Celebrating Intellectual Curiosity

Celebrating Intellectual Curiosity: Kindergarten Through College Scholarship and Research broadens the perspective on academic pursuits. Curiosity needs to be cultivated at all school levels. All formats of scholarship and research contribute to increased human understanding.The criteria for evaluating different scholarly activity needs to be well matched with the respective format. Both Scientific and Artistic standards need to be considered for a deeper appreciation of intents and results. Grade school children would be well served by being schooled in the four traditional areas of university faculty evaluation: teaching-learning; scholarship; service; and colleagueship. The book uses vignettes and stories to establish the complexities and utility of varying forms of research. Criteria are identified that fit the respective approaches. The study looks at The Scholarship of Teaching; The Scholarship of Teaching as Action Research: Creative Artistry; Arts Based Research; The Scholarship of Service; Curriculum Development; The Scholarship of the Student. The complementary nature of the variety of scholarships reveals an underlying Ecology of Education that relies upon a great diversity in roles to maintain a healthy system.

Gose’s expansive career in education informs this insightful text. He broadens the commonly accepted, narrow view of scholarship and research by emphasizing the myriad scholarly endeavors that are so often overlooked in the pursuit of everyday learning excellence. My students commonly quote Gose in my classes. After reading this book, I am certain that I will do the same., Dr. Michael Gose has written a thought-provoking book that aligns teaching and research as one intertwined activity from kindergarten through doctoral programs. Influenced by such educational legends as Elliot Eisner and Benjamin Bloom, among others, Gose tells stories, utilizes past research, and embraces new forms of inquiry, all of which he hopes will contribute to a better education for all—K-Phd. Although an ambitious undertaking, Gose succeeds in offering sage advice for kindergarten teachers (have students learn about varied forms of scholarship) as well as professors (learn about teaching, scholarship broadly defined, service and collegiality). Words of counsel that Gose offers for all learners at any grade level or even for those out of school—stay curious and never stop questioning.

Michael Gose, Ph.D., has taught and been an administrator at the Elementary, Secondary, and University levels. He has been a professor at Pepperdine University since 1980. He had the great good fortune of being a teaching assistant and research assistant to Professor Elliot Eisner at Stanford University in the 1970s.