Follow the Leader: Attending to the Curriculum-Making Potential of Preschoolers

• In Event: Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Children as Active Agents: Game Players, Curriculum Designers, Actors of Violence, and Digital Curators

Abstract

This research focused on making visible children’s and family’s funds of knowledge and incorporating these resources into the preschool curriculum. Participants in this collaborative action research included 4 co-investigators, 36 children ages 3 to 5 from diverse backgrounds, and 8 focal children and their parents/guardians. Data were gathered through observations, digital photographs, and photo-elicitation interviews. Through visual narratives and conversations guided by the children, the research team gained greater insight into children’s interests and the knowledge they bring with them from home into school. We came to recognize that our perspectives of the children’s interests and knowledge were limited by our inability to see their curriculum making potential and by our hesitation to offer the curriculum the children desire.

Authors

• Monica Miller Marsh, Kent State University - Kent

• Ilfa Zhulamanova, Kent State University - Kent

• Adonia Porto, Kent State University - Kent