Wonder and curiosity beyond the obvious—a dynamic model of bodily and verbal understandings of these phenomena

Abstract Wonder and curiosity are intrinsic aspects of being human. Although these concepts are in daily use in society and pedagogical practices, they include aspects that may be hard to understand and hence difficult to recognise. In this phenomenologically inspired study, we see wonder and curiosity as interconnected aspects of human experience and suggest understanding them in a continuum where curiosity is based upon a desire for new information and wonder as a pondering upon information. While experiences and expressions of wonder and curiosity often are understood as verbal questions or philosophising, we link these concepts with bodily perspectives and highlight exploration and embodied fascination as their embodied manifestations. Based on this, we suggest a dynamic model with two perpendicular gradients. The wonder-curiosity gradient presents an interconnection between wonder and curiosity. A bodily-verbal gradient transitions from the purely bodily through body language to verbal questions and philosophical thoughts. The model hence combines verbal dimensions of questions and philosophising with bodily aspects of physical exploration and embodied fascination. By presenting examples that illustrate how wonder and curiosity can be experienced and expressed, we bring the model to life. We argue that appreciating both verbal and bodily aspects is crucial to understand and recognise wonder and curiosity. This may pave the way to a clearer and more nuanced understanding and recognition of wonder and curiosity. We suggest that valuing wonder and curiosity as both bodily and verbal may have wide impacts and we particularly point to democratic and participatory practices, an increased acceptance of bodily knowledge, and a new recognition and value of the ways we connect with the environment.