Not around predetermined inquiry topics, but about things that children are genuinely interested or passionate about.
It is fascinating when you take the time to observe children and listen.
My eFellows research was a year full of my own ‘wonderings’. I began my journey wondering what happens to children’s curiosity as they move through our education system.
I spent time observing the different ways that children express their curiosity; listening to their wonderings; and attempting to create a culture of wonder within my classroom.
There were three main areas within my research:-
Engaging with parents was a key part of my research and helped me gain a better understanding of the children in my class, their interests and what makes them tick.
I held two parent meetings and had follow up conversations around areas that I wanted to explore more. It was fascinating listening to the parents talk about how they were curiosity as a child, and then how their own child expresses curiosity.
One parents described their child as '...highly curious. She asks lots of questions', another described their child as ‘preferring to explore and find out things for themselves', while another described their child as being 'a quiet observer who will internalise questions and they will come out much further down the track, once he has pondered things and tried to make sense of it himself'.
This raised a few questions for me. How do we ensure that the ‘quiet observer’ has enough time make sense of things, and how do we ensure that they have an opportunity to share when they are ready?
It’s about making TIME to allow this happen.
One thing that came through very strongly in both parent meetings was the fact that during their own childhood most parents were allowed to roam free and explore on their own, often quite some distance from home. When asked if they would allow their own children to explore in the same way the response was overwhelmingly “No way, not unless we were there!”. The radius from home that children are allowed to explore on their own has shrunk considerably over time, as has the freedom to explore without parental supervision. Children do not have the same freedom that many of their parents had. These changes in society are barriers to curiosity and unintentionally stifle curiosity. Today children are allowed to be curious…. but within boundaries.
During my research I used video a lot to capture moments of curiosity and children’s thinking. It was an real eye-opener watching interactions between children and tracking children throughout the clips to see how they problem solved and to hear their thinking.
One of the sessions I videoed challenged my assumptions. The children were exploring some new play equipment called ‘The Imaginary Playground’ (see slide 4). As it was a large space I set up a video camera and two laptops and used 'Quicktime' to capture what was happening. Not long after the session began I noticed one boy ‘mucking around” by one of the laptops. I thought he was sabotaging my recording, but thankfully I resisted the urge to go over and redirect him back to the activity. What this child had discovered was that if he raised his left hand then the image that he was looking at looked like it was his right hand. It wasn’t like looking in a mirror. He spent over ten minutes peeking out from behind his creation, pointing in different directions and trying to share what he had found with a nearby child (see slide 5). The next day we explored his wonderings together, and discussed his thinking. He explained that he wanted to "spend more time" exploring. He wanted ….time to explore…..time to wonder….. He also explained that it was different from when he used the video at home. The video at home wasn't like a mirror. He needed time to make sense of what he was seeing and was linking it to what he already knew about computers and videoing. What a wonderfully rich place to start some further exploration.
I set up a weekly ‘wondering time’, where children had a chance to share their wonderings with each other. I was amazed at the depth of wonderings that emerged. One child shared this wondering; "I wonder how the first person was born?"
This particular wondering had a real impact on my learning.. A question centred around belief systems wasn’t a question I was keen to explore in more depth. It really challenged my thinking and made me stop and reflect. It made me question myself. Who am I to decide which wonderings are more important than others? Doesn’t she have the right to feel that her wonderings are valued?’
So I got alongside that child and together we 'wondered' some more. To her, the answer wasn’t important....but sharing was. We looked at her questions and I encouraged her to share her thinking. However, when it come to that particular question, she didn’t share her thinking or expect me to answer it for her, she just said in a very matter of fact way, “It’s just something I think about sometimes”.
I spent some time exploring different ways of capturing curiosity. Allowing time for children to express, articulate and practise being curious. I set up provocations and gave them time to be curious. What I discovered was that when you encourage wondering it soon takes a life of its own. Once again TIME became a factor. In this case it was finding the time to listen.
