In high school I took a course in which we studied the life and principles of Leonardo da Vinci, a true genius. At the time this fascinated me as it combined by love of history and invention; however, it has been at least three years since I sat down to reflect on this course. This past week however I was reminded of and brought back to this information several times as I have been studying the History of Mathematics and talking with peers about my passion for history and creativity. After some review of the 7 Principles of Thinking Like Leonardo da Vinci, my interest was recaptured, and I have decided to take the next several weekly blog posts to re-explore these principles and how they relate to me now as a college student and specifically a future teacher.
Before I begin I want to lay out what these 7 Principles are that are captured by Michael J. Gelb in his book How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci.
- CURIOSITÀ(CURIOSITY)
- DIMONSTRATZIONE (INDEPENDENT THINKING)
- SENSAZIONE (REFINE YOUR SENSES)
- SFUMATO (EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY)
- ARTE/SCIENZA (ART & SCIENCE, WHOLE-BRAIN THINKING)
- CORPORALITA (MIND-BODY CARE)
- CONNESSIONE (INTERCONNECTEDNESS)
This week I will begin by digging into Curiosità. Curiosità is defined by Micheal J. Geib and Leonardo as “an insatiable curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.” When I look at this definition it makes my heart very happy, as I love learning and curiosity. In fact, this past week I took the StrengthFinders test and according to the results, my top strength was “Learner.” However, when I compare what Leonardo defines as curiosità to what the American education system and myself often consider learning there is a large disconnect.
According to Leonardo curiosity is more concerned with asking the correct question, rather than getting the correct answer. Unfortunately, in schools we are often more concerned with students learning how to reach the correct prescribed answer, than the questions that they are asking. However, there is a trend in Mathematics Education that is encouraging students to ask hard questions and participate in “productive struggle” to reach a solution to their question. Incorporating this mindset of curiosity into the classroom is a challenge due to time and motivation, but when we study the history of Mathematics it was these questions and “insatiable curiosity” about mathematical relationships that brought us to where we are in math today.
This suggests that a part of teaching students is teaching them how to learn and that can be done by teaching them to ask the right questions. As a math teacher I hope to inspire students to ask hard questions about math and how math can be utilized in whatever field they hope to enter. This not only allows students to succeed in school, but allows them to become life long learners (and mathematicians) as they are always able to ask questions about the world around them and work towards finding an answer to these questions.
Curiosità is the foundation for the life and genius of Leonardo da Vinci, he was a man who was relentlessly asking questions and seeking answers, and he simply started by writing these questions down. If you want to “increase” your curiosity, just start asking questions, whatever comes to mind – no matter how ridiculous, and write them down and seek answers (enter Google).
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