86 Funds of knowledge
influenced Jessica’s creativity. We were surprised to find that Jessica’s
mother had not done art for a while, mostly due to the confines and
constraints of apartment living and rental agreement conditions. They spent
most of their waking time out of the apartment as Jessica had to be quiet
in the apartment. Although I had always been friendly to Jessica’s mother,
it was on my time. I had been frustrated that they often arrived an hour
early each day; I now realised that they had nowhere else to go where
Jessica could be a child. So whatever time they arrived, I tried to be more
welcoming and attentive. … Presently we are also encouraging Jessica’s
mother to share her artistic skills with the children and teachers. Jessica
continues to blossom … with a newfound self-confidence and a deeper
trust in her teachers. Since the home visits, I believe we have become
more empathetic to families’ individual situations.
(Cooper et al., 2014, pp. 24–25)
The teachers at this centre also found that they began to reduce a reliance on
sharing documentation of children’s experiences with parents to build relationships,
favouring interpersonal approaches instead. As they did so, they found that assess-
ment documentation reduced as they were using their non-contact time for visit-
ing. However, it also became more meaningful and authentic. It was less
embellished with items such as drawings that had little connection to interests.
Parents who had not consented to being part of the project began to ask when the
teachers would visit their homes. The teachers continued home visiting with will-
ing families after the project concluded. These changes were significant to all
involved.
I am not suggesting that any generalised application of these ideas is possible (see
Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003). However, it is often in the stories of individual chil-
dren like Jessica that the potential of funds of knowledge becomes more visible,
and therefore the power and transferability possibilities obvious to others who may
apply the concept. Hence, three examples follow, of children whose experiences in
their families, cultures, and early childhood centres are also discussed in the next
two chapters to show the ways funds of knowledge complements other inter-
pretations of children’s interests.
Hunter’s funds of knowledge
Hunter was a Pasifika child of Samoan and Cook Islands heritage, and 4 years old
when our project began. His older sister had earlier attended the same centre.
Teachers had recognised that Hunter had an interest in music, specifically playing
the drums. Video data in the project showed more clearly Hunter’s drumming
capabilities, and ways he became frustrated with less capable peers. Teachers used
video episodes to invite talk with his mother when she came to the centre to take
Hunter home. They talked about this capability and showed her further videos of
his play and learning at the centre over time.
Funds of knowledge 87
Recognition of Hunter’s interest and strength was significant, first in that the
family bought Hunter a set of drums as a birthday gift to play at home too. A
home visit was then transformational for the teachers, parents, and Hunter. At the
visit, Hunter’s father revealed that he had once been in a band, something Hunter’s
mother had not known, and contributed to explaining the generous birthday gift.
It became clear that family, community, and cultural funds of knowledge were
central to Hunter’s interest and ability. Significantly, viewing his interest in that
way avoided the danger of potential stereotyping about Pasifika children’s church-
related musical activities. The teacher-researchers also became aware of Hunter’s
competence and independence at home, for example making himself breakfast,
capabilities that had not flourished at the early childhood setting. Teacher
assumptions were confronted and relationships were strengthened.
The following are poignant excerpts of teacher-researcher Trish’s memo about
the home visit:
Before the visit I had assumed that in Hunter’s home three languages were
spoken: English, Samoan, and Cook Island Ma-ori. However, I learned that
English is the main language spoken along with a little Cook Island M-aori. Both
parents valued English as the best language to speak because of the perceived
link to having a good education. It is only now they are able to revive some of
their home languages and encourage Hunter to learn these. … I believe that
“invisible barriers” were broken down by this visit. [Previously] Hunter’s Mum
came into the centre with her head down and would rarely communicate with
the teachers … I had thought maybe she was just shy. However, after the visit, I
noticed how much her demeanour had changed and she began to smile and
communicate freely not only with me but also with other teachers. … This visit
highlighted to me the importance of home visits in early childhood education. It
counteracted some of my assumptions about Hunter’s family and transformed
the relationship I had with them until he went to school.
(Cooper et al., 2014, p. 25)
For Hunter, the recognition of the depth of his interest and its connection to his
family and culture raised his self-esteem. The centre purchased new, real drums.
Hunter, as the recognised expert, began teaching his peers to play. Reflecting a
strengthened and accepted identity, Hunter asked to be called “Drummer Boy.” His
new-found confidence enabled him to participate in a range of other experiences at
the centre he had not previously shown an inclination for, such as carpentry, that
reflected his capabilities at home. When our project had begun, teachers had been
concerned about Hunter’s impending transition to school. As a result of this funds of
knowledge-based interest recognition, and subsequent curricular and pedagogical
changes in the last six months at the centre, teachers felt that Hunter had constructed
a new identity for himself as a capable learner who would make the adjustment to
primary school more smoothly as a result. Hunter’s multiple cultural identities are
addressed in the next chapter.
88 Funds of knowledge
Zoe’s funds of knowledge
Zoe was aged 3–5 during the project fieldwork; she had English, Irish, and
Hungarian heritages. Zoe’s assessment portfolio noted a wide interest in a range
of activities, most notably drawing and writing. Zoe was aged 3 years and 9
months at the time of a visit to her family home. During the visit, teacher-
researchers Trish and Daniel noticed a 1,000-piece puzzle that Zoe and her
mother were working on. Daniel shared that, in reviewing a video episode from
the centre, he had noticed Zoe hammering coloured shapes into a pattern on a
board. Zoe’s mother responded that the hammering experience involved two
things Zoe enjoyed, hammering and making sense of patterns. Trish and Daniel
agreed, and asked if her parents were good at home maintenance tasks. As an
initial response, Zoe’s mother laughed and replied “no.”
Later in the visit, Daniel revisited the topic of home maintenance. For example,
he commented on the curtains Zoe’s mother said she had hung in Zoe’s bedroom.
He shared his impression that both parents encouraged a “do-it-yourself” approach
in the home by giving Zoe access to household resources and tools. As a result of
Daniel sharing his views, Zoe’s mother re-thought her position and identified
multiple examples of tasks both parents had completed around the house, often
with Zoe’s input. For example, Zoe had helped to paint the fence in the driveway,
and put together flat-pack furniture, such as the television cabinet and bookshelves.
Her mother also talked about the time Zoe’s grandmother from Ireland came to
visit, describing her as a practical person who did a lot of work around the house
with Zoe while she was there.
This example demonstrates how funds of knowledge are so embedded and
implicit in families’ everyday lives that families may not be aware of these unless
someone else brings them to consciousness. Daniel’s insights into the connection
between Zoe’s interest in hammering and family home maintenance projects
revealed aspects of family knowledge and practices her parents under-recognised.
This example also illustrated how engaging in dialogue with families about their
funds of knowledge is valuable in that it has the potential to lead to new insights
and understandings for parents, as well as teachers. Zoe’s mother gained a view of
herself as someone who role-modelled and included her daughter in home prac-
tices; this led to her being more mindful of when and how she did this.
The rich sharing that occurred between Zoe’s family and teachers led to deeper
insights into Zoe’s play interests in the centre and how these connected with her
experiences at home. Daniel later reflected on how his awareness of Zoe’s funds of
knowledge had deepened because of the home visit, and that he was able to draw
from this awareness to enhance his practice with Zoe and other children in the
centre (Lovatt et al., 2017). Zoe is also likely to have benefited from the deeper
relationships and enhanced communication between her family and teachers,
including the understandings and practices generated by a focus on her funds of
knowledge. Zoe’s multiple identities’ development arising from her funds of
knowledge are discussed in Chapter 6.
Funds of knowledge 89
Chloe’s funds of knowledge
Chloe was aged 1–3 years during the time of her participation with her family in the
study. Chloe had English and Slavic heritages. Like Zoe, Chloe had multiple interests
in her early childhood centre if activities were the definition of interests, from family
play through to physically active play. Chloe was aged 18 months at the time the
teacher-researchers visited the family home she shared with her parents.
Like both Hunter and Zoe, Chloe’s interest and active participation in real tasks
became apparent during the home visit. The teacher-researchers learned that
Chloe’s mother involved her in all the household tasks, and that Chloe was keen
to engage with these. For example, Chloe often helped her parents to put the
washing and powder in the machine, hang out the washing and sort out pegs, and
put dishes in the dishwasher. She also contributed to preparing meals through tasks
such as rolling out pasta. In addition, Chloe had spent time watching landscaping
work in the backyard. Chloe’s fascination with the landscaping work led to her
parents giving her some real tools to play with, namely a hammer and tape mea-
sure. On learning this, Daniel (teacher-researcher) reflected that he had noticed,
but not recognised the connection and significance of, Chloe’s involvement when
they were building raised garden boxes in the centre. Chloe’s mother expressed
that it was easy to involve her in everyday experiences because Chloe was inter-
ested in what adults do; she was interested in everything that was going on and
liked to help. These are typical signs of observation and intent participation in the
world of adults described in Chapter 2.
Chloe’s parents’ funds of knowledge also sparked an interest reflected in her physi-
cally active play in family and community settings. Both parents were actively engaged
in playing sports. Chloe attended their games and observed intently. Her parents also
often took her on walks in the neighbourhood and Chloe enjoyed playing in parks
and on playgrounds. Her parents commented that she often watched older children
and wanted to emulate them, willingly tackling challenging playground equipment,
and showing persistence and resilience at near-misses and disappointments.
By entering the family home as learners, the teacher-researchers were able to learn
about Chloe’s funds of knowledge, based on her participation in real-life experiences
with her family. These extended insights helped the teacher-researchers to make closer
connections between what they found out and what they had noticed about Chloe’s
play in the centre. For example, after the home visit, teachers supported Chloe by
fostering her interest in cooking in the play kitchen. The teachers also became aware
of the background to, and significance of, Chloe’s efforts to learn to jump, an activity
she engaged in with older peers. This particular interest is discussed further in Chapter
7 as an example of ways children’s interests foster holistic outcomes.
Issues and developments related to funds of knowledge
Thus far, this chapter has described and discussed the concept of funds of knowl-
edge, the insights it can lead to, and its value in deepening understandings and
90 Funds of knowledge
practices related to children’s interests. The interrelationship of intellect and affect
in funds of knowledge-based learning is evident in the children’s natural and
authentic participation in their families, communities, and cultures, which led to
follow-up in play and learning in early childhood education. However, it would
be remiss of me to present funds of knowledge as a panacea towards deeper
insights. The concept needs to be engaged with thoughtfully, knowledgeably, cri-
tically, and reflectively. The next section presents some of the issues associated with
funds of knowledge and its application to early childhood education.
Funds of knowledge has been critiqued as a loose notion, for example, as it tends
to blur the content, sources, and processes of the related learning, so it is unclear if
it is about knowledge or pedagogical relationships or perhaps both (Hogg, 2011).
However, this flexibility may be appealing in the early years because the ways that
children learn, and what they learn, are often incorporated fluidly as ways of
knowing and learning, and promote consideration of holistic outcomes (see
Chapters 2 and 7).
There may be a range of dilemmas that arise when connecting funds of knowledge
with education. There may not always be a straightforward connection between
family activities and practices and children’s interests as enacted in a centre. As the
example of Zoe illustrated, as funds of knowledge are embedded in everyday cultural
practices, and are implicit, they can be hard to recognise and be articulated by parents
(or teachers for that matter), or be under-played as unimportant.
Moreover, not all family experiences may be considered positive or of value in
education. For example, in Hedges et al. (2011) we noted that some cultural cel-
ebrations such as the Lunar New Year and Diwali were enabled by teachers and
others, such as Valentine’s Day and Halloween were quite deliberately not so, even
when children brought artefacts related to them to the centre. Which celebrations
were legitimated was debated, reflecting a mix of beliefs about cultural appropria-
tion and appropriateness. Further, teachers may become aware of illegal activities or
family violence, examples of circumstances where children’s life experiences are not
positive. These kinds of funds of knowledge have been termed “dark” funds of
knowledge (Zipin, 2009), and create tensions about how to recognise and respond
to these while respecting children’s dignity.
