Editorial
Awe and wonder: Learning as a sacred invitation
If you’ve ever watched a child wide-eyed at the first glimpse of a kangaroo or transfixed by a storybook’s final page, you’ve seen awe in action. It’s not just an emotion: it’s a divine invitation.
At Plenty Valley Christian College, we believe that awe and wonder aren’t just nice add-ons to learning; they are core. Scripture repeatedly calls us to “consider the heavens” (Psalm 8:3) and to “stand in awe of God’s works” (Job 37:14). Awe is a biblical posture. And it transforms the way our students learn.
Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing Megan Cuzzolino from Harvard University, reflecting on how awe helps students move beyond the transactional mode of learning (the grind of quizzes and grades) and connect their studies with something greater. Awe awakens meaning. When students encounter the vastness of God’s creation, the intricacy of mathematical order, or the beauty of language and art, they begin to perceive their learning not just as preparation for a test, but as participation in the unfolding story of God’s world.
Our teachers design learning not merely to deposit content, but to create encounters with wonder that stir curiosity and anchor knowledge in meaning. In Science, students marvel at the micro and macro: from the intricate structure of a cell to the vastness of a galaxy, both testifying to the Creator’s genius (Romans 1:20). In Mathematics, patterns and principles point to the ordered mind of God (1 Corinthians 14:33), inviting awe at how we can comprehend the logic woven into creation. In English, the gift of language and story mirrors God’s own self-disclosure through narrative (John 1:1), and in Art, the human impulse to create echoes the image of the Creator (Genesis 1:27).
But awe is not reserved for mountaintops or microscopes. It can be cultivated. At PVCC, we practise daily habits that name and notice meaning. Devotionals and class discussions help students and teachers pause, reflect, and connect what they learn to God’s purposes. These rhythms train students not just to know but to see. To trace the fingerprints of God in the ordinary and the academic alike.
Importantly, this is not the school’s work alone. This is a partnership.
Parents, your homes are fertile soil for cultivating wonder. Awe is a family habit as much as a school one. When you pause to marvel at a spider’s web, when you ask “What did you learn today that made you go ‘wow’?”, when you read a parable aloud and invite reflection. These might seem like small moments, but they are formative. Just as teachers point students to the Creator through curriculum, parents can do the same through conversation, shared experiences, and everyday attentiveness.
We also know awe does something to us: it shrinks the ego. Research describes the “small self” effect: awe draws our gaze outward, making us less self-centred and more attuned to others. In classrooms, this fosters collaboration; at home, it cultivates gratitude and humility. We want our students not only to achieve, but to become: to be people whose hearts are as formed as their minds, whose knowledge serves love and whose education leads to worship.
This, ultimately, is what makes Christian education distinct. We do not pursue learning for its own sake, nor as a mere pathway to jobs or test scores. We pursue it because knowledge, rightly ordered, leads us to the One who is Wisdom itself (Proverbs 2:6). As we encounter awe, we are reminded: the world is not a random accident. It is a created gift. And each child is invited to explore it not as a passive observer, but as an active steward and beloved participant in God’s story.
So let us lean in, school and home together. Let us model curiosity. Let us practice reflection. Let us marvel together. And in doing so, let us teach our children that awe is not the end of learning: it is the beginning.
Daniel Symons
Director of Learning and Teaching
