Looking for Epistemological Development in Vivo and Finding Uncertainty: Exploring Epistemologically Rich Micropractices in Families

• In Event: Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Motivation and Cognition in Varied Contexts

Abstract

An important question in contemporary educational/learning research is: How do children develop epistemologically? Psychologists tend to approach the study of epistemology in vitro, via studies in clinical settings. Educational researchers tend to study it in situ, as in classroom settings. This paper presents an argument for taking seriously the sociocultural perspective and trying to understand epistemological development in vivo, at the primary site of children’s development: at home with their families. It also presents work from a study of children’s micro-practices (Sherin, Bang, & Krakowski, 2004) at home, revealing adults routinely modeling intellectual uncertainty in both epistemologically shallow and deep ways that could have important implications for children’s developing sense of epistemic agency.

Author

• Jessica Umphress, Northwestern University