Other of children’s life experiences may also create dilemmas for teacher
responsiveness. As a specific example, some funds of knowledge may appear to
incorporate some gendered beliefs and practices (Hedges, 2015). Four-year-old
Sophia was from a Chinese family. Multiple generations lived in her home. Sophia
took seriously responsibility for her 2-year-old brother who also attended the
centre. During a research project, the field researcher (Lisa) noticed Sophia making
small balls of playdough and rolling them in glitter. An in-depth and detailed
conversation ensued about this activity representing making dumplings. Sophia
articulated clearly that only female household members made these at home.
Sophia also said that it was women who took responsibility for caring for babies,
describing thoughtful ways infants were cared for in her family. Sophia’s funds of
knowledge meant she had strongly gendered views of household responsibilities.
Funds of knowledge 91
Teachers were concerned about these views. How might teachers balance inclusion
and diversity alongside affirming children’s experiences? A tension present in this
example, yet to be satisfactorily resolved, exists between those championing the
importance of understanding cultural repertoires of practice (Gutiérrez & Rogoff,
2003) and those applying feminist approaches to early childhood practices (e.g.,
Blaise, 2005).
With regard to peer cultures, Chesworth’s (2016) study, noted earlier, highlighted
the value of a funds of knowledge lens for teacher understanding of children’s
play-based interests. However, Chesworth also added the caution that peer
cultures contained some issues around power. Differing access to shared funds
of knowledge created peer status, and inclusion and exclusion issues in her study.
She recommended further attention to the “ways in which diverse funds of
knowledge contribute to the interplay of power and agency within children’s peer
cultures” (p. 306).
All of these issues mean that a funds of knowledge framing, while beneficial to
deeper understandings of children’s interests and learning, should not be accepted
ipso facto without accompanying critical thinking about curriculum and pedagogy
that follows. Otherwise, there is a risk that teachers might simply provide a wider
range of play materials for children that represent their funds of knowledge but
continue a hands-off engagement with the complex play, intellectual ideas, and
peer dynamics that may ensue.
Summary
Curriculum decision-making is highly interpretive; it draws on understandings of
children, families, culture, curriculum, and pedagogy. I have argued entrenched
views of play-based activities are a surface-level way to both recognise and provide
for children’s interests. As teacher Christine noted, these interpretations represented
a legacy of misunderstandings that “we still have today unless we make a huge big
effort to change.”
I have offered interpretations of children’s interests that consider and exemplify
the richness of children’s learning in families and communities, and ways this
knowledge might be recognised and applied thoughtfully in early childhood edu-
cation. Funds of knowledge is a strengths-based framework to recognise ways
children’s interests, and related knowledge, are stimulated by, and arise in, the
contexts of their intent participation in everyday activities and experiences. Funds
of knowledge are cultural resources that can support teachers’ understanding of the
dynamic nature of children’s lives and developing capabilities within their families
and cultures. Teachers can ascertain this knowledge through visiting family homes
and then use it to benefit children’s experiences by using a more analytic lens to
make decisions about whose and which interests curriculum and pedagogy can be
created around.
Funds of knowledge is also valuable as a concept because it recognises the deep
and often unnoticed aspects of everyday life in families and cultures that adults
92 Funds of knowledge
engage in. Children work to participate in these cultural practices and then take
some up as interests to represent in their play and experiences inside and outside of
education settings. It is also a noteworthy concept as it respects the rich linguistic and
cultural diversities of people whose heritage cultures and associated values may con-
nect with countries other than where they were born or currently live. Knowledge
of funds of knowledge can help teachers consider relevant and responsive pedagogi-
cal interactions with children that build deeper relationships and respect.
Children’s interests and funds of knowledge incorporate intellectual, affective,
conceptual, imaginative, and relational qualities, and children express these in their
play choices and activities (Chesworth, 2016; Hedges & Cooper, 2016; Hedges et al.,
2011). A funds of knowledge approach has the potential to transform early childhood
learning and teaching environments and implement authentic partnerships with
families, communities, and cultures. However, it ought not to be adopted at the same
surface level as understandings of activities have been. A critical awareness and appli-
cation of funds of knowledge can contribute to the range and types of knowledge and
evidence that teachers bring to their complex and context-specific curricular and
pedagogical decision-making about children’s interests.
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6
DEEPER UNDERSTANDINGS 2
Children’s inquiries and identities
Introduction
How do interests reflect children’s efforts to make meaning of their experi-
ences, understand the complexity of their worlds, and participate with increas-
ing confidence? Funds of knowledge as a framing for children’s interests
(Chapter 5) recognises the richness and depth of previously under-recognised
informal learning that has significant impact on children’s interests. As the case
of Hunter showed, in keeping with the original studies, it also has the potential
to empower potentially marginalised children, create a sense of belonging and
contribution, and generate self-confidence and agency that encourage attempt-
ing new experiences and learning.
Having located this valuable analytic frame for understanding interests, I won-
dered why children select specific funds of knowledge to enact and practise in their
play. In order to get closer to understanding children’s motivations, and the foci of
meaning making in a more profound way, I have worked to interpret the nature
and content of patterns of children’s interests across ages and settings. In this
chapter, I offer a response to this element of Bereiter’s (2002) provocation noted in
Chapter 1: “the most profound of children’s questions seldom relate to activities of
the moment. They relate to the larger issues and forces that shape the world –
birth, death, good, evil, power, danger, survival, generosity, adventure” (p. 301)
through two deeper framings for interests that complement funds of knowledge.
First, I take up Wells’ (1999) and Lindfors’ (1999) work on inquiry as outlined
in Chapter 2. In particular, I apply Wells’ (1999) ideas that curriculum should be
built around children’s “real questions” (p. 91), relationships, and dialogue. I offer
seven “fundamental inquiry questions” that capture the essence of children’s
interests. These questions connect with several of the capabilities Nussbaum
(2011) articulated (see Chapter 3).
DOI: 10.4324/9781003139881-6
Children’s inquiries and identities 95
I argue that a question underpinning these seven is about identity construction.
This point was foregrounded in Chapter 5 where, as “Drummer Boy,” Hunter
constructed ideas about belonging and contributing to centre curriculum, and
developed a positive identity as a capable learner whose expertise was recognised
and respected by multiple others across contexts. Developing a positive learner
identity provided him with the confidence to try out new experiences that eased
teachers’ concerns about his readiness for school.
Second, I introduce the concept of funds of identity. Funds of identity has developed
from the concept of funds of knowledge to explain which broad experiences people
find of relevance and interest and therefore take up to define themselves and deter-
mine their directions in life (Esteban-Guitart, 2016, 2021; Esteban-Guitart & Moll,
2014; Hogg & Volman, 2020). It has good alignment with empowering children’s
mana (Chapter 1), and capability theory (Chapter 3). As Nussbaum (2011) stated, the
capability approach “holds that the key question to ask … is ‘What is each person able
to do and be?’ … It thus commits itself to respect for people’s power of self-definition”
(p. 18).
I apply funds of identity to young children’s interests, illustrating the inter-
relationship of intellect and affect in developing knowledge, skills, and attitudes
useful to inquiry as a stance to learning. The example of Zoe’s interests-related
learning also highlights the role of play, agency, and imagination in considerations
of children’s funds of identity, elements argued as beneficial to advancing the
concept (Esteban-Guitart, 2021; Hedges, 2021).
Inquiry as a stance for curriculum, pedagogy, and learning
In Chapter 2, I outlined the powerful nature of informal learning. I have suggested
that children’s homes and community settings (including early childhood settings)
provide opportunities to generate, encourage, continue, and sustain interests-related
inquiry and knowledge building. I indicated that such an approach requires a
different way to understand learning in early childhood. The matter of holistic
learning outcomes, and how they provide a different view of school readiness,
is discussed in Chapters 7 and 9.
To recap important points from Chapter 2, Lindfors (1999) argued that curiosity
and inquiry are universal human endeavours that occur through participation in
everyday life, including interactions in educational settings. She coined the term
emergent inquirer in suggesting that “from birth, virtually all children develop the
ability to engage others in their attempts to make sense of the world … this process
occurs naturally in children’s daily interactions with others” (p. 49).
Inquiry, from this perspective, is a stance towards experiences and ideas. Lindfors
distinguished between two kinds of inquiry acts: information seeking and wondering.
Information seeking in this conceptualisation is different to the information seeking
associated with curiosity in Chapter 2. Here, it aligns with the kinds of deep interests
in topics or domains of interest such as sea creatures, dinosaurs, boats, or planets
referred to in Chapter 3. In these cases, children are often seeking subject-specific
96 Children’s inquiries and identities
information in order to deepen learning, and clarify and extend their knowledge.
Wondering as an inquiry act aligns with Wells’ notion of dialogic inquiry, where
children engage others to make sense of experiences in matters of interest, but
not in ways that are obvious, such as verbal questions that seek information.
Instead, wondering might be multimodal, and recognised in a variety of guises
such as speculation, pondering, exploration, problem-solving, creative thinking,
and/or simply wanting someone to listen to developing ideas.
Dewey (1913, 1938) argued that inquiry learning could draw on students’
interests and prior experiences. Accordingly, Dewey (1938) wrote about the
“knowing” and “habits of mind” such as critical thinking that come from engaging
in processes of inquiry, a point further aligned with Wells’ (1999) work on
knowing, and on connections with learning dispositions (Chapters 7 and 9).
Dewey indicated that further work needed to be undertaken to understand and
adapt an inquiry approach for younger learners. In this chapter, I focus on the
profound nature of those inquiries, and the idea of relational pedagogy as an
approach consistent with adopting and responding to an inquiry stance.
An inquiry stance to curriculum and pedagogy ensures that learners are motivated
and engaged, and that learning is connected authentically with their interests and
experiences (Wells, 1999). Wells proposed that an inquiry orientation emphasises
“starting with ‘real’ questions that are generated by students’ first-hand engagement
with topics and problems that have become of genuine interest to them” (p. 91).
This idea of “real questions” intrigued me. I was also inspired by Lindfors’ argument
that three human urges combine in inquiry as a way to learn: “to connect with
others (social), to understand the world (intellectual), to reveal oneself within it
(personal)” (p. 46). These authors’ work became the provocations to interpret chil-
dren’s interests as what I have described as children’s fundamental inquiry questions—
one response to Bereiter’s criticism not to trivialise interests—in an effort to get as
close as possible to understanding what is important to children and take their
interests seriously. In line with Bereiter, Liselott Olsson (2013) commented that
“children’s questions, interests and motivations to learn are always much larger, much
more playful … much more serious than we imagine” (p. 230).
Children’s fundamental inquiry questions
To interpret children’s real questions requires deep, recursive, and multi-layered
understandings to develop among those who work hard over time to get to
know children well. What follows is an explanation of children’s fundamental
inquiry questions as understood through the collaborative analysis of researchers
and teachers, mostly from the most recent project to apply this concept (see
Hedges and Cooper, 2016). We sought to identify what mattered most to
children amongst the patterns of their inquiries.
Most significantly, we realised that the notion of identity was central to that
range of inquiries. From an adult interpretation, we worded the overarching fun-
damental inquiry question as: How can I build personal, learner, and cultural
Children’s inquiries and identities 97
identities as I participate in interesting, fulfilling, and meaningful activities with my
family, community, and culture?
Seven questions of importance to children derived from this fundamental
inquiry, and served to categorise and explain children’s interests. These questions
align with the idea of potential and developing capabilities (Ballet, 2011), and
several of Nussbaum’s (2011) selected capabilities: living a long life; being able to
make good choices; care about and engage with other humans; be able to use the
senses, imagination, and thoughts; having bodily health; care about and live with
animals, plants, and the world of nature; and to play (see Chapter 3).
These fundamental inquiry questions were interpreted and expressed as:
What can I do, now that I am bigger, that the older children do?
What do intelligent, responsible, and caring adults do?
How can I make special connections with people I know?
How can I make and communicate meaning?
How can I understand the world I live in?
How can I develop my physical and emotional well-being?
How can I express my creativity?
Each of these questions can be viewed as expressions of Lindfors’ social, intellectual,
and personal urges. They could also be regarded as both practical and deeply
existential. They certainly connect with Kate Adams et al.’s (2016) review of
literature on spirituality. Adams et al. identified themes that have a strong
connection with the fundamental inquiry questions posited: relationality, iden-
tity, connectedness, creativity, awe, and wonder. The purpose of children’s
engagement with fundamental questions and themes is about appreciating
human efforts and achievements, and a wish to participate in and contribute to
these (see Chapter 2). Adams et al. make an important proviso about these
themes that connects with dark funds of knowledge in the previous chapter.
