From John: Curiosity and Community of Practice

“Curiosity is essential, no amount of moral preaching or political correctness can replace what the imagination gives us when it places us in other people's experiences, opening our eyes to vistas and views we never knew existed” (Nafisi). This quote is one of the few I have stumbled read this semester that embody everything this course strives and achieves for each meeting. In addition, this quotation goes hand in hand with the message we are trying to give the students at MCCS. Curiosity is a fundamental attribute that gives people new inspiration, knowledge, ideas, and creativity. To imagine a world with no curiosity this would mean that everyone would be the same and nobody would be unique or have different qualities. Curiosity leads to creativity and individuality, without either of these things our life would be plain and boring. In order to give ourselves character we all follow and pursue our own self interests. If everyone had no curiosity then we would all end up doing one universal job that becomes a routine. In life it is important to find a harmonious balance of stability and spontaneous acts. This is vital because both qualities play off one another, which allow us see what is important in life. I think that the students at MCCS have had obstacles in their lives for whatever reasons and with these roadblocks it has hindered their ability to be curious. Most of the students that I have met or dealt with through the visionary project have been boys. These boys all seem to be very up tight and defensive especially at first with the guys like myself from Dominican. However, once you let them know that you are not an enemy and simply here to help them find their curiosity and creativity they open up immensely. On Friday I was partnered up with Abel, who can be known as the boy with the soda in his hands at all times and a moustache. Once you get past the exterior prejudices one can come to understand that he is a very caring and gentle young man if treated the right way. I think that many times these students mostly the boys such as Abel for example feel like they are treated as a child. For example when someone came up behind him while he was drawing and commented on his artwork with a surprised “Oh wow great work Abel,” for whatever reason he finds this offensive and simply responds with a negative “No!” “The most valuable learning might emerge from failure” (Radical Teacher). I think that this quote has a big message because it goes along with the most cliché phrases, “We learn from our mistakes.” However, it is greatly true in almost every are in our lives. Keeping this in mind, everytime we learn something new, whether it be in the classroom or out of it, it was because we had a pre conceived notion or understanding base upon something false or our own misjudgment. However, once we get it right there is that feeling of absolute success and are comparable with some of the best feelings we know. I think that it is extremely important that the MCCS students realize this because they are always learning and trying to better themselves everyday from the bad habits or misjudgments. In a final summary, are we creating a community of practice with the MCCS students? Yes, because each meeting we are putting forth our best efforts in order to help these students see that there is hope, while teaching and inspiring them to be curious to the world around them. In the end it is not like these kids are old and they have little time left on this earth. Instead, they have many years in front of them even though they have made some bad decisions they still have a lot of time to fix it and begin a successful adulthood. By providing the students with a community that encourages curiosity and creativity they will become comfortable to carry this outside the classroom and resist temptation to go back and to their old ways. With their hopefully newfound curiosity they shall see that the grass is truly greener on the other side and with curiosity and creativity comes a land of opportunity