An updated perspective on emergent science

ABSTRACT

Our concern is to offer support to the entire spectrum of staff wishing to nurture the development of early years science, from unqualified personnel through to early years professionals who may hold any one of the plethora of relevant qualifications. We reflect on what form that science might take, bearing in mind criticisms of science education in the early years (taken as 3–7 years in this paper). As a starting point, the proficiencies deemed desirable for science in general and the youngest age group in particular are reviewed. We analyse the shift from the historical concept-process dichotomy to the prescription for inclusion of epistemic and social perspectives, together with the Nature of Science advocacy. A developmental assessment profile provides a means of reviewing early years holistic priorities towards an authentic bottom-up science in which children ask themselves how they came to know and believe the things they do.

KEYWORDS:

• Early years
• emergent science
• learning progressions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Terry Russell directed the Centre for Research in Primary Science and Technology at the University of Liverpool for many years and is now Emeritus Professor at the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the same university. His academic background is in developmental and educational psychology. He works in research, curriculum development and assessment, mainly relating to science education for the 3–14 age range.

Linda McGuigan is Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Liverpool. She has an established track record of research into the emergence and development of science understanding in the early years. She has managed national assessment and curriculum development projects and has published widely on assessment, curriculum development, children’s learning and pedagogy.

Additional information

Funding

The authors’ research drawn on in this paper was supported in part by the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust (now the Primary Science Teaching Trust) and by the Welsh Government but the views expressed are those of the authors.