Not all of children’s experiences are positive: children may be in circumstances
where adults are not positive role models, or where children struggle to find
support to develop their well-being.
All of these questions, themes, and related ideas are ripe for adaptation in other
contexts, and for use as a springboard for further investigation in curriculum,
pedagogy, and research. I outline examples of the seven questions first, then return
to the overarching question about identity building.
What can I do, now I am bigger, that the older children do?
Children observed intently the play, and associated knowledge, skills, and abilities,
of their older peers. They attempted to emulate these in their efforts to learn and
be like their peers. Toddlers were particularly keen to assert their agency and
independence in this way, for example, putting on their own socks and shoes to go
outside, or eating their lunch using a fork rather than a spoon.
98 Children’s inquiries and identities
Chloe, introduced in Chapter 5, keenly watched older children jumping from
greater heights than she could and set herself the task of learning to do so. Over
several months, she practised and persevered until she achieved her goal. For
another child, Caleb, a high turnover of children attending the centre meant he
was constantly practising the skills of friendship making. In one video clip, Caleb
used his knowledge about the size and height of peers and siblings to help him
negotiate playing with a group of older boys he identified with.
What do intelligent, responsible, and caring adults do?
As Elizabeth Wood (2004) pointed out, children’s interests “are often driven by their
fascination with the world of adults, and their motivation to act more knowledgeably
and competently” (p. 30). A second question therefore borrowed a phrase from
Laura Berk (2001). It involved inquiring into what “intelligent, responsible, and
caring adults” (p. 70) do, and learning associated funds of knowledge.
Identities as learners and future adults appeared important. As a representative
example, 2-year-old Stella’s ability to engage in extensive socio-dramatic play related
to cooking, enacted in the sandpit, drew on her funds of knowledge. Her father was
a chef, and he had encouraged her to participate in meal preparation at home.
Children’s play with dolls, where they enact caregiving roles, may be a universal
theme in their play (Rogoff, 2003). Among the many examples, infant Emily sat in
a corner for some time, sustaining her attention on several dolls, repeatedly placing
and removing materials over them. Toddler Mia bathed a doll in a hand basin,
practising what she had observed from having a new sibling at home. Young
children enjoyed observing and participating in caring for infants who attended
their early childhood setting, with support from teachers. Sometimes these were
older siblings, at other times children who were the youngest in their family and
who learned these funds of knowledge at the centre.
How can I make special connections with people I know?
The complexities of interpersonal relationships, and the multiple, simultaneous
facets of such social interactions, were evident in children’s efforts to connect with
others. Rosa and Angie, both aged 3 years, were close friends as their families spent
time together as well as the children attending the same centre.
In one video episode, the activity of making a crown appeared to be a secondary
consideration to an intense dialogue. Rosa and Angie grappled with multiple
meanings of the word “go” relative to going to stage shows, adult work, and trips
involving aeroplanes (Angie’s mother worked as a manager for a power company
and travelled frequently). Knowing each other well, and working actively to
maintain their friendship through sharing conflicting ideas while simultaneously
helping each other during the activity itself, appeared a strong motivation to
resolve the issues that arose about their different understandings of the word “go.”
It formed a good example of peers working productively to make connections
Children’s inquiries and identities 99
with each other and language, share meaning, and achieve intersubjectivity. In
addition, developing metalinguistic awareness, through a sound grasp of language,
meaning, and sense is fundamental to children’s ongoing abilities to engage with
others and their ideas (see also Olsson, 2013). These are critical to developing
learner identities, as the next four questions also illustrate.
How can I make and communicate meaning?
The ability to communicate meaning in multimodal ways was a powerful stimulus
to developing ongoing interests and inquiries. Dan (aged 15 months) enjoyed
repeatedly hiding and retrieving a pair of oven gloves. Without any use of words,
his physical moves, gestures, and expressions invited Trish (teacher) into his playful
game, inferred his intentions, and extended the time spent together.
Older children could communicate verbally with teachers and peers. They also
demonstrated interest in communicating in multimodal ways, for example,
drawing and painting. Children were keen to learn to read and write words that
were meaningful to them, such as their own names, names or signifiers of sig-
nificant adults, animals such as pets, and other simple words related to experi-
ences they enjoyed.
How can I understand the world I live in?
Exploration and understanding of the natural, physical, and material worlds was a
strong and sustained interest across all age groups. From infancy, children were
fascinated with animals and insects, often connecting with the question about
responsible adults in taking actions to care for them as well as begin to learn about
their lifecycles and natural habitats.
Shannon (aged almost 5 years) found a spider in a tyre and made a “home” for it
out of a plastic container that he believed met its survival needs. He ignored and
avoided teachers’ questions and offers of information while working on the spider’s
home, only responding when it was completed. Children first learn about insects
and animals in relation to their own everyday experiences related to their funds of
knowledge. From this learning, when encouraged by teachers, they will later gain
information and learn related scientific concepts through access to books and in
collaborative conversations with knowledgeable others. This will eventually result
in more sophisticated understandings, coherent concepts, and very likely, different
actions.
How can I develop my physical and emotional well-being?
Children showed an interest in their well-being, including increasing physical
competence and control of their growing bodies. Children’s inquiries here
appeared to include safety, risk assessment and trust, enjoying and extending phy-
sical capabilities, and considerations of being healthy. In the example described for
100 Children’s inquiries and identities
the first question, Chloe appeared to utilise such questions as part of her inquiries
into how she could learn to jump successfully (see also Chapter 7). On another
occasion, a group of children discussed healthy eating with, and questioned, Sue, a
teacher, about the taste and nutritional benefits of different fruit.
In another example, a special ramp was set up for Lebron (4 years old) to ride a
two-wheeled bicycle up and down on to develop his physical skills. This
experience enabled Brooklyn (16 months) to develop his interests and inquiries
into gravity, speed, momentum, and force, and to practise his risk taking (see also
Chapter 8). These efforts were supported by teachers’ efforts to empower chil-
dren emotionally and physically, with an emphasis on promoting positive social
relationships and resolving amicably any difficulties that arose amongst peers with
different perspectives.
How can I express my creativity?
Children’s interest in developing and expressing creativity was a shared, ongoing
interest. Some gender bias was evident. When children selected their own activ-
ities, more girls than boys engaged in a range of drawing, paint, and collage-based
creative activities, with associated early writing attempts from older girls. More
boys than girls worked with construction equipment and carpentry. Nevertheless, a
teacher-led construction of planter boxes involved both boys and girls, indicating
that shared strengths and expertise can come together in a real project, and that
teachers might counterbalance any otherwise gendered activities through their own
expertise, input, and encouragement.
Further, many children were interested in music and dance, possibly linked to
their interests in their cultural backgrounds and in actively extending and challen-
ging their bodies’ growing capacities. This was most obvious in ways different
children represented and creatively adapted the music and songs of their cultural
backgrounds. There was much interest in developing early musical and cultural
knowledge and expertise in playing instruments and singing songs such as those
representing popular culture, and national anthems, as I show shortly with Hunter
and Simeon.
In summary, notions of participatory learning and inquiry, represented through
considerations of children’s real questions, enriched interpretations of the nature
and content of children’s interests. These interpretations sit together under an
umbrella of children’s inquiries into, and real questions about, their multiple iden-
tities, and working out ways to build these identities as an overarching fundamental
inquiry question.
Identities, learning, and imagined futures
Primary motivations of participatory learning engagement are becoming active and
contributing members of communities, engaging with experiences and practices to
create meaning, and exploring identities in relation to these communities. Similar
Children’s inquiries and identities 101
to the concept of interests, identity was once the domain of psychology.
Sociocultural theory “integrates topics traditionally treated as distinct phenom-
ena—such as cognitive, social, emotional, motivational, and personal identity
processes” (Rogoff, 1998, p. 680). There is a growing body of significant work
into the relationships between experience, learning, and identity that follows
Vygotsky’s legacy (see Chapter 2).
In short, identity is about connecting the past, present, and future, and argued as a
vital link between learning and sociocultural context (Sfard & Prusak, 2005; Vågan,
2011). A working definition of identity from a sociocultural perspective is “who we
are for ourselves and who we are in relation to others” (Roth, 2006, p. 3). Identity is
also about imagined and positively anticipated futures (Esteban-Guitart & Moll,
2014; Sfard & Prusak, 2005). Multiple identities across time and context are therefore
a work-in-progress, subject to ongoing sociocultural mediation.
Children’s interest in, and inquiries about, understanding and negotiating multiple
personal and shared identities has been a notable outcome of two large projects when
findings were interpreted through the lens of children’s fundamental inquiry questions.
The following identities and allied inquiries, framed as questions, were common.
These merged as children engaged with peers and teachers to explore associated
knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Children’s identities included: (1) the personal—“Who
am I?”; “Who are my parents/family?”; “What does it mean to be a girl/boy?”; (2) the
learner—“Who am I as a learner?”; “What learning strategies can I build here?”; “How
will teachers help me learn?”; and (3) the cultural—“What is my background?”; “Who
am I as a member of a family, cultures and communities?” The latter incorporated
inquiry into a shared national identity: “What features do New Zealanders share?”
Earlier, I noted then the wording of an overarching fundamental inquiry question
as: How can I build personal, learner, and cultural identities as I participate in inter-
esting, fulfilling, and meaningful activities with my family, community, and culture? In
Chapter 5 I identified the way recognition of Hunter’s interest in music as comprising
significant funds of knowledge led to him developing a positive identity as a compe-
tent learner. As Meg Jacobs (in press) identifies: “Children draw on the linguistic and
cultural resources of their homes to represent and communicate multimodally, and
they attempt to expand these resources to understand other people, themselves, and
the communities they participate in” (n.p.). I exemplify now ways this question played
out in an inquiry into personal and shared identities in ways highlighted by Jacobs.
Hunter and Simeon: learning, languages, cultures, and identities
Hunter was introduced in the previous chapter in relation to his funds of knowl-
edge-inspired interests. Hunter and Simeon (both aged 4½ years) represent a
growing mixed-ethnicity demographic in Aotearoa New Zealand. Hunter was a
New Zealand-born child with a Cook Islands Ma-ori mother and Samoan father.
Both his parents had also been born in Aotearoa New Zealand following their own
parents’ migration. Simeon and his family had migrated recently from Fiji, where
he was born. His father was Fijian-Indian and his mother Chilean. Like Hunter, he
102 Children’s inquiries and identities
was the younger of two children. The curriculum document Te Wha-riki (Ministry
of Education, 2017) reflects wider social policy in stating clearly a commitment to
te reo and tikanga Ma-ori (Ma-ori language and culture) acknowledging the coun-
try’s bicultural heritage. Layered onto this is a commitment to Pasifika peoples as
New Zealand has a particular responsibility for migrants from neighbouring Pacific
Islands countries who derive their identities from nations with which New Zealand
has strong historic and present-day connections.
Video footage showed Hunter and Simeon exploring actively together their inter-
related personal, learner, and cultural identities with two teachers, Trish and Rosie. In
this episode, they collaborated and asked questions of each other as they played guitars,
sang the national anthems of three countries, and discussed the words of a haka (chant,
dance, or challenge in Ma-ori) that the Aotearoa New Zealand national representative
rugby team (the All Blacks) usually undertake before rugby test matches.
The following is a transcript of the episode:
TRISH: Toru wha- … [3, 4 in Ma-ori—a widely understood signal to begin singing a song]
[Simeon starts singing the New Zealand national anthem in English while banging a
drum. Hunter strums a guitar alongside. Simeon sings the opening verse then stops]
TRISH: What about Ma-ori—can you do the Ma-ori one? [Meaning the national
anthem in Ma-ori]
SIMEON: Yep. Maybe, maybe a haka one. [Simeon suggests a haka, a Ma-ori challenge
he will have seen performed before sports events as he has an interest in sports]
TRISH: What about the Ma-ori national anthem?
SIMEON: No, I can’t sing that. What about, I want to sing the Ma-ori haka one.
