Poster #89 - The environment as the third teacher: Facilitating inquiry in a Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

This study examined the roles of the teacher, peers, and materials in the environment in supporting children’s inquiry processes at a Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool. A guiding principle of the Reggio Emilia Approach is that the environment serves as a third teacher. The environment is designed to be aesthetically and intellectually stimulating such that it supports and reflects the interests and needs of the individuals who use the space (New, 1998; 2007). The environment must also be conducive to dynamic social interactions and physical provocations meant to foster curiosity and inquiry. In Reggio Emilia-inspired preschools teachers develop a curriculum that reflects deep understanding of children’s perspectives and experiences in these richly provisioned environments.

While research and theory support the premise that peers are important for learning, most research has focused on children’s inquiry learning as guided by adults (Epstein, 2007; Gelman & Brenneman, 2004; Gelman, Brenneman, Macdonald, & Roman, 2010; Hollingsworth & Vandermaas-Peeler, 2017; Linder, Powers-Costello, & Stegelin, 2011; Peterson, 2009; Vandermaas-Peeler, Mischka, & Sands, 2017; Vandermaas-Peeler, Westerberg, Fleishman, Sands, & Mischka, 2018). In addition, although it is well understood that materials in the classroom environment fuel curiosity and drive learning (Robson & Mastrangelo, 2017; Stegelin, 2005), and that children use objects and materials around them in their environment as means to learn about the word (Henricks, 2008), there is limited observational research that has examined how materials guide and support children’s inquiry learning. Thus, this study aimed to fill the gap through extending the focus to include the role of teachers and peers, as well as materials in the environment, in supporting the development of inquiry processes.

Seventeen children and their two teachers in a Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool were observed over 24 days in the spring and/or fall of one calendar year. Forty-one events in four days were coded for children’s inquiry processes and how they were guided. Six different activity types were observed across the 41 events, including art, storytelling, gardening, mapping, constructing, and pretend play. Coding of inquiry processes was based on prior research (e.g., Gelman et al., 2010; Inan et al., 2010; Vandermaas-Peeler et al., 2017), and the cycle of inquiry processes included observing and questioning, predicting, evaluating, comparing, and concluding. In addition, each inquiry event was coded as teacher-guided/supported, peer-guided/supported, and/or materials-guided/supported based on who was supporting or initiating inquiry during an entire event. Figures 1 and 2 display an example of peer-guided/supported inquiry and material-guided/supported inquiry, respectively.

Findings revealed that teachers in a Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool environment supported children’s advanced inquiry processes through diverse activities such as art, storytelling, gardening, mapping, constructing, and pretend play. Through interactions with peers and creative use of materials, children were afforded the extant resources, space, interactions, and opportunities to engage in higher-level inquiry learning. Further examples of inquiry guidance and inquiry processes will be presented.

Authors

• Lauren E Westerberg, Purdue University
  Presenting Author

• Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, Elon University
  Non-Presenting Author