Kindergarten Girls as Epistemic Agents During a Light and Shadows Unit

• In Event: 63.036 - Young People Shaping Science Practice in and out of Classrooms: Implications for Teaching and Learning

Abstract

From the perspective of identity as an enactment of self, I used a sociocultural lens to examine the impact that having classroom science instruction framed around constructing explanations with evidence would have on girls’ epistemic agency in this kindergarten class. This analysis was part of a larger inquiry into girls’ participation, positioning, and identities-in-practice in a classroom with reform-oriented science instruction. In the larger study, I analyzed the co-construction of the norms and practices within this classroom, and crafted four individual case studies of kindergarten girls. Using a research design informed by qualitative methods and participant observation, data for AERA 2015 consisted of field notes, video transcripts, and student artifacts of two of the case study girls. I address the following question: how are girls authoring themselves as science learners in this reform-oriented kindergarten classroom?
In order to understand the girls’ agency as science learners, I analyzed data using a constant comparative approach grounded in theory. The cases highlight the different ways in which girls authored themselves as science learners within the Light and Shadows unit. The findings show that the girls authored themselves in a multitude of different ways throughout the unit. Molly, a five year old, consistently authored herself as a teacher, helper, demonstrator, and persistent science learner, whereas Olive, another five year old, authored herself as a hesitant questioner, and knowledgeable science learner. It is significant to note that their authoring fluctuated throughout their engagement in different scientific literacy practices. For instance, Olive never authored herself as a questioner while writing in her science notebook, but she asked a variety of questions while she was participating in her class’s science discussions. The fluidity of the girls’ authoring was integral to their developing identities-in-practice and may be attributed to the reform-oriented science instruction that occurred within their classroom.
Prior studies have reported findings about young children’s agency during classroom science instruction, however, this study examined the agency of kindergarten girls in a classroom with science instruction that is focused on constructing explanations from evidence, and found that the science instruction in this classroom allowed for the fluidity of girls’ authoring as science learners at an early elementary level. The implications from this study include the consideration of providing a variety of scientific literacy practices so that students may have an opportunity to author themselves as science learners. This study’s significance is that it provides an empirical example of young girls’ participation in science instruction as epistemic agents within their kindergarten classroom.

Author

• Alicia M. McDyre, The Pennsylvania State University