[Hunter, who has been listening intently nearby, starts singing ka mate, ka mate [the first
line of a famous haka] while holding a guitar. Simeon stands up and asks Hunter to join
him. Hunter chooses to continue playing the guitar while Simeon performs]
SIMEON: Ka mate, ka mate, ka mate, he! [Slaps his knees and arms as he says the first
few and the last word of the commonly performed haka]
HUNTER: No, it’s like this: ka mate ka mate, ka ora ka ora. [Continuing the start of
the haka while still sitting with guitar]
SIMEON: [Instead of responding to Hunter]. I want the soccer team one.
HUNTER: What’s the soccer team one?
SIMEON: They’ve got a, this was a Chile one … Maybe a Chile one. Maybe a Fiji
one! [Starts to hum the tune of the Fijian national anthem accurately and bang the drums.
Hunter joins in on the guitar]. Finished! Can I see a Chile one? Chile music!
[Trish suggests Simeon asks Rosie about Chilean music as Rosie’s cultural background is
Chilean. Simeon does so and they agree to look for Chilean music on the computer using
YouTube. Hunter has followed and watches and listens intently again]
Children’s inquiries and identities 103
ROSIE: You want to see Chilean music or the Chilean anthem?
[Simeon chooses the anthem. Rosie searches for it. They all listen together. On the screen
is the Chilean flag and Rosie explains that it’s “her flag”. Rosie sings along to the
anthem. Simeon listens. Hunter strums the guitar. Rosie continues singing the anthem
until it finishes. Simeon asks her if they can search for some other anthems]
SIMEON: I like the Fiji one.
ROSIE: Do you know the words? [Rosie searches for the Fijian anthem on the computer
and finds rugby players from the last World Cup].
SIMEON: Fiji. Maybe I want to see the team one.
ROSIE: The rugby players are singing?
SIMEON: Yeah. Ok.
[Rosie finds a video with Fijian rugby players lined up before a game to sing the
national anthem. They continue watching]
SIMEON: Samoa or Fiji?
ROSIE: This is Fiji. Samoa has another anthem. Every country has one. So the
Chilean one, the Fijian one … We need to ask Binita [a teacher with Fijian
heritage] how to sing this one, I don’t know the words. … Shall we put on the
All Blacks one, the New Zealand one? [Rosie plays a clip showing the players and
the crowd singing the anthem]
SIMEON: Maybe a haka! [They watch the clip of the haka that follows the national
anthem]. I want to go to New Zealand versus Chile!
[Rosie explains Chile doesn’t have a national rugby team, that they play soccer.]
[Video footage ends]
Identities development is an ongoing and fluid phenomenon. In this inter-
action, Simeon and Hunter illustrated multimodal ways young children make
meaning, and communicate actively current understandings about languages,
cultures, identities, and belonging, as they wove their own cultural knowledge
organically into playful exchanges and inquiries with each other. They used
play in this instance as a foundation to explore, share, and develop useful fur-
ther understandings with each other and their teachers about their communities
of participation.
In this case, their interest manifested as inquiry into the ways languages, cultures,
and identities are present in playing, watching, and supporting sporting activities.
The inquiry was evident in the music activity that Simeon and Hunter began
together. They explored national anthems and the haka performed before sports
games. This evolved into Simeon leading an inquiry into Fijian and Chilean
anthems. Simeon initiated and engaged actively with their shared interest in mul-
tiple national anthems and sports fixtures.
104 Children’s inquiries and identities
Teacher Trish responded thoughtfully to the boys’ interest in music and national
anthems. As the resulting cultural weaving occurred, Trish encouraged them to
sing the national anthem in Ma-ori to honour and foster the commitment to te reo
and tikanga Ma-ori in Aotearoa New Zealand. Simeon, however, appeared to
conflate anthems and a haka as synonymous due to their co-presence at sporting
events. Hunter showed more knowledge of a haka in his rendition, but perhaps
out of excitement, unfamiliarity, focus, or confusion, Simeon cut Hunter off by
standing up and redirecting him. When Simeon indicated he was not familiar with
the Ma-ori version of the national anthem and asked about Chilean anthems, Trish
suggested he approach Rosie, who was of Chilean heritage. In doing so, Trish both
recognised that she did not have Rosie’s cultural expertise, and supported Simeon
to identify with a teacher who shared one aspect of his mixed ethnicity. Simeon
then eagerly pursued his own interest in national anthems that related to his shared
cultural heritage with Rosie, who, in turn, suggested another teacher who shared
his Fijian heritage might be helpful in pursuing his inquiry further.
Hunter was an active contributor in the first part of the interaction. In particular,
he showed his interest and competence in music through playing the drums and
guitar, due to his funds of knowledge (see Chapter 5). As the interaction pro-
gressed, Hunter followed Simeon and observed intently what transpired with
Rosie. He watched the YouTube clips, listened carefully to Rosie, and gently and
quietly strummed his guitar throughout. Rosie had not seen the first part of the
interaction. She perhaps responded to Simeon’s more overt approach, and Trish’s
request, by exploring Simeon’s inquiry into a heritage she shared with him.
In summary, this episode is richly illustrative of an amalgam of political,
sociocultural, and historical features related to children’s inquiries and personal
identity building as learners, and as members of families, cultures, and commu-
nities in countries of birth, countries and/or cultures associated with by languages
and/or heritage, and the country currently lived in. In early childhood centres
where children can pursue interests with teachers who know children well,
reciprocal participation creates opportunities for children to explore their iden-
tities, languages, and cultures. This shifts approaches such as funds of knowledge
and other culturally responsive pedagogies in the direction of culturally sustaining
pedagogies (Paris, 2012) where all of children’s rich cultural heritages and family
languages are celebrated and nurtured proactively and fully, and are inextricably
linked to identity development. Furthermore, one connecting feature in this
interaction was national anthems. National anthems are an example of a cultural
artefact that carries signals of funds of identity (Esteban-Guitart, 2021).
Funds of identity
Connections between interests, and funds of knowledge deeply embedded in spe-
cific contexts and cultures, are present in the concept of funds of identity (Esteban-
Guitart, 2016, 2021; Esteban-Guitart & Moll, 2014; Hogg & Volman, 2020). This
concept recognises that changes in technologies have led to increasing family
Children’s inquiries and identities 105
mobility as families seek employment opportunities. In increasingly global com-
munities people belong to a broad range of communities of participation, devel-
oping knowledge and experiences inside and outside of families, and, in doing so,
develop extensive interests, knowledge, and skills through socioculturally mediated
interactions. Particular experiences have more relevance and meaning to individuals
and are taken up as interests that form funds of identity. Funds of identity are,
therefore, like funds of knowledge, social, historical, and cultural resources used by
people to define and understand themselves.
Whether or not children’s interests and learning are recognised and responded to
as funds of knowledge or identity in education settings depends largely on teachers’
relationships with, and knowledge of, children and their families. Research
approaches centred on funds of identity have sometimes utilised home visits and
teacher dialogue groups as per funds of knowledge. However, recognising that
these methods take considerable time, and that it was not possible to identify all
potential funds of knowledge in these ways (Esteban-Guitart, 2021), funds of
identity researchers have also used methods from arts-based approaches and visual
ethnography to include artefacts such as objects, drawings, maps, videos, and
photos (Esteban-Guitart, 2016). People also construct identity through narratives
(Bruner, 1996). As I will demonstrate next in the case of Zoe, a home visit, visual
and literacy artefacts, and a young child’s narratives about her interests, were a
powerful combination of methods to ascertain her lines of inquiry and understand
what was most meaningful to her.
Zoe’s funds of identity: learning and imagined futures
Many collaborative, recursive, and iterative analytical discussions occurred amongst
the research team about children’s expressions of their interests and the deeper
meanings these might represent. Young children are developing their abilities to
articulate and express their intentions, decisions, actions, and interests. While we
had undertaken child-friendly interviews with 4-year-old children at the end of the
project, in order to connect our interpretations with what children described as
their interests, we missed a vital final step in not returning to the children’s families
to verify interpretations.
Zoe’s mother and I became colleagues a few years later. Conversations about
Zoe at that time added further clarifications to the research team’s original inter-
pretations and provoked further insights. These prompted my re-analysis of data
about Zoe in light of my reading about funds of identity. The example is also a
reminder that interpretations depend on the theoretical constructs applied, are
always tentative, and warrant further research in a range of contexts as another way
to test validity and transferability.
In applying the concept of funds of identity to young children, the assumptions
underpinning the following analysis of Zoe’s interests, inquiries, and identity
exploration were that funds of knowledge-based interests become funds of identity
in young children if:
106 Children’s inquiries and identities
these interests are prominent in children’s self-initiated engagement in play-based
learning experiences;
the interests are mediated in ways that connect with identity development;
children manifest agency in mediated engagement in play; and,
imagination is involved with actions and narratives associated with this play.
Zoe’s learner identity
“[T]he boundaries between processes of knowledge building and identity—as we
participate in contexts of life and activity—are fuzzy” (Esteban-Guitart, 2021, p. 3).
Learning is an identity-forming experience (Ligorio, 2010) that enables children to
use their agency, think about, and imagine what they can do now alongside what
they might do in the future (Holland & Lachicotte, 2007). Zoe was inquiring into
“How can I build my personal, learner, and cultural identities as I participate in
interesting, fulfilling, and meaningful activities with my peers and teachers?” The
specific fundamental inquiry questions appeared to be: “How can I make special
connections with people I know?”; “How can I make and communicate mean-
ing?”; “How can I express my creativity?”
Zoe was read to frequently at home from an early age, and developed an
interest in language and literacy. At her early childhood centre, Zoe acted on this
interest through regularly choosing to participate in reading, drawing, and writing
activities. She also involved teachers in her interest. Zoe’s teachers mediated her
learning by helping her spell and write words that were meaningful to her, such
as “Mum”; “Dad”; “Tamar”; “Paul”; and “cat.” Zoe also acted playfully and
imaginatively with words and sounds. One entry in her assessment portfolio
recorded her writing in a mix of upper- and lower-case letters the rhyming words
“cat”; “pat”; “sat”; “that”; “fat”; “mat”; and “bat”, alongside invented words,
“lat”; “nat”; and “tat.”
Zoe’s playfulness with language, and understanding of the purposes and
structures of language, was a shared interest with her friend, Isabella. In their
play together, Zoe and Isabella both showed that funds of knowledge-based
interests related to language and literacy were important as social, geographical,
and cultural funds of identity: Zoe’s grandfather was Hungarian, Isabella’s
mother was Cambodian and her father Samoan. Zoe and Isabella each brought
their home and heritage languages into the centre. Together, Zoe and Isabella
demonstrated collaborative agency (van Lier, 2008). They acted on their shared
interest and respective languages to create an imaginative, secret, shared language
they called “Campy.”
In an effort to mediate their interest further, Daniel (teacher) suggested that the
children could write a dictionary of their Campy words. The girls declined. Daniel
was initially surprised, then reflected that perhaps they were motivated by having a
common language that only they understood, a language that symbolised their
shared connections and special relationship. He also realised that their shared lan-
guage provided a way to exclude others—both teachers and peers—when they
Children’s inquiries and identities 107
wanted to play together privately. Illustrating awareness of the bonds of their
friendship, and actual identities as good friends, Zoe and Isabella demonstrated
agency as a form of resistance (Esser, 2016), in this instance to the common social
expectation that all children be friends and play with each other. Teachers recog-
nised and respected the children’s wishes, fostering their capacity to resist as they
made decisions and acted on these.
Zoe’s potential adult identities
Learning is an identity-forming experience that draws on agency, imagination, and
creativity as higher-order Vygotskian psychological functions (Holland & Lachicotte,
2007; Ligorio, 2010). Zoe continued inquiring into “How can I build my personal
and cultural identities as I participate in interesting, fulfilling, and meaningful activities
with my family?” Specifically, here, the fundamental inquiry questions reflected:
“What do intelligent, responsible, and caring adults do?”; “How can I make special
connections with people I know?”; “How can I make and communicate meaning?”;
and “How can I express my creativity?”
