Résumé
Drawing on John Dewey’s vision of growth as an open-ended process that is continually staring anew, this paper examines how student-initiated inquiries can enhance engagement and understanding by navigating the dynamic interplay between listening for the expected and listening for the unexpected. It is suggested that students listening for the expected temporarily halts exploration, providing an opportunity to consolidate understanding and create stable foundations for further explorations into the unknown. In contrast, students listening for the unexpected can expand the subject matter into new contexts, allowing topics to resurface in unforeseen ways. This form of listening is taken to encourage dialogue to venture beyond established boundaries, sparking novel connections and serendipitous insights. These two forms of listening are mutually reinforcing: Listening for the expected requires a willingness to engage with the unknown, allowing students to collaborate with others in a dialogue to test and refine their comprehension of the subject matter. Conversely, listening for the unexpected requires a grounding in the expected, serving as a reference point for assessing how far off the beaten path exploration can diverge. Although the tension between the two forms of listening can sometimes lead to uncreative outcomes, this tension is also integral to fostering students’ growth and an aesthetic sense of connection to subject matter.