In an Exchange magazine article that explains the premise behind the book, The Honeycomb Hypothesis, one of the book’s authors, Sandra Duncan, uses the behavior of honeybees as a metaphor to richly illustrate how infants and toddlers learn through movement and open-ended exploration, especially in and with nature.

 

Duncan explains why “problematic pedagogy” which includes an overemphasis on direct instruction of specific facts or skills, can lead teachers astray. “The reality is teachers really do not know what is happening inside children’s brains because we cannot see the schemas forming or taking place. We can only observe their visible actions, or patterns of play.” Duncan continues, “There needs to be a shift in pedagogical paradigms from focusing on the acquisition of knowledge of basic facts such as shapes, colors, and alphabet, to a pedagogical emphasis on offering children opportunities for developing meaningful understandings.”