Zoe was keenly interested in the world of adults. For example, Zoe’s parents
married when she was aged 4, an event that enabled her to observe and participate
in specific cultural practices and activities. She enacted her new insights in multiple
ways in the centre. Her teachers mediated her new interest by providing her with
resources, time, and support to share knowledge and create artefacts that held
meaning for her. Zoe narrated the wedding events in detail to teachers, expressing
what was meaningful for her. Sue (a teacher) documented Zoe’s description of the
wedding:
I weared a cream headband. I went to the hairdressers and got curly hair. Only
me, mummy, and nanny went to the hairdressers, not daddy, I think he was at
work or something or at home. Mummy got curly hair but not nanny … I
didn’t say special words at the wedding only mummy and daddy … We had a
flower cake, it had flowers all around it. I think it was a lemon cake maybe. A
circle cake.
Later, Zoe began to imagine whom she might marry in the future. On one occasion,
teachers provided materials for Zoe to draw a life-sized future husband. The drawing
was taken home and pinned to Zoe’s bedroom wall for several months. In this
instance, Zoe was drawing on funds of identity to imagine a future adult self. This act
of imagining was mediated through the cultural activity and practices of a wedding
ceremony and the expectations of marriage, through teacher-mediated dialogue, and
symbolically through photos depicting clothing worn to the wedding, the vows made,
and having a celebratory cake.
Personal narratives are a form of self-mediated dialogue through which we
reveal ourselves to others. Trish (a teacher-researcher) captured Zoe talking about
her interests on video in a short, child-friendly interview towards the end of the
108 Children’s inquiries and identities
data-generation period. The topics that Zoe selected to talk about demonstrated
that she had multiple further funds of identity from which to explore adult roles.
Selected excerpts of the interview transcript follow.
I like playing Mum and Dads … Cos what I like about that is I really want to
be a Mum when I grow up! And a police officer … Cos I’ve been playing
with my doll babies a lot and I’ve got good things to look after babies: bottle,
foods, and cream and some water and a high chair and a push chair … Did
you know when I went to the swimming pool on Friday I saw two cars
parked on the yellow lines and you’re not allowed and I told them off! …
They parked the car there and you’re only allowed to park where you can. So
I told the people off … And … on Friday … we went to fix the windows cos
they were breaking windows and burglars usually break windows instead of
knocking on doors and that’s stealing.
There are two connected parts to this narrative. Firstly, Zoe clearly expressed her
interest in adult roles and future possible identities. She then signified her under-
standing of the responsibilities and roles of these adults. In doing so, she also
reported and explained her understanding of specific incidents of rule-breaking.
In an effort to both understand the background to, and veracity of, Zoe’s ideas,
Trish shared the video with Zoe’s mother. Zoe’s mother said that this narrative
contained a mix of truth and imagination in relation to a burglary at their home
and overhearing her mother’s complaints about cars parking illegally outside the
swimming pool where Zoe went for swimming lessons.
Zoe demonstrated agency and imagination in expressing her understanding of
adult roles and responsibilities that she might take up in the future. The concept of
agency (see Chapter 3) aligns well with the funds of identity theory in relation to
the active, intentional, and purposeful selection, uptake, and transformation of
knowledge, interests, and experiences. When learners engage in sharing under-
standings and building knowledge, “they take responsibility and show initiative;
they are required to self-direct and self-assess their own processes” (Ligorio, 2010,
p. 94).
Zoe manifested agency to select and act on her interests as she developed her
language, literacy, and meaning-making capacities, both as an individual and col-
laboratively with her friend, Isabella. Zoe acted on her interest in what adults do,
also drawing on her imagination as she expressed ideas about who and what she
wanted to be as an adult: a wife, mother, and police officer. Zoe imagined and
explored funds of identity about adult roles, relationships, rights, and responsibilities
across both home and early childhood education settings, and in other community
settings (e.g., the local swimming pool).
Agency and imagination were also both evident when Zoe and Isabella drew on
their individual languages and created their invented language, Campy. Zoe’s
imagination enabled her to think about, and act to circumvent, institutional norms
through devising Campy language with Isabella. Agency here also manifested as
Children’s inquiries and identities 109
resistance when Zoe and Isabella avoided writing up their invented language,
possibly because that could have provided access for others to use it and engage
with them. Using her imagination also enabled Zoe to go beyond her own
experience and participation in her parents’ wedding to imagine herself with a
future husband and draw a picture of him.
To sum up, funds of identity theory argues that humans select personally mean-
ingful experiences as cultural resources to engage with in identity development. Early
experiences are fundamental to young children’s opportunities to develop interests and
capacities to learn, understand, and act on their worlds, construct identities, and ima-
gine themselves as eventual adults and members of their families and communities.
Family homes and early childhood settings are rich contexts for children to determine
what interests them, and explore these interests with peers and adults. I have shown
ways Zoe made meaning from experiences, activities, and practices from her family
and community settings. Zoe’s funds of identity were most visible when she demon-
strated agency and imagination in her play and learning interactions. This included her
exploration of potential future identities as an adult.1
Relational play-based curriculum and pedagogy
Thus far, this chapter has provided further evidence of the nature and content of
children’s interests revealed when children have opportunities to express and act on
interests-based learning in their play. What matters for children has been expressed
as fundamental inquiry questions and then funds of identity, in particular inquiring
into developing multiple identities. Expressed through multimodal ways, children’s
learning reflects the notion of inquiry as stance. Play, interests, inquiry, and identity
are a compelling combination for insights into what matters for children and taking
children’s interests seriously. Play-responsive pedagogy therefore incorporates the
structural, social, material, relational, and discursive elements of early childhood
education.
The role of mediation is clear in revisiting the examples of inquiry traversed in
this chapter. In Chapter 2 I noted that mediation is a term that describes the cul-
tural tools and processes that humans use to make sense and meaning from
experiences and events significant to their lives. Mediation in this chapter can be
viewed as three-fold in the context of these children’s inquiries: institutional (in the
organisation, composition, and priorities of early childhood settings); symbolic (in
the cultural tools such as language and the resources used in play interactions); and
human (in interactions with themselves and others). Human mediation in the form
of sensitive teacher–child interactions forms the basis of what I now explore as
relational pedagogy. Relational pedagogy aligns with participatory theories of
learning where children are positioned as meaning-makers in sociocultural inter-
actions (Chapter 2) and in participatory methods for research (Chapter 4). Rela-
tional pedagogy appreciates the complex and dynamic nature of interactions with
children. It exemplifies the ways children benefit when adults empower children’s
learning in ways responsive to their family and community interests.
110 Children’s inquiries and identities
As noted earlier, where children can pursue interests in their play, with teachers
who know children well and support their agency, reciprocal participation creates
opportunities for children to explore their interests and identities. Whether or not
children’s interests and learning are recognised and responded to within curriculum
as funds of knowledge or identity, or as fundamental inquiry questions, depends
largely on teachers’ relationships with, and knowledge of, children and their families.
Sensitive teachers who know children well, including through the insights funds of
knowledge, inquiry as stance, and funds of identity offer, have specific qualities and
knowledge to mediate children’s learning in relational play-based pedagogy.
Relational pedagogy involves complex decision-making about timing and content:
when to engage with children’s play without disrupting its natural energy and flow in
order to extend learning, and what content to add to support the progression of chil-
dren’s inquiries. Features of relational pedagogy include reciprocity, joint involve-
ment, intuition, wisdom, trust, providing learning that connects with children’s
interests, respecting children’s ideas, and emphasising meaning making rather than
knowledge construction (Hedges & Cooper, 2018; and see Papatheodorou, 2009).
Being a good listener, who seeks to understand children’s perspectives and inquiries
expressed in multiple languages and multimodal ways before responding, is vital to
fostering children’s identities as capable learners.
In the contexts of community settings, specifically amateur astronomy clubs,
Flávio Azevedo (2019) illustrates ways that institutional settings can structure and
mediate participation opportunities with knowledgeable and enthusiastic others to
extend and stimulate learning. He shows the fluidity that can exist in pedagogy
between those in teacher and learner roles when they are engaged in interest-based
experiences. In community clubs there is flexibility about what constitutes the
“curriculum,” and an invitation to work towards intersubjectivity rather than feel-
ing any pressure to meet prescribed outcomes. The learning that results is deep and
long-lasting. This is the kind of learning promoted in early childhood education
through interests and inquiries as promoted in this book, contrasting with didactic
attempts to meet school readiness-focused academic outcomes.
In short, exploring and mediating children’s interests, inquiries, and identities in
teacher–child interactions is founded on respectful, reciprocal, and responsive rela-
tionships. This respect includes rethinking play environments to foster children’s
belonging and inclusion by being able to represent and re-enact their funds of
knowledge-based interests authentically. Relational pedagogy involves teachers
having sophisticated professional knowledge and skills to engage with children and
foster their learning in ways that recognise the fundamental inquiries that underpin
children’s play and learning (see also Chapter 7).
Summary
Inquiry is a way to understand children’s deep and ongoing interests and capability
development. I explored an adaptation of children’s “real questions” (Wells, 1999,
p. 91). I proposed that children’s interests represent fundamental inquiries that are
Children’s inquiries and identities 111
shared across children and have personal meaning and content. A series of funda-
mental inquiry questions were offered and exemplified, arguing overall that these
represent a deep-seated interest in identity development.
I then brought together the material so far on interests, inquiry, and identity
through applying the concept of funds of identity to early childhood education.
In exemplifying funds of identity in relation to 4-year-old Zoe, aspects of the
concepts of culture, play, interest, agency, imagination, and everyday participa-
tory learning fundamental to Vygotskian and post-Vygotskian theorising have
come together to explain the importance of interests and identity development in
human lives.
Conceptualising interests in this way invites a rethinking of curriculum and
pedagogy that fosters children’s sense of belonging, contribution, and exploration.
Exploring children’s interests, inquiries, and identities in teacher–child interactions
is founded on respectful, reciprocal, and responsive relationships during what is
described as relational pedagogy. Relational pedagogy has particular characteristics
that align with participatory learning, that, in turn, call for rethinking curricular
outcomes, topics further addressed in the next chapter.
Note
1 Zoe attended my professorial inaugural address. Then aged 11, she planned to be an
architect as a responsible and contributing adult. She also still planned to have a hus-
band—but said he will need to be quite good at cooking as she will be busy at work.
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7
DEEPER UNDERSTANDINGS 3
Children’s working theories
Introduction
In efforts to shift interpretations of children’s interests from simplistic under-
standings related to children’s choice of play activities, I have offered a number
of analytic lenses. The significance of children’s play was aligned with funds of
knowledge, fundamental inquiry questions, and funds of identity in the two
previous chapters. This chapter explicitly addresses children’s ways of learning
and knowing within an inquiry stance to curriculum and pedagogy.
As the third chapter to offer deeper understandings of children’s interests, I
illustrate that children’s ways of learning and knowing are intentional and
purposeful, and have their own logic and sophistication, although they may
appear disorganised to adults. These ways reflect children’s intent participation,
and efforts to belong and contribute. Inquiry is tentative, and subject to
ongoing investigation and exploration in multiple ways. Like scientists, as chil-
dren work to clarify understandings and extend their knowledge, they pose
questions and hypotheses, apply their prior experience and evidence, innovate,
use materials, and show curiosity and focus (Murray, 2017).
Children’s inquiries are connected with holistic outcomes, capability theory,
and relational pedagogy. The outcomes of learning dispositions and working
theories illustrate the potential of outcomes to incorporate multiple features,
and ways to understand and assess the richness of these without fragmenting
them into lists of granular and measurable academic skills and knowledge that
might be ticked off as indicators representing domains of knowledge in policy
notions of school readiness. Working theories are emphasised in this chapter,
and argued further in Chapter 10 as a way to approach curriculum differently
in early childhood education.
DOI: 10.4324/9781003139881-7
Working theories 115
Children’s inquiries: connections with curriculum, pedagogy, and
outcomes
As established in Chapter 2, children are naturally curious. Inquiry arises in efforts
to make meaning of curiosities and life experiences, pursue activities of interest,
collaborate with others, and participate and contribute meaningfully in a range of
contexts. Children engage in critical and imaginative thinking about the living,
social, material, and spiritual worlds through what I have termed fundamental inquiry
questions (Chapter 6). Children have personal and collective agency in their
inquiry-based learning. How do children go about pursuing matters of interest?
