Listening to children in nature: emergent curriculum in science teaching and learning in bush kinders

Figures & data

Table 1. Stages of an Emergent Curriculum Cycle Adapted from Stacey (2011, p. 6).

Stage	Emergent Curriculum: A continuous cycle
1	Continued observation and formulation of questions
2	Reflecting with others on observations, experiences and narratives
3	What intrigues or puzzles me? What do I wonder?
4	Specifically, what are the children trying to find out?
5	What does it all mean? Search for patterns or insights
6	What do we offer as an invitation? As support? In terms of exploration?
7	How are the children responding?
8	Next steps?

Figure 1. Examining tree rings to understand tree age (biological sciences).

Figure 2. Balancing to understand gravity (physical sciences).

Figure 3. Mud play to understand chemical mixing (chemical science).

Table 2. Data analysis table using an 8-step emergent curriculum cycle.

Eight step cycle for an emergent curriculum (Stacey, 2011, p. 6)	Vignette 1: Biological science Educator: Kelly	Vignette 2: Physical science Educator: Laurel	Vignette 3: Chemical science Educator: Rebecca
1. Continued observation and formulation of questions	Kelly was observing as Eliza and the girls were playing	Laurel was observing the children playing and was concerned the children would fall off the log. Laurel had also identified that there was an emerging opportunity to teach the children about gravity and why they were falling to the ground.	Rebecca had watched two boys in the previous bush kinder session making mud. She wanted to see what happened at the beginning of a new session.
2. Reflecting with others on observations, experiences and narratives	Kelly spoke to the researcher and discussed what she had observed.	Laurel informed the researcher she was worried one of the children would hurt themselves.	Rebecca turned to her fellow educator Rochelle and said ‘off they go to their chemical laboratory again’.
3. What intrigues or puzzles me? What do I wonder?	Kelly wondered about the tree rings and whether the children would notice them.	Laurel wondered if there was an opportunity to teach the children about gravity and why they were falling to the ground. She asked them ‘why do we fall down’?	Rebecca let the boys play with mud. We discussed the events occuring in front of us and how Rebecca could use this as a teaching opportunity
4. Specifically, what are the children trying to find out?	The girls are trying to understand how trees grow	The children are building an understanding of what gravity is.	The children are building an understanding of how the consistency of mud changes and what consistency of mud allows for balls to be formed.
5. What does it all mean? Search for patterns of insights.	Kelly elicited the children’s voice by questioning the girls about what they were seeing. She further elicited the children’s voice by asking why Eliza thought the rings were visible, and what were the reasons the tree would have these circles inside of it.	Laurel elicited the children’s voice by getting the children to throw sticks to test gravity. She further elicited the children’s voice by asking the children to tell her what they thought would happen if we didn’t have gravity.	Rebecca elicited the children’s voice by asking the boys what would happen if they added too much water.
6. What do we offer as an invitation? As support? In terms of exploration?	Kelly talked about the tree rings and how they showed tree growth.	Laurel explained what would happen if we didn’t have gravity.	Rebecca suggested that they try different volumes of water to see what would happen.
7. How are the children responding?	Eliza (child) noticed that the bark on the smaller tree was peeling off which generated further discussion on tree rings and tree growth	One child responded he would float away.	One boy said it would be too wet and they would need to add more earth.
8. Next steps?	This learning would be something Kelly took back to the kindergarten sessions and included in a future lesson.	This learning would be something Laurel took back to the kindergarten sessions and included in a future lesson.	The boys took away their mud balls and tested them by throwing them at a tree. Rebecca would wait and see if more mud mixing would occur in future.

Figure 4. A cycle for applying an emergent curriculum in nature-based early childhood science education.

Stacey, S. (2011). The unscripted classroom: Emergent curriculum in action. Redleaf Press.

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