ERIC Number: EJ1039305
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Dec
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0157-244X
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Available Date: N/A
Exploring the Complexities of Children's Inquiries in Science: Knowledge Production through Participatory Practices
Siry, Christina
Research in Science Education, v43 n6 p2407-2430 Dec 2013
Beginning with the assumption that young children are capable of producing unprecedented knowledges about science phenomena, this paper explores the complexities of children's inquiries within open-ended investigations. I ask two central questions: (1) how can we (teachers, researchers, and children themselves) use and build upon children's explorations in science in practice? and (2) what pedagogical approaches can position children as experts on their experiences to facilitate children's sense of ownership in the process of learning science? Six vignettes from a Kindergarten classroom are analyzed to elaborate the central claim of this work, which is that when children are engaged in collaborative open-ended activities, science emerges from their interactions. Open-ended structures allowed for teachers and children to facilitate further investigations collaboratively, and participatory structures mediated children's representations and explanations of their investigations. Evidence of children's interactions is used to illustrate the complexities of children's explorations, and pedagogical approaches that create the spaces for children to create knowledge are highlighted.
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Young Children, Kindergarten, Vignettes, Teaching Methods, Cooperative Learning, Student Participation, Cognitive Processes, Childhood Attitudes, Elementary School Science
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Kindergarten; Primary Education; Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
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