Using a scientific enquiry framework, focusing on questions, to promote enquiry skills in early childhood

ABSTRACT

This paper builds on previous research which outlined the development of a framework of scientific enquiry within a play-based curriculum for early childhood. For this paper, in order to help to mediate children’s observation and exploration as part of their play, we propose that practitioners need to have well-developed skills to ask open-ended questions. This would empower the children to gather evidence to substantiate their scientific ideas and thus advance their scientific thinking. Engaging children in this type of dialogue is not an easy skill for all practitioners and our research aimed to provide support for staff and evaluate the impact on the children’s learning. We found that staff improved their ability to ask open-ended questions and this enabled us to extend children’s play from observation and exploration to developing scientific enquiry skills, such as explaining, justifying, predicting, testing, reflecting and evaluating.

KEYWORDS:

• Scientific enquiry
• questioning
• learning dispositions
• early childhood
• schoolification
• ready to learn

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Karen McNerney is head of a school in England. Her Doctorate of Education was in early years, looking at the development of learning dispositions. She is a visiting lecturer at Middlesex University.

Danielle Carritt is an early childhood teacher at the same school with considerable experience of teaching in England and the USA.

Heather Dealey and is an early childhood teacher at the same school with a wealth of experience teaching in England.

Gemma Ladbury is the head of nursery at the same school with significant experience of teaching in England.