Curiosity, a fundamental psychological characteristic, develops throughout individuals' lives [Engels, 2015]. It predicts academic achievement [von Stumm, 2011] and shows associations with psychological well-being and life optimism [Kashdan, 2020]. Litman [2007] and Kashdan agree that curiosity has at least two dimensions: one manifested in free and undirected exploration of the unknown (I-type, Joyful Exploration) and another directed at eliminating information gaps (D-type, Deprivation Sensitivity). These two modes have an intricate and contrasting relationship with critical thinking [Zedelius, 2022] and various well-being dimensions [Kashdan, 2020].

The development of curiosity during primary education remains understudied. Recognizing curiosity's critical value in the 21st century, in 2024 we initiated a longitudinal study examining curiosity and its associated variables in the ScioŠkoly school network in Czechia (N = 600, 16 schools). Using the 5DCR tool [Kashdan, 2020] to measure curiosity, we included additional measures across five domains hypothesized to be associated with curiosity: relationships, structures (learning autonomy, pedagogical approaches), habits & attitudes (e.g., error handling), well-being (anxiety, depression), and demographics (age, socio-economic status). To address potential selection bias, we also collected data from a set of control schools selected through randomized sampling (N = 980, 15 schools). Out of these, 278 and 496 students attended grades 7-9, and are discussed below.

We observed that students aged 13-15 (grades 7-9) at ScioŠkoly scored significantly higher in Joyful Exploration (Cohen's d = 0.35, p = 7.2e-06) and Deprivation Sensitivity (Cohen's d = 0.23, p = 0.0039) compared to the control. No significant differences emerged in child-parent sharing, parental support for interests, anxiety, depression, or attitudes toward error-making and growth mindset. However, two additional variables showed significant differences: the propensity to integrate information across domains (Cohen's d = 0.44, p = 3.0e-07) and exposure to pedagogical practices encouraging alternative solutions (Cohen's d = 0.32, p = 6.6e-05). While the former finding appears intuitive, the latter provides initial evidence for the relationship between pedagogical approaches and curiosity development. Both outcomes are aligned with the pedagogy of ScioŠkoly.

Significant gender differences emerged in three areas: reported depression, anxiety, and emotional discomfort associated with error-making. These well-being disparities align with previous findings [Klaufus, 2022]. The emotional discomfort related to error-making correlates with both anxiety and depression (r ≈ .50), suggesting important implications for gender-aware pedagogical practices.

Based on correlation analysis, factors that are associated with Joyful Exploration for both school groups are parental sharing, support of their children's interests', and supportive pedagogical practices (r = 0.2-0.3.) Depression has a negative association around -0.20. Given that we confirmed their association for both in-Scio and out-Scio ecosystems, we are confident that they are linked to Joyful Exploration in this age group. The links to Deprivation Sensitivity were weaker; the only surprising association is the positive correlation with anxiety at 0.2.

Correlation analyses revealed consistent associations with Joyful Exploration across both school groups: parental sharing (r = .20-.30), parental support of children's interests (r = .20-.30), and range of pedagogical practices (r = .20-.30). Depression showed a negative association (r = -.20). The consistency of these correlations across both ScioŠkoly and control schools suggests robust relationships with Joyful Exploration in this age group. Correlations with Deprivation Sensitivity were generally weaker, with anxiety showing an unexpected positive correlation (r = .15-.22). All reported correlations are significant at α = .05 after Benjamini-Hochberg correction for multiple comparisons.
Our upcoming survey at ScioŠkoly (April 2025) will further investigate attitudes toward error-making, learning autonomy, and socio-economic status.

The target group of this paper were students in grades 7-9, approximately corresponding to the age range 12-15. Parental consents were obtained, and students were given the option to opt out from the survey when practicable. The design of the survey and the process was approved by the independent Scio Research Ethics Board. Data gathering was conducted in May 2024 in ScioSchools Network and December-January 2024 at schools outside the network. All ScioSchools were included. Schools outside the network were selected by random cluster sampling, with cluster categories comprising school size and school-operating authority. This was to enable more in depth comparison in the future. The main parts of the survey were adapted and translated validated tools that already exist; we leave the full list out for brevity. Backward translation was used to check the accuracy of translation. Pearson correlations were calculated using pairwise deletion for missing values, with Benjamini-Hochberg correction applied to control for multiple comparisons. Between-group comparisons were conducted using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. All analyses used α = .05 and were performed in R (version 4.4.0). The authors disclose that Scio Research is a subsidiary organization of Scio, which owns and operates the ScioŠkoly network. We acknowledge potential concerns regarding independence of the research. However, we maintain our commitment to independent research conduct in accordance with our ethical guidelines. To ensure transparency and reproducibility, we will make the complete dataset and analysis code publicly available by August 2025.

Our results indicate that pedagogical practices, particularly those encouraging alternative solutions, may contribute to curiosity development alongside parental factors. While the correlations between curiosity and parental involvement, pedagogical practices, and well-being measures are weak to moderate, their consistency across different educational systems suggests reliable underlying patterns. The gender differences in well-being measures and error-related attitudes highlight the need for differentiated approaches in future model building, and may merit consideration in pedagogical practice. Further research is needed to identify additional factors influencing curiosity development, while also advancing measurement methods beyond current questionnaire-based approaches.

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