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Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open
Journal article
Listening to children in nature: emergent curriculum in science teaching and learning in bush kinders
International journal of science education, Vol.47(15-16), pp.2180-2202
2025
Appears in Recent Faculty of Education Publications
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Abstract
Outdoor early childhood education contexts such as nature kindergartens have been established for well over 50 years in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Despite their popularity in these settings, similar approaches in countries such as Canada, China, New Zealand and Australia have taken time to become established. One example of where this approach to nature kindergartens in early childhood education has recently taken a foothold is the Australian 'bush kinder'. Bush kinders are a context where four- to five-year-old preschool children can experience and learn biological, chemical and physical sciences in natural environments through play. This paper draws on research undertaken in bush kinders, applying ethnographic data. Data collection commenced in 2015 and subsequently, members of the research team returned to bush kinders in 2017, 2020 and 2023 to understand how the bush kinder approach to curriculum has continued to develop and grow. We respond to two research questions in this paper, (1) What are teachers' experiences of an emergent science curriculum in bush kinder setting? And (2) How does an emergent science curriculum develop within bush kinder settings? Through observing educators' application of emergent curriculum, we found that time spent in bush kinder provides children with the voice to articulate their science understandings.
Details
- Title
- Listening to children in nature: emergent curriculum in science teaching and learning in bush kinders
- Creators
- Christopher Speldewinde - Deakin University (Australia, Waurn Ponds)Cristina Guarrella - The University of MelbourneCoral Campbell - Deakin University (Australia, Waurn Ponds)
- Publication Details
- International journal of science education, Vol.47(15-16), pp.2180-2202
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Number of pages
- 23
- Grant note
- This work was supported by a University of Melbourne Seed Funding grant.
- Identifiers
- 991013345508702368
- Copyright
- © 2024 The Author(s).
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Education
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article