The face of wonder
Journal of Curriculum Studies July 1, 1996 DOI: 10.1080/0022027980280404 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 23 |
| Key points | Argues that existential wonder suspends habitual views, reveals things anew, and re-establishes relations with the world and others, while exposing vulnerability and questioning identity. Proposes that attentiveness to wonder cultivates sensitivity to its emergence in others, implying that educators should help children live their questions rather than supply quick answers. |
Abstract
An exploration into the phenomenology of existential wonder invites reflection upon life, self and other. Wonder suspends our habitual views of things, revealing them in a ‘new light’, and as a consequence, propels us into, and establishes anew, our relations with the world/other. Moreover, by bringing us to a conceptual ‘stand‐still’ wonder exposes our vulnerability, thereby putting into question the nature of identity. Attentiveness to wonder, and to the many dimensions of experience it reveals in our lives, can cultivate a sensitivity to the emergence of wonder in others, and therefore, has significant implications for the way in which we can be pedagogically oriented towards students. Rather than see a child's question as something that needs a quick and simple answer, the adult should try to help in his or her natural inclination to live the question. I wonder why the sun is so hot? I wonder how the earth was made? I wonder where I came from? I wonder why the leaves turn colour and fall off trees? Each of these questions is worth pausing for. True wonderment does not ask a thousand questions. I truly wonder when the question I ask is returned to me somehow, or when it lingers and envelopes itself with a stillness, the stillness of wonder, (van Manen 1986: 40‐41)