Lindfors (1999) referred to children’s “inquiry acts” as evidence of adopting
an inquiry stance. These acts describe children’s “attempt[s] to elicit another’s
help in going beyond his or her own present understanding” (p. ix) to make
sense of experiences and worlds, placing zones of proximal development and
mediation central to pedagogy. Engaging with others is an integral part of
inquiry as a stance to: “[go] beyond one’s present understanding; seek infor-
mation; seek confirmation of an idea; seek explanation of some phenomenon;
wonder about something” (p. 4). Inquiry arises in efforts to build knowledge
that is useful for action as people actively try to understand their experiences
and worlds. Thus, learning is deeply personal, rich, and complex. It recognises
children’s capabilities and efforts to learn and engage with others.
Capability theory and its potential to contribute to, and resolve, debates about
outcomes was discussed in Chapter 3. In short, a capabilities approach accounts for
the contributions of human capital theory’s focus on skills and knowledge while
simultaneously valuing life opportunities and well-being through a “broader and
richer description of children’s agency and critical thinking abilities” (Buzzelli,
2015, p. 208). In this chapter, ideas about more holistic outcomes are taken up.
Cary Buzzelli (2018) characterises assessment that implements a capability approach
as a moral practice. Here, morality refers to both the focus on opportunities for agency
and well-being, and to ensuring that assessment incorporates what children are capable
of and developing potential in, rather than identifies deficits. This thinking aligns with
research that gets as close as possible to children’s interests and views, takes these ser-
iously, interprets them respectfully, and is cognisant of Bereiter’s challenge to adults to
resist trivialising children’s interests. Buzzelli identifies four principles for assessment as a
moral practice: (1) assessment is sensitive to both individuals and context; (2) children
are active participants in assessment, including that the “focus is on children’s agency as
learners and their participation as partners in dialogues about learning and assessment”
(p. 161); (3) multiple methods, sources, and perspectives contribute to documentation;
and, (4) assessment is about knowledge and achievements, and the affordances that
contribute to these.
Some international curriculum policy documents have outlined holistic and
capability focused outcomes. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Wha-riki (Ministry of
Education, 2017) has 20 learning outcomes that connect with the document’s
principles, strands, and goals. These are all preceded by the rider, “[o]ver time and
116 Working theories
with guidance and encouragement, children become increasingly capable of …”
(p. 24). Capability theory, then, has the potential to explain how settings weave
a local curriculum through the strands and goals, and recognises and assists
capability development through selecting and prioritising outcomes.
For example, if a setting was focused on the strand of well-being to weave
curriculum, the outcomes identified come from: over time and with guidance and
encouragement, children become increasingly capable of keeping themselves heal-
thy and caring for others; managing themselves and expressing their feelings and
needs; and, keeping themselves and others safe from harm. Similarly, if a setting
was building curriculum around the strand of exploration, the outcomes to select
from are: over time and with guidance and encouragement, children become
increasingly capable of playing, imagining, inventing, and experimenting; moving
confidently and challenging themselves physically; using a range of strategies for
reasoning and problem solving; and, making sense of their worlds by generating
and refining working theories.
The curriculum has two overarching and innovative outcomes: learning dis-
positions and working theories. “It is expected that kaiako will prioritise the
development of children’s learning dispositions and working theories because these
enable learning across the whole curriculum” (Ministry of Education, 2017, p. 23).
Holistic and capability-framed outcomes are built on a strengths-based view of
children as learners. These outcomes, in effect, as I later exemplify, combine
intellectual, affective, and academic elements, and are dynamic and contextual.
Holistic learning outcomes and assessment
Initial research related to assessment and Te Wha-riki focused on learning dispositions,
an outcome, with its accompanying assessment approach, that is aligned with a cap-
abilities approach (Buzzelli, 2015). Margaret Carr (2001) described a dispositional
approach as learning strategies plus motivation, “a combination of inclination, sensi-
tivity to occasion, and the relevant skill and knowledge” (p. 21). Dispositions origi-
nated in developmental psychology. In keeping with the theoretical shifts argued in
this book, Carr has argued for a sociocultural perspective of dispositions to account for
multiple contexts and the relational influences on children’s learning. In multiple
projects Carr explored the dispositions that capable learners develop—such as curios-
ity, concentration, persistence, contribution, and communication. A range of other
dispositions identified since in both early childhood and schooling include creativity,
risk taking, collaboration, reflectivity, resourcefulness, reciprocity, imagination, and
resilience (Carr et al., 2009; Claxton et al., 2011).
Identifying learning dispositions involves cultural beliefs about what is valued in
learning. Lesley Rameka (e.g., 2011) has undertaken significant work to consider
dispositions valued by Ma-ori in New Zealand. Rameka highlights rangatiratanga (a
right to exercise authority, autonomy, leadership, independence), whakatoi (cour-
age, daring, and risk taking), manaakitanga (showing respect, generosity, hospitality,
and care for others), aroha (love, compassion, empathy, affection), hu-ma-rie
Working theories 117
(humility, gentleness, peacefulness), and whakahi (pride) as learning dispositions
that are valued by Ma-ori. Rameka’s important work is a reminder that different
cultures will have distinct values and priorities. These priorities need to be
explored to ascertain outcomes valued in specific communities. Children’s
agency and well-being are also then made visible in assessment, consistent with
capability theory.
Assessment related to learning dispositions created an associated narrative method
of documentation called learning stories (Carr, 2001; Carr & Lee, 2012). This
approach to assessment has become employed internationally as a way to capture
the richness of children’s learning capabilities (e.g., Karlsdóttir and Garðarsdóttir,
2010 in Iceland, and Knauf, 2018 in Germany). Learning stories are responsive to
Buzzelli’s (2018) four principles of assessment as a moral practice, as they seek
children’s perspectives as well as teachers and families, and document engagement
in learning rather than outcomes per se. While learning stories focus on learning
dispositions, they do also have the potential to record the kinds of early literacy and
numeracy knowledge and skills that teachers in other countries are asked to
develop checklists of, often related to the less holistic early learning goals desired in
policy (e.g., in England, Wood, 2020).
Working theories
Learning dispositions are interdependent with working theories; they are “two
sides of one coin” (Peters & Davis, 2011, p. 8). Working theories are grounded in
curiosity, persistence, and resilience, among other dispositions. Working theories
arise in the context of children’s exploration of their interests and inquiries.
In this chapter I focus on children’s working theories, in line with Wells’ (1999)
emphasis that an inquiry orientation involves children formulating and testing their
own theories. In Te Wha-riki, working theories are defined as “the evolving ideas
and understandings that children develop as they use their existing knowledge to
try to make sense of new experiences” (Ministry of Education, 2017, p. 23). Of
significance in relation to the arguments of this book, the document also notes that
“children are most likely to generate and refine working theories in learning
environments where uncertainty is valued, inquiry is modelled, and making
meaning is the goal” (p. 23).
Research on the outcome of working theories—children’s inquiry, sense
making, and ongoing theorising about their lives and worlds—questions the
narrowness of much research on outcomes to argue that outcomes incorporate
not just knowledge, but skills, strategies, attitudes, and expectations (Hedges &
Cooper, 2014). Working theories, as a concept, describes children’s significant,
complex, cognitive, embodied, and communicative efforts to make sense of
their worlds, and revise participation and actions as their understandings mature
due to new experiences and knowledge, and through their increasing physical
and verbal capabilities. Working theories emanate from children’s interests and
inquiries.
118 Working theories
Working theories, then, can be considered as evidence of inquiry acts, ways
children process intuitive, everyday, spontaneous knowledge and use this
creatively to interpret new information. … Working theories may represent
children’s intellectual curiosity and thinking as they attempt to make connec-
tions between current and desired understandings and experiences in matters
of interest to them. The word “working” suggests that these theories are ten-
tative and speculative. … As a creative form of knowledge, they are modified
and improved in a continuous manner and may involve imaginative, inventive
ideas and some sense of resourcefulness.
(Hedges, 2014, p. 40)
Working theories are of interest internationally. For example, Michelle Hill and
Elizabeth Wood (2019) explored children’s peer cultures in Switzerland as sources
of working theory construction during their play. Three interest themes were
prominent: human nature, the social world, and the physical and natural world.
Aligning with Chapter 6, one deeply existential interest was in death and dying.
Attention to children’s theories is also relevant within any curriculum that purports
to value critical thinking.
Young children’s theories are central to the Reggio Emilia approach to cur-
riculum. An image of children as capable learners, and curriculum based on in-
depth projects (progettazione), foster children’s ability to create and test theories
to develop understandings about themselves and their world. Within these Ita-
lian centres, children’s theories are a focus of curriculum in order to satisfy
intellectual, social, aesthetic, and knowledge-building goals. A focus on their
ongoing generation aligns with the ideas and purposes of working theories in
Te Wha-riki in Aotearoa New Zealand, and inquiry in Reggio Emilia-inspired
centres internationally (e.g., Westerberg & Vandermaas-Peeler, 2021).
Carlina Rinaldi (2006) suggests that theories “are extremely important and
powerful in revealing the ways in which children think, question and interpret
reality and their own relationships with reality and with us” (p. 64). She says that
a theory is a “satisfactory explanation, though also provisional. It is something
more than simply an idea or a group of ideas; it must be pleasing and convincing,
useful and capable of satisfying our intellectual, affective, and also aesthetic needs”
(p. 113). In alignment with the sociocultural theories and principles of this book,
Rinaldi suggests that sharing personal theories creates opportunities for others to
engage in collective meaning making, knowledge construction, and identity
development. In both Reggio Emilia and Aotearoa New Zealand, relationships
and dialogue with peers and teachers are therefore highlighted as vital to pro-
moting children’s theory development.
Assessing working theories requires consideration of appropriate methods and
documentation. “No test, no observational schedule, no checklist, will adequately
uncover the richness of children’s minds and hearts” (Clough & Nutbrown, 2019,
p. 4). The importance of teachers taking time and opportunities to know children
well in order to locate the richness of children’s learning was established in the
Working theories 119
previous two chapters. So far, learning story narratives have also captured children’s
working theories in New Zealand. The Reggio Emilia approach has led the way
with other extensive ideas about documenting children’s theories that align with
the kinds of evidence used in learning stories and Buzzelli’s principles for assess-
ment practices. Rinaldi (2006) itemises teachers’ written notes; videos of interac-
tions; photographs of constructions, drawings, paintings, artefacts; and noting or
photographing the contexts for these, as fostering teacher understandings and
interpretations that enable revisiting theories with children. She suggests that such
methods are in keeping with research on children’s memory and identity building,
and form a participatory and dialogic pedagogy that values multiple perspectives.
I now consider and exemplify what assessment of working theories might entail. I
deliberately choose two examples that relate to the fundamental inquiry question, “How
can I develop my physical and emotional well-being?” given the centrality of well-being
and agency to capability theory. The first is also aligned with Nussbaum’s (2011)
emphasis on capability development in bodily health and integrity, and having political
and material control over one’s environment; the second about engaging with other
humans. Both involve play and being able to use the senses, imagination, and thoughts.
Chloe’s working theory about learning to jump
Chloe was introduced earlier with regard to her family funds of knowledge
(Chapter 5). Recapping one feature relevant to what follows, teachers established
that her interest in physically active play arose from her parents’ sports and family
outings to the park and playgrounds. Chloe’s parents and teachers also realised that
Chloe liked to observe older children on playground equipment and attempt what
they could do. Chloe was engaging with fundamental inquiry questions: “What
can I do, now that I am bigger, that the older children do?” and “How can I
develop my physical and emotional well-being?” (Chapter 6).
Chloe set herself the goal of learning to jump. A description follows of three
occasions over five months that captured Chloe’s efforts and achievements. Chloe
was aged 17–22 months during this time. On the first occasion, Chloe was in the
sandpit. She bent her knees and enacted a bouncing movement although her feet
did not move. A teacher encouraged her to stand on the raised edge of the sandpit
with her feet facing into the sandpit so there was a short drop. Chloe’s face showed
that she summoned up much concentration as she positioned herself and appeared
to consider cognitively the action required to jump. She thought carefully for some
time, raised her shoulders up and down a few times and eventually stepped into the
sandpit one foot at a time.