To address this I created a wonder wall as a place where children could record their wonderings whenever they liked. They could write or draw their wonderings onto sticky notes and then add them to the ‘wonder wall’. They could also use the i-pads to record their wonderings using the showme app. Later children were given their own wonder brick so that they could keep all their wonderings together. This allowed me to identify children who had lots of questions, and those that perhaps needed some encouragement to share their wonderings. Children were encouraged to share their wonder bricks with their parents and caregivers, which introduced another way that questions centred around belief systems could be taken home and explored with parents.
Recording their wonderings on the i-pad and our ‘wonder wall’ also gave me an opportunity to group students questions under some fairly broad headings - natural world, how things are made or work, and other more general questions. As common themes started to emerge, my teaching partner and I began exploring ways we could use some of these themes as a starting point for further exploration. The uncertainty of how we might do this, while ensure that it was student-driven, raised questions about planning, curriculum coverage and accountability.
My teaching partners first concern was how we might manage 30 children with a possibility of 30 different inquiries happening. She made the comment that it was “...a leap of faith management wise for a teacher to go into an activity without a plan (even loose one) as to how they can make sure all children are engaged and actively participating”.
She went on to say that... “Though teachers see themselves as facilitators we do all actually take comfort in guiding an activity to a planned conclusion. What happens if the child goes off track and follows another path? How do we plan or be prepared for that?"
Her concerns are echoed by many teachers. A surveyed I conducted of junior school teachers within the Central Otago and Lakes district, revealed that while 100% of respondents agreed that nurturing children’s curiosity was important, many had concerns around curriculum coverage, or not having enough TIME to listen to all the questions, let alone explore them. One of the questions I asked was ‘What are the barriers to encouraging curiosity?’ Some of the responses can be seen on slide 10. Lack of TIME was seen the main barrier to encouraging children’s curiosity, followed by curriculum demands.
At the same time as I was reading this I was also seeing some dramatic changes happening in my classroom because I had made TIME. I noticed that when I make time for children some really authentic wonderings started to happen.
An example of this was during a guided reading session. we were discussing a text prior to reading, when suddenly one of the boys interrupted and said “Ooooo, Ooooo Mrs Kitto, Mrs Kitto….. I’ve got a WONDERING!’ There was a sense of urgency and he was bursting to share. He continued by saying “I wonder how cows make milk?" This was a moment of genuine wonder about something he really wanted to find out.
What was great about this moment was that he felt he could share this wondering and knew that it would be heard and not brushed aside because it wasn’t relevant to what we were doing at that point in time. He understood that we couldn't explore it right there and then, but he knew we would make time. After our session he drew his wondering on a sticky note and put it on his brick so we could come back to it later.
It was at this moment that I realised the classroom culture was starting to change.
What is the key learning that has come out of my research?
Children are use to having freedom to explore when they are in ECE, so what I wanted to make sure that they continue to have this freedom in my classroom.
Where to next?
After a year of researching I have so much more that I wish to explore. I am only at the start of my journey investigating the power of curiosity in education.
Within my classroom I will continue to explore new ways of learning together, creating a strong culture of wondering with the aim that curiosity will drive the learning.
I wonder what might be possible? What other ways can we create TIME?
Transitioning from the industrial model of education to a new era of teaching and learning, it is important that we all start to think about what is important in education. More than ever it is important to make time for children to wonder. To encourage children to be curious about the world around them, to find out more, to question and to challenge.
It’s the journey of wondering and discovering that has the greatest impact of learning, not simply finding out the answer.
It is fascinating when you take the time to observe children and listen.
My eFellows research was a year full of my own ‘wonderings’. I began my journey wondering what happens to children’s curiosity as they move through our education system.
I spent time observing the different ways that children express their curiosity; listening to their wonderings; and attempting to create a culture of wonder within my classroom.
There were three main areas within my research:-
- I talked with parents and had on-going discussions around curiosity
- Surveyed local teachers about what was happening in their classrooms
- Trailed some different things within my own classroom.
