Paper Title
Impact of Teachers’ Humanity on Students’ Curiosity

Abstract
According to a recent survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO), 12.6 percent of students in India drop out of school; 19.8 percent drop out at the secondary level; and 17.5 percent drop out at the upper primary level. If we can understand how to instil characteristics such as curiosity in students that foster learning, it may be possible to curb the dropout rates. While studies have been conducted to investigate the impact of teaching styles and other related factors on student academic achievement, few to none have focused on any specific characteristics. This study examines the impact teachers’ virtues can have on a student’s curiosity. Dr. Robert McGrath's VIA questionnaire was used to assess six virtues of CBSE curriculum-based teachers. The teachers were then divided into three groups based on their level of humanity (low, moderate, and high). Todd Kashdan’s CEI-II questionnaire was then used to measure their students’ (classes 9 and 10) curiosity. Then an ANOVA analysis showed a significant difference (p = 0.002) in the means of the students’ curiosity between the three groups. A significant difference in the groups with moderate and high levels of humanity was found in the post-hoc analysis (p = 0.013). These results can help with hiring teachers, devising pedagogical strategies, and future research in educational and positive psychology. Keywords - Educational Psychology, Positive Psychology, Virtues, Curiosity