Keywords

1 Introduction

In this first section of the book we have examined the theoretical foundations for learning science in early childhood. In particular, we looked at the empirical and theoretical literature in order to gain understandings about how others have conceptualized children’s learning in science. Because we were interested in a cultural-historical framework for preschool children’s conceptual thinking in science, we specifically examined this literature, noting that only a small pool of material was available to us. However, in extending our analysis through drawing upon the collected works of Vygotsky, we were able to give a new kind of reading for science learning.

2 Principles for Science Learning

In this section of the book we sought to move away from the traditional empirical studies that have generally argued that everyday concepts get in the way of scientific concepts, and have instead been guided by Vygotsky’s (1987) work on the dialectical relations between everyday concepts and scientific concepts. Here we argued strongly that children need everyday experiences of science in order to name and work with new meanings of their environment – that is, everyday experiences and concepts do not get in the way, but rather provide the rich tapestry from which scientific understandings can form. We argued that through a consciousness of concepts, on the part of both the teacher and the children, new meanings of the environment could be made. That is, the children’s environments do not change, but rather how they think about their environment does as a result of science teaching. From this perspective it can be argued that a new way of thinking about science learning in early childhood education is needed.

We also examined a different reading of preschool science education. We focused on imagination, creativity and emotions in science. When we use cultural-historical theory for framing our understanding of teaching and learning, where the dialectal relations between everyday concepts and scientific concepts are the focus of our attention, and imagination and creativity are considered alongside of how the learner feels, a whole new orientation to early childhood science education emerges. We noted this as being important for both re-theorising our conceptions of early childhood science education, but also we can now see that a new set of principles to guide our day-to-day work in preschool centre is needed.

As such, we present the following principles to inform a new conception of early childhood science education:

  • Principle 1: We must recognize and scrutinise the historical legacy of science education research because this frames what we see and think, contributing to a set of ‘taken for granted’ assumptions that may no longer be helpful

  • Principle 2: A cultural-historical reading of science education means that we see everyday concepts of children as central and not as getting in the way of scientific learning

  • Principle 3: The dialectical relations of learning science means we must develop both scientific concepts and everyday concepts if conceptual development is to occur – this is different to conceptual change

  • Principle 4: Science knowledge is not static, therefore why would we assume one explanation of the material and natural world is the ‘right’ one.

These four principles can be drawn together to theorise a new set of assumptions for shaping the development of a cultural-historical view of learning in science for young children (see Chap. 13). An overview of the key assumptions and theoretical drivers for informing a cultural-historical view of early childhood science education are shown in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1 Key assumptions and theoretical drivers for informing a cultural-historical view of early childhood science education
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In this first section of the book we also studied how imagination, creativity and emotions shaped and was shaped by science education. In particular we put forward a wholeness perspective, where five characteristics featured:

  1. 1.

    Collective investigations and narratives

  2. 2.

    Affective imagination

  3. 3.

    Being in and out of imaginary situations – flickering

  4. 4.

    Duality of emotions and thinking

  5. 5.

    Emotional filtering

A wholeness approach to science teaching in preschools foregrounds these characteristics, suggesting that the child, the concept and the social and material world cannot be separated from each other. They each give meaning to science teaching, and collectively ensure they make learning meaningful for the young learner. In Table 4.2 we bring together these characteristics and argue that for young children preschool science needs to encompass affective imagination as a central dimension in teaching and learning.

Table 4.2 Affective imagination in early childhood science education
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The principles and concepts outlined in Tables 4.1 and 4.2 begin to capture the complexity of what matters in the teaching of science to very young children. In the next section we progress these key assumptions and theoretical drivers further. There we examine the empirical literature on early childhood science learning across a range of countries. We specifically explore these studies from the theoretical framework introduced in this first section. What we seek to do is find out how children learn science in play-based settings across cultures.