Engaging with parents was a key part of my research and helped me gain a better understanding of the children in my class, their interests and what makes them tick.
I held two parent meetings and had follow up conversations around areas that I wanted to explore more. It was fascinating listening to the parents talk about how they were curiosity as a child, and then how their own child expresses curiosity.
One parents described their child as '...highly curious. She asks lots of questions', another described their child as ‘preferring to explore and find out things for themselves', while another described their child as being 'a quiet observer who will internalise questions and they will come out much further down the track, once he has pondered things and tried to make sense of it himself'.
This raised a few questions for me. How do we ensure that the ‘quiet observer’ has enough time make sense of things, and how do we ensure that they have an opportunity to share when they are ready?
It’s about making TIME to allow this happen.
One thing that came through very strongly in both parent meetings was the fact that during their own childhood most parents were allowed to roam free and explore on their own, often quite some distance from home. When asked if they would allow their own children to explore in the same way the response was overwhelmingly “No way, not unless we were there!”. The radius from home that children are allowed to explore on their own has shrunk considerably over time, as has the freedom to explore without parental supervision. Children do not have the same freedom that many of their parents had. These changes in society are barriers to curiosity and unintentionally stifle curiosity. Today children are allowed to be curious…. but within boundaries.
During my research I used video a lot to capture moments of curiosity and children’s thinking. It was an real eye-opener watching interactions between children and tracking children throughout the clips to see how they problem solved and to hear their thinking.
One of the sessions I videoed challenged my assumptions. The children were exploring some new play equipment called ‘The Imaginary Playground’ (see slide 4). As it was a large space I set up a video camera and two laptops and used 'Quicktime' to capture what was happening. Not long after the session began I noticed one boy ‘mucking around” by one of the laptops. I thought he was sabotaging my recording, but thankfully I resisted the urge to go over and redirect him back to the activity. What this child had discovered was that if he raised his left hand then the image that he was looking at looked like it was his right hand. It wasn’t like looking in a mirror. He spent over ten minutes peeking out from behind his creation, pointing in different directions and trying to share what he had found with a nearby child (see slide 5). The next day we explored his wonderings together, and discussed his thinking. He explained that he wanted to "spend more time" exploring. He wanted ….time to explore…..time to wonder….. He also explained that it was different from when he used the video at home. The video at home wasn't like a mirror. He needed time to make sense of what he was seeing and was linking it to what he already knew about computers and videoing. What a wonderfully rich place to start some further exploration.
I set up a weekly ‘wondering time’, where children had a chance to share their wonderings with each other. I was amazed at the depth of wonderings that emerged. One child shared this wondering; "I wonder how the first person was born?"
This particular wondering had a real impact on my learning.. A question centred around belief systems wasn’t a question I was keen to explore in more depth. It really challenged my thinking and made me stop and reflect. It made me question myself. Who am I to decide which wonderings are more important than others? Doesn’t she have the right to feel that her wonderings are valued?’
So I got alongside that child and together we 'wondered' some more. To her, the answer wasn’t important....but sharing was. We looked at her questions and I encouraged her to share her thinking. However, when it come to that particular question, she didn’t share her thinking or expect me to answer it for her, she just said in a very matter of fact way, “It’s just something I think about sometimes”.
I spent some time exploring different ways of capturing curiosity. Allowing time for children to express, articulate and practise being curious. I set up provocations and gave them time to be curious. What I discovered was that when you encourage wondering it soon takes a life of its own. Once again TIME became a factor. In this case it was finding the time to listen.
To address this I created a wonder wall as a place where children could record their wonderings whenever they liked. They could write or draw their wonderings onto sticky notes and then add them to the ‘wonder wall’. They could also use the i-pads to record their wonderings using the showme app. Later children were given their own wonder brick so that they could keep all their wonderings together. This allowed me to identify children who had lots of questions, and those that perhaps needed some encouragement to share their wonderings. Children were encouraged to share their wonder bricks with their parents and caregivers, which introduced another way that questions centred around belief systems could be taken home and explored with parents.
