Affordances For Science Learning In “Bush kinders” In Australia

Author(s):

Coral Campbell(presenting / submitting)Chris Speldewinde

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

30. Environmental and Sustainability Education Research (ESER)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

30 SES 10 C, Citizenship and Science Teaching/Learning

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-25

15:30-17:00

Room:

NM-F106

Chair:

Louise Sund

Contribution

Over the last 50 years, there has been an international development in ‘Forest Kindergartens’, resulting in many hundreds of ‘Forest kindergartens’ around the world. Forest schools use natural environments and outdoor play to develop children’s learning. Most forest kindergartens occur as weekly or fortnightly visits to the same natural environment all year-round, in almost all weathers.

The benefits of taking children to these natural settings are multiple (Borradaile, 2006; Elliot, 2012). Children have the freedom to explore the settings with adult support, accepting challenges in situations which cannot be duplicated in a normal kindergarten building and play area. Current research indicates that the most significant benefit is that participation helps children to appreciate and care for their natural environment. Other benefits include children being involved in more imaginative play, becoming more confident in risk-taking and becoming more independent in play. Children exhibit increased motivation and concentration, better language and communication skills and well as improved motor skills such as balance and coordination. (Borradaile, 2006)

In Australia, the ‘forest kindergarten’ movement has translated into ‘Bush kindergartens’, with examples in Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland, and SA. Whilst there has been some research in Australia around the benefits of a bush kinder approach (Elliot, 2013), it has tended to focus on the overall positive aspects in terms of children’s biophilia and risk-taking behaviour. There has been no direct research into the specific science learning around biological/ecological systems, physical sciences and chemical sciences.

Young children are continually trying to make sense of the world they live in. In experiencing the science of our world, an educator who becomes a co-investigator with the child or encourages further exploration, can provide children with the opportunity to extend their own investigations (Campbell & Jobling, 2010). Teachers who are attuned may recognise the science in spontaneous events and can make use of these to develop children’s deeper understandings (Campbell, 2012).

This research project studied the implementation of bush kindergartens in 3 kindergartens with the particular purpose of documenting the science learning through play observed as children interact with the bush setting. The education researchers brought a ‘science lens’ to the observation of play situations. If we consider that learning is related to the environment in which the children play, we consider the affordances of the systems (teachers, children, resources) that support interactions (Greeno et al 1998) and therefore support children learning. Watson (2004, p29.) comments that “learning takes place through the perception of and the interaction with an environment.” The research also considered the constraints which hindered interactions happening.

Research questions:

How is science learning and teaching being enacted in 3 bush kindergartens?

What is available in the play environment that provided opportunities for exploration related to science?
How do educators scaffold children’s science learning?

In the bush kinder setting, the physical environment, EC educators and the children themselves are part of the ‘system’ and the affordances/constraints for young children’s learning in science.

Method

The research involved the development of a case study (Yin, 2009) for each of the different kindergarten settings and a cross case analysis (Khan and Van Wynsberghe 2008) for consideration of similarities and differences. Data were gathered to describe the overall programs, the science experiences of the children in the bush settings and to illuminate science learning through play. The perspectives of teachers were sought, along with researcher notes taken on site. Since this represented an interpretive study of a system that was ‘bounded’ in both time and space, case study was identified as the most appropriate methodology. In collecting data, a range of well-accepted methods were used. Initially, kindergarten coordinators were approached and invited to participate. Participation involved observation of the bush kinder program on 3-5 separate occasions (dependant on the kindergarten), educators’ interviews, parent focus group interviews and samples of programs or other public documents were collected. Researcher observations of the science learning through play were recorded during the sessions. Children were not interviewed/questioned or any aspect of individual children’s involvement recorded. Data is therefore from parents and teachers’ opinions and perceptions and researchers’ observations and documents. The research used a qualitative, interpretive approach and data was collected through: • General observation of sessions – researcher journal notes. The researcher accompanied the children and educator to the site, observing and making notes of children interactions with each other and with the educators when some aspect of science was observed. • Interview of educators – this was undertaken to gain a general view of what particular philosophy the educator had when it came to running the bush kinder. Prior to the session, the research interviewed the educator, asking for his or her perceptions around what she expected to see at the bush setting. During the session, the researcher asked the educator to comment on particular instances that had been observed during the session. • Parent focus groups were interviewed to gain their perceptions of what a bush kinder offered for their children’s learning.

Expected Outcomes

The interviews with educators confirmed their expectations that the natural bush settings would be productive spaces for learning about the environment – biological, ecological concepts and an ethos of caring. This expectation then led the educators to seek and recognise those instances of science learning through play that related to biology sciences. Often educators highlighted a biological concept or process to draw children’s attention to science related ideas in the physical environment where the natural phenomenon was the catalyst for a child’s play. However, the researchers’ observations confirmed that physical science were strongly represented in children’s play. It was observed that the physical phenomena children are closest to, such as manipulating objects and/or exploring the physicality of their own bodies, is generally related to physical sciences. The researchers’ data highlighted instances of children learning how to balance and how they would persist at this task until they had conquered it. Children were able to advise their peers on how to do it, using concepts of balance, weight distribution and body positioning. In terms of the affordances for science learning, the environment was conducive to learning a range of science ideas around chemistry , physics, earth sciences and biology. Children as participants in their own learning, enriched their own play, although some natural caution did restrict some children’s experiences. The preliminary analysis of the data highlights that whilst educators are comfortable with their own understanding about the environment and simple biological science, they often failed to recognise the other science in children’s play in the natural settings. The implications of this research indicate that for a more natural development of science ideas that unfold through children’s play in natural bush settings, children need scaffolding of physical science concepts ie through educator involvement.

References

Borradaile, L (2006) Forest School Scotland: an evaluation, 2006, Research for Forestry commission Scotland and Forest Education Initiative. Campbell. C & Jobling, W. 2010 A snapshot of science education in kindergarten settings. International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, July 2010 Campbell, C. (2012 ) Teaching Approaches in Campbell, C & Jobling (eds) Science in Early childhood. Pp54-67. Cambridge University Press. Elliot, S. (2013). Play in nature: Bush kinder in Australia, In S. Knight (ed) International perspectives on Forest School: Natural spaces to play and learn. London Greeno, J. and the Middle School Mathematics Through Application Project Group (1998). The situativity of knowing, learning and research. American Psychologist 55 (1), pp5-26 Khan, S., Van Wynsberghe, R. 2008. Cultivating the Under-Mined: Cross-case analysis as knowledge mobilization, Qualitative social research 9(1):Art34. http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs/. Watson A (2004) Affordances, constraints and attunements in mathematical activity. Research in Mathematics Education, 6:1, pp23-34. Yin, R. (2009 )Case Study Research: methods and design. Sage publications

Author Information

Coral Campbell (presenting / submitting)

Deakin University

School of Education

Geelong

Chris Speldewinde

Deakin University, Australia

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