Children Curiosity During COVID-19 Outbreak

Nematollahi, F.¹, Khademi Ashkzari, M.¹ & Khatoonabadi, A. R.^2*

¹Department of Educational Psychology, Alzahra University of Tehran, Iran
²Department of Speech Therapy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran

*Correspondence to: Dr. Ahmad Reza Khatoonabadi, Department of Speech Therapy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

Copyright © 2021 Dr. Khatoonabadi, A. R. et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Curiosity as the driver of intellectual development plays a crucial role in children’s learning and education. Previous research has shown that curiosity is just as important as intelligence and is one of the most critical factors in students’ academic performance. Curiosity is a powerful motivation not only for learning but also for creativity and mental well-being. In the current situation in which COVID-19 is the greatest challenge facing education systems to date, how education can foster curiosity is still a fundamental question in progressive societies [1-5].

Inciting and fostering curiosity in primary education leads to the advancement of science, the growth of knowledge, and the preparing of children for entrepreneurship. Therefore, researchers support the educational importance of developing children’s curiosity [6-8]. In educational systems, children’s curiosity is shown by wonderment, asking questions and explanation- seeking behaviour or testing hypotheses to gain knowledge [2,9-12]. The situational determinant of curiosity that persuades children to explore and wonder is one of the vital facets of curiosity. Facing nature and its changes, facts, challenges and information gaps, are the most important situational determinants for children’s curiosity [3,11,12].

COVID-19 has shut down many parts of the economy as well as entire education systems. Estimates from UNESCO [13] show that about 90% of the world’s students are currently out of school and study at home [14]. Despite the potential dangers of using technology, education in this era has been made possible and continues using virtual communications. Internet access and unlimited information and games are other things that are more accessible to children today. On the other hand, besides less opportunity for asking questions, experiment hypotheses and challenges of group discussions in the classroom, children have little to do with nature [15].

Conclusion
Given the importance of curiosity in advancing science and well-being, what is likely the effect of COVID-19 on children’s curiosity? Accordingly, investigation of curiosity in the current era through researches is recommended.

Acknowledgements
Authors thank Tehran University of Medical Sciences for support in this regard.

Conflicts of Interests
The article should be free from any such conflicts between authors or with others in any aspect.

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