success. Only communication through thoughtful response in an environment that encourages a free exchange of ideas will meet the inquisitive, curious minds of our students. Developing More Curious Minds does just that.… (mer)