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Are You a Gongoozler at Heart? Exploring Wonderment and Curiosity in Curriculum Design

Allison Zmuda
  • 6 mins

Once in a rare while, you scan your emails or social media feeds and stumble upon an intriguing title for an article or blog. You click the link to read more and then you are transported.

It started with Allison as she reviewed the Fast Company newsletter over her morning coffee – she was intrigued by the use of story in the title “5 Questions to Discover the Story of Your own Success.” So she opened up the link and was transported.

So she immediately shared the article with Bena with a cryptic message: "Are you a gongoozler at heart?"

Bena leapt in to figure out what a gongoozler means and what the fuss was all about.

Gongoozle (gon·goo·zel/ gahn-goo-zel) verb: To stand and stare idly at boats moving through a canal or watercourse

She wondered: How often do I just stand and stare idly? Just look at the leaves changing color or a lonely basil plant not yet frozen for the winter? Am I gongoozling when I replay moments of the past, consider where I will be in the day, and where that might take me in the future. What awakens me and insists that I be fully present with my interactions with the environment, other people, new ideas and curiosities? What matters most to me? How will what I am doing have an impact on those I care most about?


So, she realized the fuss about gongoozling is not so much in answers but in a thought-provoking set of questions.


As we shared our personal reflections with one another, we imagined how gongoozling opened up fresh thinking for both of us and wanted to imagine how to frame this with our school clients. How might it help to tell the stories of the curriculum journeys teachers were designing with the hope that the students would stop and idle long enough to reflect on what piqued their interest, curiosity, fascination?

To gongoozle in this way invites students to step into the river of ideas, searching for stories they might tell themselves and  others in a quest to make their journey meaningful and memorable.

Could they begin to tell where they have been in their learning journey so far? Would they allow themselves the patience to reflect without any artificial suggestions about what they should be reflecting on? 

Doing so focuses and strengthens the habit of Responding with Wonderment and Awe, tapping into our experiences. 


Art and Bena illustrate what this habit looks, sounds, and feels like: Young children are naturally curious. They commune with the world around them; they reflect on the changing formations of a cloud; feel charmed by the opening of a bud; sense the logical simplicity of mathematical order. They find beauty in a sunset, intrigue in the geometrics of a spider web, and exhilaration at the iridescence of a hummingbird’s wings. They see the congruity and intricacies in the derivation of a mathematical formula; recognize the orderliness and adroitness of a chemical change, and commune with the serenity of a distant constellation. And they never stop asking “why? 

If you are interested in diving deeper into the habit, Check out an interview with Art, Bena, and Allison specifically on Responding with Wonderment and Awe.

When designing a curriculum storyboard, open up wonderment with your students by:

  • Creating an experience that students are expected to stop, idle, and wonder about.
  • Sharing with students how what you have created piques your own interest, curiosity, and fascination.
  • Introducing them to the term gongoozle as another way of describing the habit of responding with wonderment and awe.
  • Co-creating a way for the class to share their responses through words, images, or another form that captures the moment.
And let us know if “gongoozle” becomes a new vocabulary word and sparks a T-shirt design!

Are You Interested in Working with Storyboards?

Heidi, Allison, and the team are offering virtual coaching, in-person workshops, and more. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out!
Allison Zmuda

Allison Zmuda

Allison Zmuda is an international curriculum consultant with over two decades of experience helping schools design educational systems that are dynamic, engaging, and relevant.