Investigating How Teachers Interact with Children about Science in a Nature-based Preschool

• In Event: 2-075 - Engaging Young Learners in Science Both in and out of School

Integrative Statement

Introduction. As a result of two trends in early childhood education—K-12 reform in science education and growth of nature-based preschools—there is urgency to investigate how teachers are addressing science in the early years, particularly within a natural context. K-12 reform efforts are shifting towards three-dimensional, phenomena-based science learning (National Research Council, 2012); it remains unclear how PreK teaching is preparing children for these reforms. In addition, there has been an explosion of nature-based preschools in the United States—from 12 programs in 2010 (Bailie, 2012), to more than 250 at the end of 2017 (NAAEE, 2017). Nature-based preschools, structured around extensive time outdoors, are rich with exposure to natural phenomena, implying inherent affordances for science teaching and learning. Simply being based “in” nature, however, does not guarantee teachers are supporting children in scientific sensemaking.
Research Questions. To address this issue, this study investigated the following questions: What is the nature of teacher-child interactions around science in a nature-based preschool context? How do these interactions unfold? How do these interactions vary across contextual factors such as physical setting (i.e., indoors, outdoors, beyond), social setting (e.g., large group), and learning activity (e.g., shared reading)?
Study Population. Each classroom had three teachers with a maximum class size of 20 three- to five-year old children and a 3-hour school day for 2-4 days per week. This is an observational case study of one teacher from each of those three classrooms. Teachers had 8-11 years of experience teaching and more than 6 years at the present nature-based preschool.
Methods. Video of teacher practices was collected at three time-points throughout the school year (i.e., October, January, and April) for three hours at each collection point. Using an interpretive observational multi-case study design (Yin, 2018) moments of science interaction were qualitatively analyzed using an iteratively refined exploratory coding scheme (Saldaña, 2016). A science moment was defined as a teacher-child interaction which connected to science discourse in some way (e.g., content, practices). This may have been a single utterance by the teacher or multiple exchanges. Based on the themes from the initial coding, five science moments were selected and microanalyzed based on the study research questions (Saldaña, 2016).
Results. Despite being immersed in nature, very few science moments were identified. The moments that did occur, however, extended over long periods of time with references back to a topic throughout the class day or even referring to previous days’ learning, suggesting quality of the interactions for promoting concept development. In one moment, for example, the teacher and six children visited a motion-censor camera placed in the woods a few days prior along with a dead bird they had found. On the day observed, children noticed the bird was no longer present and were discussing what happened. Additionally, science moments were more frequent in natural spaces beyond the play area than in the indoor classroom or outdoor play area. These and other results can be leveraged for science teaching in nature-based and traditional contexts.

Author

• Rachel Larimore, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author