"It is Floating 'Cause there is a Hole'": A young child's experience of natural science

Abstract

In this article, a video-recording of a young child's (3.3 years) dialogue with his teacher about experiments with elementary physics concepts forms a base for a discussion of early science education in preschool. Although, according to Piaget's theory, the child appears to be at the pre-operational stage, we argue for a pedagogical approach which focuses his awareness on the most basic aspect of science, i.e. that phenomena can be explained (this foundational principle must be understood before specific scientific explanations can be understood). The focus for the analysis is on the verbal interaction between the child and the teacher within the social practice of the preschool and on how this interaction enables the child to test and prove a hypothesis formulated by himself. The interaction in the case study will be used here as an illustration and a discussion of an approach to education in preschool.