Inquiry: An official investigation

By: Sari

Being in a cohort of about 20 people, there are constant conversations about what is occurring in multiple classrooms in the southeast region of Louisiana. Often reading, writing, and mathematics are the majority of conversations while science and social studies are looked over. This has also been apparent in my three placements over the last 18 months.

My ongoing question is “Why has science become overlooked in early childhood classrooms?”

I have been concerned by the lack of exploration in science and the reliance on worksheets in early childhood classrooms. The literature suggests traditional, text-based instruction, rather than hands-on kinesthetic instruction, is not successful for teaching science because the students are often involved in limited ways as “passive recipients” of knowledge (Trundle, 2008, p.3). For the students to be able to obtain rich information, they must be learning through first hand experiences.

According to Worth, inquiry-based science’s core is based on direct exploration of phenomena and materials (2010, para. 9). Often classrooms allow for minimal exploration and observation from students. There will be some object placed on a table surrounded by observations tools for the students to use, but the observations and questions from the students go unnoticed (Worth, 2010). There are times when students are not able to present their concerns or questions because of the quick rush onto the next subject area that may be considered “more important” depending on the school. Young children should be learning science through first hand exploration. They should be involved in “sciencing” rather than learning the facts presented by instructors and worksheets  (Kilmer & Hofman, 1995; Mayesky, 1998; Zeece, 1999). According to Wilson, this can best be accomplished through the constructivist approach, in which children use and explore, ask questions, and are presented with high order thinking questions by their teacher. Productive questions are in fact, one of the most effective tools for supporting constructivist learning (Martens, 1999).

When teachers are guiding an inquiry-based approach, it allows for “scaffolding of new scientific concepts with the learner’s existing mental models” (Trundle et al., in press, p.3).  This is the type of learning that children were born to engage in. They need to be touching things, moving around the room, and attempting to figure out why something is the way it is. The students become “active agents” in their learning and become motivated because they have a special ownership of their understandings.  This type of approach also leads to collaboration among students, scaffolding through peer discussion, and connections to the students daily lives (Trundle, 2009).

References

Trundle, K. (2008). Teaching Science During the Early Childhood Years. Retrieved October 27, 2015, from

http://ngl.cengage.com/assets/downloads/ngsci_pro0000000028/am_trundle_teach_sci_early_child_scl22-0429a.pdf

Wilson, R. (2008). Earlychildhood NEWS - Article Reading Center. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

Worth, K. (2010). Science in Early Childhood Classrooms: Content and Process. Retrieved November 1, 2015.