With the culture and education system of today, how do we nature that childlike quality in us?
They are not contradictory, in fact they are complimentary. If you talk to any accomplished scientist, you'll find in them this quality of innocence, like a child. Any genius in any field for that matter, if you sit and talk to them, you will feel that there's a genuineness and a childlike simplicity in them.
Somewhere people think that childlike simplicity is contrary to being intelligent. I usually say that intelligence which is accompanied with cunningness is good for nothing, and child-likeness which is full of ignorance is good for nothing. We need that perfect combination of innocence and intelligence. A pure heart and a clear mind is a part of intelligence.