Moments of wonder, everyday events: How are young children theorising and making sense of their world?
Funding Year: 2008
Type: 2 years
Organisation: Core Education
Principal Investigator
Keryn Davis, Core Education
Sally Peters, University of Waikat, research mentor
Research Team
Dalene Maciter (Canterbury Playcentre Association), Nikki Wellby (Southbridge PC), Kristina Hamilton (Fendalton PC), Eleanor White (St Albans PC), Aletta Duff (Cust/West Eyreton PC) and Pip Stephenson (Lyttelton Street PC).
Partnerships
Core Education and the University of Waikato, with the Canterbury Playcentre Association
Project Aims
The focus of this research is on exploring children’s working theories in action; how they are expressed and how working theories are understood and fostered in Playcentre environments. This project will consider the features of environments that encourage children to theorise and make sense of their worlds.
Research Questions
- How do children express their working theories?
- How do adults recognise unspoken theories?
- How do adults understand children’s working theories? What features of the Playcentre context support this understanding?
- What is the adult’s role in supporting children’s working theories? (e.g. Adult as student to the child as professor?)
- What are some of the dilemmas for adults in supporting children’s working theories?
- How do working theories develop over time and context and what influences this?
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How can documentation be used to support and extend children’s working theories?