On the second occasion, Chloe had climbed onto a high box that older children
were jumping off. She indicated that she wanted a teacher, Trish, to hold her hand
while she jumped. In encouraging her confidence and independence, Trish instead
brought out some large bean bags and invited Chloe to jump off smaller boxes
onto these. Chloe’s body language indicated that she would do so, and she jumped
this way safely several times.
120 Working theories
She then moved to competently climb a ladder to the higher box. She stood
there briefly, then worked out how to lower herself backwards onto a second box
which had a mat below it. She had by this time observed older children jumping
on this. She clearly indicated that she wished to do the same. Again, she carefully
stepped to the front of the box with both feet and then effectively dived head-first
onto the beanbag Trish had placed there, concerned that Chloe may not yet be
sufficiently proficient for a mat. She picked herself and her hat up without fuss, and
climbed up again for another attempt. This time she thought and hesitated, then
turned around and climbed down backwards.
On the third occasion, recorded three months later, Chloe clearly initiated the
activity herself as no specific jumping activity had been set up by teachers, and no
older children were present. She purposely ran to climb a closed-in ladder, climbed
onto the edge of a box and looked down. She said “jump please,” and a teacher
acknowledged that she wanted to jump. She then asked the closest teacher to get
her a mat. She watched intently as a mat was put down in front of her, appeared to
make a careful judgement about its size and positioning and said “two mats.” A
second mat was brought over and placed beside the first one. The teachers counted
“1, 2, 3” twice. Chloe concentrated for a few more seconds and then jumped
competently onto the mat, landing on her two feet.
Chloe’s movements, actions, and early language evident on these three occasions
were analysed carefully by the research team. It was evident that Chloe thought
carefully and purposefully about all her intended actions and efforts to extend her
physical capabilities. Over time, and with guidance and encouragement from a
number of teachers, Chloe gradually learned more, both cognitively and physically,
until she achieved her goal successfully.
Chloe’s working theory to help her operate steadily and determinedly on her
goal of learning to jump seemed to include the following ideas: you need to watch
what older children do; you need to bend your knees to jump; you need to judge
distance; you need to take a risk; you need to stay safe/be careful; and you need to
engage others to help you achieve a goal. As Rinaldi (2006) noted, this group of
ideas were “pleasing and convincing” (p. 113) for Chloe. Increasing competence in
her physical, language, and cognitive skills and abilities enabled more challenging
jumping to occur as she developed her working theorising and pursued her learn-
ing goal.
The holistic, dynamic, and contextual possibilities of working theories combin-
ing the content (knowledge) and processes (skills and attitudes) of participatory
learning is now exemplified. Knowledge might be viewed as reflecting some
recognisable early academic learning, skills and strategies as the ways of doing and
being that are necessary for children’s learning to build on prior knowledge and
experience, and attitudes and expectations as the dispositional components and
environmental affordances that secure self-motivated, interests-related learning.
The knowledge Chloe demonstrated included intuitive knowledge of height and
distance, safety sense, body positioning to achieve a physical task (e.g., feet position,
bent knees, shoulders drawn in), that counting to three precedes an action, and adding
Working theories 121
“s” for plurals (mat/mats). The various skills and strategies she employed included
drawing on memory of previous experiences, risk assessment, an ability to climb a
ladder, bending her knees to aid momentum and cushion landings, observation of
other children, making predictions and judgements (of height and distance), counting
and subitising one and two, and trying different ways to achieve a goal. The attitudes
and expectations Chloe had were curiosity, courage, risk taking, perseverance, cau-
tion, and resilience (i.e., learning dispositions). Her expectations related to affordances
and mediation: that the physical environment and the teachers will empower learning,
and that a teacher will respond if you ask them for help.
Long before Chloe can understand the scientific knowledge, logic, and rules of
height, distance, or trajectory, she illustrates intuitive, everyday knowledge of these
principles. Put simply, Chloe understands what jumping entails. In a literal and
metaphorical “courageous leap,” Chloe illustrated that “a shrewd guess, the fertile
hypothesis, the courageous leap to a tentative conclusion—these are the most
valuable coin of the thinker at work” (Bruner, 1960, p. 3).
The richness and complexity of Chloe’s learning might not be identified in a
checklist approach where “jumps from a height of one metre” is catalogued with a
date of achievement. Whether Chloe’s ability to subitise, or her understanding of
plurals, would be recognised through numeracy and literacy assessments is a related
issue. While this analysis, built on a foundation of understanding children’s parti-
cipatory learning as dynamic, contextual, powerful, and multi-faceted, reveals the
extent and depth of learning in a child not yet two years old, perhaps in another
context such as England Chloe’s “early learning goals” would be found wanting
and teacher-directed interventions be set in place.
Caleb’s working theory about making friends
Children worldwide are interested in having and being friends, and figuring out
the nature, content, and qualities of friendships (see Brogaard-Clausen & Robson,
2019; Carter, 2021; Corsaro, 1985). Play is a means through which friendships
between children, and understandings about friendships, might be developed.
Children develop views and theories about who they want to become friends with,
and develop, practise, and trial knowledge and strategies that will help that process.
Teachers’ analytic understandings of children’s interests as inquiries represented in
working theories, and responsive and relational pedagogy, may be vital to helping
children achieve friendship goals.
The following example is illustrative of Prout’s (2005) argument (outlined in
Chapter 3) that combining psychological and sociological understandings helps
us appreciate children’s biological, developmental, and sociocultural learning
simultaneously. Children can then be considered both competent and vulnerable at
the same time. Caleb was mentioned in Chapter 6 as exploring the fundamental
inquiry question “What can I do, now that I am bigger, that the older children
do?” in relation to becoming friends with a group of older boys at his centre.
122 Working theories
At the time of the following episode, Caleb was 3½ years old. He attended a
centre five full days a week. The inner-city centre had a high turnover of children
attending due to the transient nature of central city families. The video footage
captured what the teacher-researcher initially thought was a group of boys with an
interest in making aeroplanes co-operatively with LegoTM. A deeper analysis
afforded by the video footage, and a more analytical understanding of interests
beyond the activity of focus, led to a realisation this episode was about Caleb’s
efforts to become friends with this group. An edited transcript follows.
[Caleb was playing with LegoTM with a small group of boys building aeroplanes]
MORGAN: I went to the beach yesterday.
CALEB: My dad, my dad [Morgan is not listening]. HEY! My dad’s going to take me
to the beach too.
MORGAN: My dad go to the beach yesterday.
KEN: Yesterday I’m gonna go to the beach yesterday. Very, very, very, very, very,
very …
MORGAN: Long drive?
KEN: Yeah long drive.
MORGAN: … and I went to the snow too.
CALEB: And I went to, I went to … [others not listening]
KEN: Me too! I went to the snow.
CALEB: I went to the beach. And I went to the beach yesterday—a long, long time.
…
MORGAN: [Looking through a box of LegoTM] [I need] long bits.
CALEB: I got one.
MORGAN: What about all the long bits?
CALEB: Long bit [handing Morgan a piece of LegoTM].
MORGAN: No not that one, a bigger one.
CALEB: See this is long.
MORGAN: No, a really big white one!
…
[Caleb is holding a LegoTM plane and walks around with it over to a group of boys
playing with their LegoTM planes]
CALEB: S’cuse me, can you give Morgan one?
MORGAN: You have to share.
KYLE: Okay, here. … Here you are, we sharing.
CALEB: Hey let’s go Morgan!
Working theories 123
…
CALEB: Kyle was nice eh?
MORGAN: Kyle, Kyle is nice sometimes, sometimes he’s not.
The research team realised that Caleb had a working theory about how to make
friends and was testing and revising his theory using a number of strategies,
including the disposition of persistence, to achieve this goal. Caleb’s complex
working theory about friendship appeared to include the knowledge that you need
to have something in common to be a friend (e.g., a big brother/similar family
outings/similar interests—aeroplanes/LegoTM); that, from an attitudinal perspec-
tive, you need to take an interest in what peers like to do (e.g., talk to them about
their family/interests), you need to play in the same kinds of ways as peers, and,
you need to talk with peers to become accepted as part of the group. He appeared
to have an expectation that if he followed the unstated “rules” of friendship
activities that he could become friends with this group of boys.
Teacher responses following this analysis, that supported Caleb’s goal, were
crucial to promoting positive outcomes. A teacher recalled that one morning she
had overheard Caleb’s mother telling him he could wait on the couch for a parti-
cular friend. The teacher had noted that his friend did not come until later in the
morning and Caleb had waited on the couch all that time. A further contribution
to Caleb’s difficulty to initiate friendships was that his mother insisted he routinely
had an afternoon sleep; something none of his similar-aged peers did anymore.
This routine isolated Caleb as he was not part of their play for the early afternoon
and, when he woke up, had difficulty becoming part of the group. The teachers
felt they had an ethical obligation to address these matters in partnership with his
parents. Strategies were developed with Caleb’s parents that would support him to
make friends. After this meeting, positive changes were observed as Caleb began to
develop independence and confidence in initiating friendships and games with
others more successfully.
Holistic outcomes and curriculum
Working theories are a way to position children’s interests and inquiries centrally in
curricular provision. Research on working theories, largely undertaken in post-
graduate research projects in New Zealand and internationally (e.g., Hill & Wood,
2019; Lovatt, 2020), has begun to traverse a range of topics of children’s deep
interest that lead to inquiry and expression of working theories: among these are
earthquakes, bodily functions and capabilities, death and dying, identity and culture,
and experiences of fairness and equity. Children’s responsiveness to global issues and
recent changes in their lives and worlds is reflected in a project on children’s working
theories about the COVID-19 pandemic (Kahuroa et al., 2021). This growing
number of studies has also illustrated that children are interested in topics such as
gender and sexuality, and that these topics may challenge adult sensitivities as a
124 Working theories
dilemma to explore in relation to both curriculum and pedagogy (Areljung & Kelly-
Ware, 2017). Sofie Areljung and Janette Kelly-Ware raised questions about adult
power and choices made about which theories are listened to, explored, and devel-
oped, a point that echoes my earlier question about whose, and which, interests
teachers notice and prioritise for curriculum development.
Again, these topics are evidence of children’s fundamental inquiry questions
(Chapter 6) and Bereiter’s (2002) point that children have deep and serious interests
that ought not to be trivialised. The topics point to consideration of curriculum
well beyond activities provision. Rather, curricular provision explores authentic
experiences tailored to children’s interests as teachers foster children’s growing
capabilities. These might include projects (Helm & Katz, 2016), curriculum centred
on concepts (Birbili, 2007), or conceptual play and playworlds (Fleer, 2011, 2019;
see Chapter 3) that ensure new information builds concepts intuitively, sensitively,
and incrementally, in ways that respect children’s ways of learning and knowing.
Marilyn Fleer (2011) points out that developing children’s conceptual under-
standing is important for their everyday lives as it allows children to act on their
worlds with more purpose and success. One example connects with funds of
knowledge. Fleer describes the difference between a child with no classification
system of the concept of a supermarket running up and down aisles in a quest to
find a toothbrush, compared to a child who does, and understands that they need
to locate the toiletries section to be successful. Concepts enable children to trans-
form their thinking and actions on the world to participate and contribute more
effectively as Rogoff (2003) described (see Chapter 2).
Within Wells’ (1999) inquiry curriculum, introduced in Chapter 2, a model of a
spiral of knowing is central. This spiral has four interrelated parts.
Knowing starts with personal experience which, amplified by information, is
transformed through knowledge building into understanding, where under-
standing is construed as knowing that is oriented to action of personal and
social significance and to the continual enriching of the framework within
which future experience will be interpreted.
(Wells, 1999, p. 85)
For children, experience involves meanings they have previously created that are
brought to a new inquiry; information comprises being exposed to other people’s
meanings, including those derived from research and scientific concepts; knowledge
building is a collaborative endeavour to extend shared meanings; and understanding is
a basis for acting differently in ways that are personally significant. These processes
are not dissimilar to scientific inquiry processes. For children, learning and action
that is personally significant is holistic, intuitive, dynamic, interpretive, incremental,
and unpredictable. Working theories encompass these characteristics and are
therefore well-suited to being central to interests-based curriculum.
