Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/creating-a-culture-of-scientific-inquiry-among--educators-in-an-early-childhood-context/5022957/
An Educator Culture of Scientific Inquiry
All Educators at Boulder Journey School begin the school year by getting to know students and families. Additionally, this time of year signifies when each Educator outlines his own professional goals. These goals are often framed as a question in order to engage Educators in a process of scientific inquiry. Educator questions are closely linked to observations of students and consider the potential for contributions to the field of Early Childhood Education.
The process of documentation is integral to scientific inquiry, as it provides the data for research findings. Educators observe and document using a variety of tools, such as photographs, video, transcribed conversations, charts, graphs, and/or samples of work. They reflect on the collected documents in order to analyze classroom learning experiences, with the goal of better understanding teaching and learning.
When analyzing photographs, videos, transcribed conversations, charts, graphs, sounds, notes, and/or samples of work, our Educators ask:
• What do you notice? What is surprising? What makes you laugh, wonder, or pause? How are these documented observations similar or different from others?
• What does this communicate about children? What are the children doing? What are ...