"Drawing the leaves anyway": Teachers embracing children's different ways of knowing in preschool science practice

The purpose of this study is to examine if and how teachers combine science with preschool practice in activities with a science content. The study examines (1) how teachers’ talk about science relates to the possible ways in which children learn about science, and (2) how teachers deal with presumed tensions between science practice, which emphasises the objective and logical aspects of learning, and preschool practice, which emphasises subjective and intuitive aspects of learning.

Overall, the results show that children can learn about science in preschool in many different ways, and that children approach science in preschool activities with their whole body, for example, through drama, dance and experiments. The teachers generally combine science learning objectives with preschool practice in a way that does not cause tension between science practice and preschool practice. Moreover, the teachers' talk about science in preschool smoothly alternates between learning that can be combined with something that is subjective and intuitive, and learning that can be combined with something that is objective and logical. The study shows how preschool science is related to the concept pairs applied, but that one concept (for example, logical) does not have greater value than the other (intuitive). According to the authors, this finding indicates that the teachers in the study have found ways to handle science in preschool that goes against presumed tensions between science and preschool practice.

The authors find that by far the majority of teachers talk about science in preschool as something that is to provide the children with knowledge and understanding of the material world, whereas only few teachers talk about science in preschool as a way in which children can find explanations to science phenomena. Generally, the teachers do not consider it a problem to meet the learning objectives of science in preschool. The study shows that in four out of 11 preschools, some or all teachers believe that they should "stay in the background" and not interfere in the children's thoughts about science. Teachers from five of the preschools express opposition to assessing the children's perceptions as "right" or "wrong" or to providing the children with the answers. According to the authors, this can be interpreted such that the teachers want to maintain focus on the process leading towards an answer or a conclusion, instead of the actual conclusion, and that the teachers want to position their preschool practice at a distance from perceptions of the science practice taking place later at school.

The data material consists of focus-group interviews with teachers from 11 preschools with children aged between 1-5 years. The preschools were selected because science is a pronounced part of their preschool practice. The researchers visited each preschool five to 12 times, and carried out observations and recorded video footage of practice. Subsequently, three-five teachers from each preschool took part in a focus-group interview, in which selected video footage of the daily practice was shown to enable the teachers to discuss science in preschool and activities with a science content. The interviews were recorded on video and on audio tapes and then transcribed. The researchers analysed the data material on the basis of the two concept pairs objective-subjective and logical-intuitive.

Areljung, S., Ottander, C., & Due, K. (2016). "Drawing the leaves anyway": Teachers embracing children's different ways of knowing in preschool science practice. Research in science education. DOI: 10.1007/s11165-016-9557-3