Book talks as an approach to nature of science teaching in early childhood education

Abstract

This article focuses on the need for increased attention to content issues and working methods for science teaching in Early Childhood Education (ECE). Science education research emphasises the importance of not only focusing on specific phenomena, but also on the Nature of Science (NOS). NOS teaching deals with questions about what science is, how scientific knowledge is developed and in what ways humans are involved in these processes. An inclusion of such issues is important if common stereotypical images of science and scientists are to be challenged. Previous research has suggested that NOS can be taught through book talks connected to trade books. However, there is a lack of empirical studies at the ECE level supporting this suggestion. Thus, this article reports from the first part of a project in which researchers and teachers explored book talks as a possibility to introduce NOS in early years science (children between 1 and 5 years old). Data consists of book talks (N=48) around two picture trade books led by five preschool teachers preceded by a teacherresearcher workshop on NOS and NOS teaching. The results show that discussions on a variety of NOS issues is possible in an ECE context. These results are discussed in relation to previous literature on both NOS teaching and science in the early years.

Nature of science in early years science teaching

“…Here, we have chosen to use McComas's framework (2017,2020) since it includes three broad NOS categories/themes that we believe can be useful for structuring NOS issues appropriate for ECE. The three themes that we use as starting points for our suggestions are: characteristics and limits of scientific knowledge, human elements of science, and scientific processes and tools (see Hansson, Leden, and Thulin 2020). They have been slightly modified 2 from McComas' original themes.…”

“…This means finding ways to take a first step in the progression towards understanding that '(f)acts do not lie scattered on the beach like seashells, merely waiting, preformed, to be collected' (Allchin 2013, 37). A first building block in this domain can be illustrated by an example where a teacher and a group of 5-6-year-old children read a book about dinosaurs that provides information about what dinosaurs ate and that some dinosaurs were good runners (see Hansson, Leden, and Thulin 2020). In this case, it led to a discussion about how palaeontologists can draw conclusions from what can be 'seen on the skeletons' or on the teeth.…”

“…The overarching aims and values of democracy and social justice are our points of departure. The article is argumentative and builds on previous NOS research, previous research on ECE traditions and practices, as well as on our own explorative, empirical research on NOS teaching in ECE (Hansson, Leden, and Thulin 2020;Hansson et al submitted;Leden et al manuscript;Thulin et al manuscript).…”

Scientific Attitude of Young Children through Literature and Project-Based Learning Organization

“…It gives children an experience of places, people and things around them. Literature can engage children interest science and let them to do as imagination through learning in terms of project to gain knowledge (Oppermann et al, 2018;Hansson et al, 2020;van Keulen & Boendermaker, 2020). Children expand their borders of knowledge and the power of imagination, helping them gain thinking skills.…”

Fen Temali Bi̇lgi̇ Veren Resi̇mli̇ Çocuk Ki̇taplarinin Fen Öğrenmedeki̇ Önemi̇

“…Resimli çocuk kitapları çocukların yaşamlarında karşılaşmış oldukları ilk kitap türü olmakla birlikte ilerleyen yaşlarda erken okuryazarlık eğitimine destek olmak amacıyla da gerek sınıf içinde öğretmenler tarafından gerekse de ev içinde ebeveynler tarafından yaygın olarak kullanılmaktadır (Caswell ve Duke, 1998;Hansson, Leden ve Thulin, 2020;Xoshimova, 2020). Bu noktada çocukların resimli çocuk kitapları ile meşgul olmaları onların bilgi edinme, anlam oluşturma, eleştirel düşünme becerilerini kazanmalarının yanı sıra tüm gelişim alanlarını da olumlu yönde etkilemektedir (Gönen, 1984;Mantzicopoulos ve Patrick, 2011).…”