This project investigates two hypotheses: a) the human capacity to wonder is a necessary characteristic of a flourishing person and b) wonder-full education is beneficial to both the flourishing of students and their development into flourishing adults.
Read moreThe aim of the first phase of this project is to operationalize the concept of wonder, the aim of the second to operationalize the concept of wonder-full education. Studying the sense of wonder empirically requires a clear definition of (the different types of) wonder that allows us to distinguish it from neighboring concepts, as well as clarity about different aspects and possible indicators of wonder; the same holds for wonder-full education.
Read moreThe central assumption underlying this project is that children may differ in a number of important wonder-related respects (described in more detail under project 5): a) in their proneness to wonder; b) in the things (situations, objects, experiences) that evoke their wonder; c) in the type(s) of wonder they are (most) prone to; and d) in the emotions that accompany their wonder or to which their wonder leads. To be able to test these hypotheses we require a new instrument; it is the purpose of this project to develop such an instrument: the Wonder Chart.
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