Recording their wonderings on the i-pad and our ‘wonder wall’ also gave me an opportunity to group students questions under some fairly broad headings - natural world, how things are made or work, and other more general questions. As common themes started to emerge, my teaching partner and I began exploring ways we could use some of these themes as a starting point for further exploration. The uncertainty of how we might do this, while ensure that it was student-driven, raised questions about planning, curriculum coverage and accountability.
My teaching partners first concern was how we might manage 30 children with a possibility of 30 different inquiries happening. She made the comment that it was “...a leap of faith management wise for a teacher to go into an activity without a plan (even loose one) as to how they can make sure all children are engaged and actively participating”.
She went on to say that... “Though teachers see themselves as facilitators we do all actually take comfort in guiding an activity to a planned conclusion. What happens if the child goes off track and follows another path? How do we plan or be prepared for that?"
Her concerns are echoed by many teachers. A surveyed I conducted of junior school teachers within the Central Otago and Lakes district, revealed that while 100% of respondents agreed that nurturing children’s curiosity was important, many had concerns around curriculum coverage, or not having enough TIME to listen to all the questions, let alone explore them. One of the questions I asked was ‘What are the barriers to encouraging curiosity?’ Some of the responses can be seen on slide 10. Lack of TIME was seen the main barrier to encouraging children’s curiosity, followed by curriculum demands.
At the same time as I was reading this I was also seeing some dramatic changes happening in my classroom because I had made TIME. I noticed that when I make time for children some really authentic wonderings started to happen.
An example of this was during a guided reading session. we were discussing a text prior to reading, when suddenly one of the boys interrupted and said “Ooooo, Ooooo Mrs Kitto, Mrs Kitto….. I’ve got a WONDERING!’ There was a sense of urgency and he was bursting to share. He continued by saying “I wonder how cows make milk?" This was a moment of genuine wonder about something he really wanted to find out.
What was great about this moment was that he felt he could share this wondering and knew that it would be heard and not brushed aside because it wasn’t relevant to what we were doing at that point in time. He understood that we couldn't explore it right there and then, but he knew we would make time. After our session he drew his wondering on a sticky note and put it on his brick so we could come back to it later.
It was at this moment that I realised the classroom culture was starting to change.
What is the key learning that has come out of my research?
- Children are curious in different ways. Some children have a barrage of questions and an insatiable curiosity, while others are quiet observers who internalize questions, ponder them and try to make sense of them in their own minds.
- When I took the time to listen to parents and what they know about their child’s curiosity I gained a deeper insight into what makes each child ‘tick’. Strengthening home /school partnership.
- We need to CREATE opportunities and MAKE TIME for curiosity. When I allowed time for children to explore and wonder, there was a real depth to their questioning
- Make time to listen.....wait time is important, as is the time to stand back and watch.
- One thing that surprised me was the level of curiosity. Some of the wonderings that children have are pretty sophisticated and that presents a real challenge for adults because it can be hard to know where to begin.
Children are use to having freedom to explore when they are in ECE, so what I wanted to make sure that they continue to have this freedom in my classroom.
- The parent meetings have really ‘opened the door‘ to greater collaboration.
- While its difficult to make time, it’s really important to find a way. You can make time if you re-prioritise and think creatively.
- TIME is the key ingredient in creating a CULTURE OF WONDER.
Where to next?
After a year of researching I have so much more that I wish to explore. I am only at the start of my journey investigating the power of curiosity in education.
Within my classroom I will continue to explore new ways of learning together, creating a strong culture of wondering with the aim that curiosity will drive the learning.
I wonder what might be possible? What other ways can we create TIME?
Transitioning from the industrial model of education to a new era of teaching and learning, it is important that we all start to think about what is important in education. More than ever it is important to make time for children to wonder. To encourage children to be curious about the world around them, to find out more, to question and to challenge.
It’s the journey of wondering and discovering that has the greatest impact of learning, not simply finding out the answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment