4 Ways to Facilitate Awe in the Classroom

When you think about the emotional life of elementary school students, awe is probably not the first word that comes to mind. Frustration, delight, worry—or any iteration of happy, sad, mad, and scared—tend to dominate the discussion.

Awe is an underappreciated feeling that has tremendous benefits. According to research from the Greater Good Science Center, experiencing wonder strengthens our overall well-being. It prompts us to be kinder, more cooperative, and more willing to share with others. And, of particular interest to teachers, awe supports academic engagement—because this feeling spurs curiosity and strengthens internal motivation.

For the last four years, I’ve immersed myself in the research on awe with an eye toward how it applies to children. As I describe in my book, Raising Awe-Seekers: How the Science of Wonder Helps Our Kids Thrive, educators play a key role in placing kids on the path of awe. Wonder doesn’t require a separate curriculum; we simply need to think about how to intentionally integrate awe-inspiring moments into our classrooms.

Here are four ways that we can do this.

1. Engage the Senses

Our emotions and our senses are deeply entwined. As humans, we use our five senses to assess and make sense of our environment. Sound acts as a warning system and explains why many kids become so emotionally activated by unexpected noises and alarms.

Our senses are also the conduit for wonder—particularly wow-worthy sights and sounds. To inspire awe, what music could you play in the background when kids enter the classroom? How could you bring music into math or social studies? Think about displaying wow-worthy photos on the projector to start the day, using them as a journal prompt, or asking kids to find amazing images to share. If you can take your students outside, try asking two simple questions: What do you see? What do you hear?

Tapping into their senses helps kids tap into awe.

2. Prime the Pump with Curiosity

Awe and curiosity are closely related. According to psychologist and awe-researcher Craig Anderson, awe spurs curiosity about the world. Anderson was part of a team that studied how awe influenced student performance. “The more awe they felt, the more curiosity they expressed, and the better they performed in school.”

When kids are curious about a subject, they’re more likely to retain information. That’s why 4-year-olds who love dinosaurs can tell you all about the ankylosaurus or diplodocus. It’s why your fifth-grade Swifties can recite hundreds of song lyrics. Here’s another cool finding: Curiosity also has an amplifying effect on other learning. One study from the University of California, Davis found that when participants were curious about the initial information presented to them, they were able to more easily absorb unrelated information.

In our classrooms, we can use awe at the beginning of a lesson or unit to prime the pump for later learning. This could be a fascinating what-if question, a mystery to solve, a wow-inducing video clip, an amazing image, a moving read-aloud, or an artifact for examination. Igniting kids’ curiosity can help them absorb new learning—even if it isn’t as exciting as the initial activity.

3. Integrate Subjects and Tap Into Student Interests

Because curiosity and wonder are tied to deep learning, it makes sense to tap into students’ interests (particularly in allowing choice in projects and assessments) and purposefully de-siloing academic subjects. When we treat math, science, English, art, and social studies as unrelated fields, it’s easier for kids to separate them in their minds and erroneously think, “I’m not a math kid” or “Reading isn’t my thing.”

One of the great benefits of the elementary classroom is the opportunity to integrate disciplines and to help kids connect the dots between the arts and the sciences. For example:

• Use read-aloud books during math and science classes.
• Explore math in art, music, and poetry—from counting beats to measuring angles to playing with shapes.
• Share inspiring stories of inventors, artists, civic leaders, scientists, and writers to help students see struggles and triumphs.
• Allow choice in projects—from the topic of their research to how they present their findings.
• Encourage students to share their passions with the class and brainstorm together how this passion connects with different subjects.

When a student seems avoidant or uninterested in a subject, try using their existing interests as an entry point. I once taught a fourth grader who had amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of roller-coaster rides around the world. His eyes sparkled when he explained negative g-force or inversions. But when it came to writing, I couldn’t get him to compose more than a paragraph about anything. He was resistant to every prompt. So I invited him to write a book about roller coasters to teach me and his classmates what he knew. A month later, he presented a lengthy booklet to the class.

4. Model Intellectual Humility

Awe is also related to another trait that supports learning: humility. Think about kids’ wide eyes when they encounter something brand-new and want to learn everything about how it works. Awe reminds us of what we don’t yet know. That’s a core piece of humility: acknowledging the limits of what we know and being open to revising our mental models when we learn new information.

One of the best ways to nurture kids’ intellectual humility is to model it yourself. Tenelle Porter, a psychologist who has researched intellectual humility, offered me this advice when working with kids: “Admit it when you don’t know something, own it when you’re mistaken, and reveal it if you’re confused.”

Some of the best teaching moments come when students pose questions we can’t answer or when they get to use their skills to help an adult. My students often felt a sense of excitement or pride when I asked for their help:

“What a great question! I don’t know, but maybe someone else in the class has an idea. Or maybe you could look it up and get back to us!”

“The answer I got to the problem was _____, but I could be wrong. Who wants to check my work?”

“I always mix up how to spell _____. If any of you can think up a strategy to help me remember, I’d love to hear it.”

As a teacher, you might worry that kids will lose confidence in you if you don’t have all the answers, but Porter’s research found that adult humility is a powerful tool. When we model intellectual humility, our kids “become more comfortable doing it too.” And that can lead to awe-inspiring moments when you discover something new together.