432: What If Curiosity Is the Most Important Thing We Can Teach?
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Guest
Amirah Cummings is the founder of KIO: Kids In Orbit™ and the creator of Kionaut, a learning ecosystem that helps young people cultivate curiosity, think like innovators, and develop the mindset to shape the future through STEM, storytelling, and meaningful exploration.
Summary
KIO: Kids in Orbit™ is an educational ecosystem designed to help children learn how to think, not just what to think. Rooted in multilingualism, storytelling, technology, and curiosity, KIO aims to help young people become capable, curious, compassionate problem-solvers who can navigate an unpredictable future. Rather than asking children what they want to be when they grow up, Amirah believes education should cultivate who they are becoming right now, giving them agency and encouraging them to ask bigger questions.
Her approach combines story-driven learning, augmented reality, literacy, STEM, and mission-based activities in which students must apply what they have learned to solve problems or create something. She is particularly interested in using AI as a thinking partner rather than an answer machine. Given the rise of AI, Kio’s “Think with AI” feature prompts AI to guide exploration, encourage deeper questioning, and help learners discover questions they have not yet considered.
Amirah argues that traditional educational structures and metrics often fail to cultivate this mindset. In a rapidly changing world, she believes curiosity, adaptability, self-knowledge, and the ability to think differently will be more important than simply mastering a prescribed curriculum.
The Essential Point
Education should prepare children not for a particular future career, but to become the kind of thinkers who can create and navigate an unknowable future. Curiosity and agency, she argues, are more valuable than simply accumulating knowledge.
Social Media
kiolearning.com
@kiospaceforce
@kionaut
Amirah’s email: amirah.cummings@gmail.com
About Jeff
Jeff Ikler is the Director of Quetico Leadership and Career Coaching. “Quetico” (KWEH-teh-co). He works with leaders in all aspects of life to identify and overcome obstacles in their desired future. He came to the field of coaching after a 35-year career in educational publishing. Prior to his career in educational publishing, Jeff taught high school U.S. history and government.
Jeff has hosted the “Getting Unstuck—Cultivating Curiosity” podcast for 5 years. The guests and topics he explores are designed to help listeners think differently about the familiar and welcome the new as something to consider. He is also the co-host of the Cultivating Resilience – A Whole Community Approach to Alleviating Trauma in Schools, which promotes mental health and overall wellness.
Jeff co-authored Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change. Shifting integrates leadership development and change mechanics in a three-part change framework to help guide school leaders and their teams toward productive change.
Show Credits
"Getting Unstuck" is commercial-free. It’s brought to you by Jeff Ikler, his amazing guests, and Neil Hughes, the best engineer a podcaster could ask for.
"Getting Unstuck" theme music: Original composition of "Allegro ben ritmato e deciso" by George Gershwin. Arrangement and recording courtesy of Bruno Lecoeur.