Co-constructed investigations and interactions that engage with children’s ideas
can be intellectually enjoyable and playful. The notion of children’s “playing
around with concepts” was developed by Joanna Williamson et al. (2020). These
Working theories 125
authors drew on Katz’s (2012) idea of intellectual goals as a way to value informal
learning, and bring together holistically the academic and social imperatives of the
early years. Williamson et al. define playing around with concepts as a collective
and spontaneous way of “children’s experimenting with conceptual thinking that
builds in the moment and with each other as peers. … Playing around may involve
intuition as well as reasoning, resulting in complex conceptual thinking” (p. 202,
italics in original). The notion is illustrated through two group episodes, one where
children engaged in shared story book reading of “The book with no pictures”
with a teacher, and another, peer-only episode of playing with dominoes.1
The analyses of these episodes show the complex and rich academic and social
learning children engaged with in playful ways. These engagements included con-
cepts of literacy and numeracy, prized in the outcomes literature, but went well
beyond the usual measurable outcomes given the theories children exhibited
during these engagements. Atomising outcomes insults children’s intelligence and
capabilities, contributing to the trivialising of interests and inaccurate distancing
between interests and intellectual subject matter Bereiter raised.
Holistic outcomes and relational pedagogy
In addition, human knowledge development is far from a linear process implied in
disciplinary and academic progressions of literacy and numeracy. The concept of
working theories considered within a spiral of knowing recognises that there may be
backwards steps in understandings. Children may use invention and imagination to
develop and justify their current thinking, evidence that their theorising is not solely
and narrowly built on prior knowledge and experience. In addition, children’s
working theories can, at times, be resistant to new ideas or disconfirming evidence.
Centring curriculum and pedagogy on holistic outcomes such as working the-
ories means that teachers need to know children well to interpret their theories,
and have a range of pedagogical knowledge and strategies to engage with, and
respond to, children’s interests and theorising. At this point I consider the impli-
cations that placing working theories centrally as outcomes has for relational
pedagogy.
To recap, relational pedagogy involves complex decision-making about timing
and content: when to engage with children’s interests without disrupting their
thinking, and what content to add to support the flow of children’s inquiries.
Features of relational pedagogy include reciprocity, joint involvement, respecting
children’s ideas and theories, and emphasising meaning making rather than
knowledge construction.
Empowering children to express, inquire, puzzle over, critique, reform, and
reframe their many theories can be both a rewarding and challenging part of
teaching. These interactions require positive and warm relationships where teachers
utilise a range of pedagogical strategies appropriate to children, topic and context at
different times, and avoid “hijacking” interests through surface understandings,
126 Working theories
misunderstandings, or a desire to divert to simplified academic learning (Peters &
Davis, 2011).
Collectively, a range of studies of children’s working theories (see Hedges, 2020
for details) showed that it is vital for teachers to listen thoughtfully to theories
expressed to try to interpret children’s inquiry acts, and their multimodal commu-
nications. It is also important to identify the connections between bigger ideas and
theories that children are creating, expressing, and acting upon. These bigger ideas
may include connections to knowledge building about matters of fundamental
interest. Research projects have identified a range of pedagogical strategies, which
might be viewed as capitalising on the Vygotskian notions of everyday concepts, the
zone of proximal development and mediation, central to the definition of relational
pedagogy in the previous chapter. The strategies apply from infancy as teachers
observe children’s behaviours and intentions closely, and develop as children become
verbal. These include:
observing and listening carefully to children;
summarising children’s ideas and thinking to make these visible;
naming ideas and actions in attempts to develop shared understandings;
not interrupting children’s exploration;
using wait time;
offering resources and materials to facilitate exploration;
offering subject knowledge and evidence to support new or different con-
nections or conclusions;
asking thoughtful and open questions to try to understand a child’s perspective
before asking questions to extend or challenge ideas;
treating young children’s questions as something that does not always demand
an “answer”—instead, taking opportunities to develop children’s inquiry skills
and show children different ways to glean information;
teachers modelling inquiry skills and demonstrating their own wondering,
ponderings, and changing reasoning and problem-solving as they develop and
evaluate knowledge.
Many of the features and strategies of relational pedagogy align with the ideas
captured in the pedagogy of listening promoted in the Reggio Emilia approach,
that also views children as “avid seekers of meaning and significance” (Rinaldi,
2006, p. 113). A pedagogy of listening has ethical theories as its foundation. A
central focus on children’s ideas and meaning making during sensitive pedagogical
interactions, and listening with all senses to children, are promoted.
[A] pedagogy of listening means listening to thoughts—the ideas and theories,
questions and answers of children and adults, it means treating thought ser-
iously and with respect; it means struggling to make meaning from what is
said, without preconceived ideas of what is correct or appropriate. A pedagogy
Working theories 127
of listening treats knowledge as constructed, perspectival and provisional, not
the transmission of a body of knowledge.
(p. 15)
Listening is described as an attitude, and a metaphor for sensitivity, openness,
curiosity, connections, and suspension of judgement. It is deliberately an active
verb because of the constant interpretation occurring in the pedagogical relation-
ships and the various means by which children communicate—Reggio Emilia’s
notion of the hundred languages of children.
Ideas central to a relational pedagogy and a pedagogy of listening are also present
in Alison Clark’s (2020) notions of slow pedagogy and slow knowledge building.
The idea of being slow comes from Froebel’s work, and is also borrowed from the
slow food movement. It is also a reaction to an early childhood system in England
apace with, and driven by, measurement of learning. Clark advocates for teachers
to resist this move through her two ideas. Slow pedagogy is taking time to
understand children, and being playful rather than didactic in teaching interactions.
Slow knowledge is prioritising children’s meaning making in their own ways over
time, a notion with strong alignment to working theories. Clark promotes stronger
relationships and listening as being responsive to children’s interests, views, and
experiences found in her many studies, and notes that interactions have high levels
of dynamism and intensity when children are central to pedagogy in this way.
As all of these approaches, principles, and strategies might suggest, working with
children’s ideas and theorising is far from straightforward and requires close attu-
nement and a goal of intersubjectivity. A focus on working theories also has
dilemmas for teachers to resolve, for example, teacher Daniel’s reluctance to
document children’s working theories for fear of parental criticism of teachers
accepting flawed knowledge while children investigated and built understandings
incrementally (Hedges, 2011).
I think as a teaching profession we need to know that you can identify a
working theory, write a learning story about it and the working theory can be
completely wrong [conceptually] but you can feel comfortable. … [Name]
was trying to work out about her ears and why they were stiff and she ended
up saying they had bones in them and I left it at that actually and I didn’t start
talking about cartilage. … I wouldn’t want to write that because I would see
that as a slight on me that the parents would think “You’re not doing your
job. You haven’t taught them the right way.”
(p. 278)
Sally Peters and Keryn Davis (2011) also noticed that adults initially felt dis-
comfort about appearing to allow inaccuracies, but as they explored where and
how to extend or disrupt existing theories, they identified which pedagogical
approaches appeared most helpful in each situation. They also found that children’s
questions were often opening a conversation to share their own theorising rather
128 Working theories
than seeking information, so adults sometimes needed to listen carefully, and hold
back contributions to see what unfolded.
In contrast, Rochel Gelman and Kimberly Brenneman (2004) were clear that
not using conceptual language short-changes children.
The connectedness of concepts in the head and in the world implies that
learning experiences should be conceptually linked as well. The importance
of the language within a domain suggests that one should not “cheat” on
vocabulary; terms such as respiration, nutrients, and the concepts to which
they apply belong in the preschool classroom, both because children learn
words at an astonishing rate during these years and because proper voca-
bulary is part and parcel of conceptual growth. Children can begin to learn
the actual terms that refer to the concepts they explore.
(p. 152)
Perhaps if Daniel had used the word cartilage in responding to this child, in a
way that respected the child’s prior knowledge influencing her theory that ears
have bones, then the child’s knowledge might grow and future inquiry be
encouraged as well. Further, teachers might document such theories with careful
information for parents about the role of working theories as representing chil-
dren’s ways of learning and knowing.
There is also the issue of theories that appear to stall, or be rigid, rather than
fluid and developing. Daniel Lovatt (Lovatt & Hedges, 2015) identified six
teaching strategies he used during interactions and dialogue to provoke theory
disruption and further development: facilitating inquiry and focusing a con-
versation; summarising children’s ideas and thinking, adopting a tentative tone;
using open-ended questions to clarify thinking; presenting new information;
modelling inquiry and information-seeking approaches; and using resources.
The Vygotskian concept of mediation provided a theoretical foundation for
understanding this combination of strategies.
The foremost pedagogical goal is, then, not necessarily to steer learning
towards accurate conceptual knowledge development, or to modify actions that
arise from current understandings. The goal is to respect children’s interests and
inquiries, and engage in their theorising with them through fostering inquiry
and using conceptual language they will encounter again in the future. In this
way, children build knowledge relevant to their interests that they can act on.
Recursive processes of observation, participation, intellectual inquiry, and
meaning making motivate and enable children to continue their curiosity and
inquiry.
Children gradually transform their understandings collectively with adults and
peers, understandings—and related critical inquiry, imagination, actions, and
behaviours—that are continually modified within, and on, different occasions
over time. In this way, children are likely to be actively recontextualising their
everyday knowledge towards scientific knowledge through the mechanism of
Working theories 129
working theories (Hedges, 2012). The following example illustrates more
directly the way children’s information-seeking (i.e., knowledge-focused)
inquiry acts can be supported through the development of working theories as
a parallel pedagogical goal to respecting children’s interests.
Working theories about hearts, blood, and skin
Reflected in fundamental inquiry questions such as “How can I understand the
world I live in?”, “What can I do, now that I am bigger, that the older children
do?”, and “How can I develop my physical and emotional well-being?” children
are deeply interested in understanding their bodies, their capacities, and similarities
between humans and animals. These reflect capability development in bodily
health and integrity, and caring about and living with animals and the world of
nature (Nussbaum, 2011).
The following is an example of an inquiry where working theories and critical
thinking related to anatomy, physiology, and biology were most apparent, and the
pedagogical ideas used to help children inquire and theorise. This example illustrates
well Wells’ (1999) point that when an adult is in tune with children’s interests,
children can integrate new information with prior knowledge.
A group of 4-year-old peers developed an interest into exploring the similarities
and differences between humans’ and animals’ hearts, blood, and skin. Over a
period of several months, Daniel (teacher) engaged Hal, Isaac, Richard, and Zoe
(aged 4 years) in developing their knowledge building. The children shared their
prior knowledge, gained new information, and inquired further into this broad
topic together. One child’s working theories included “If your heart isn’t booming
you die.” Others disagreed: “Mine’s not booming and I’m not going to die”
(Lovatt, 2014, p. 30).
Demonstrating that curriculum and pedagogy go well beyond typical play
activities and can utilise community resources, Daniel’s first step was the introduc-
tion of an authentic stethoscope in the centre to enable children to listen to their
own hearts beating. The next steps took place outside the centre, first with a visit
to a nurse at the local medical centre to ask questions and learn how to use the
stethoscope properly. The nurse showed the children that the heart is a muscle that
pumps blood.
The interest and theories then took a related turn—to exploring blood in
humans, and then animals, and considering the properties of skin as an organ after
the nurse told the children that blood has properties that help heal superficial cuts
and wounds. Two further visits within walking distance of the centre occurred:
one to the local grocery store to look at meat for sale, and the other to the local
butcher—to test their thinking and theorising about whether or not animals had
hearts and blood like humans. These additions to the curriculum enabled Daniel to
sensitively challenge and develop children’s understandings as their theorising con-
tinued. During this inquiry, Daniel also encouraged them to look closely at their
own and their pets’ bodies and features.
130 Working theories
This example demonstrates that teachers need skills to engage with children’s
inquiries over time that do not impose conceptual knowledge per se, but need
some foundational subject matter knowledge themselves to guide children’s
inquiry, and build knowledge relevant to the inquiry. Using an inquiry approach
ought to be guided by appropriate knowledge to ensure that inquiries are mean-
ingful, and sustain children’s curiosity so that they can theorise, find their own
answers, and co-construct knowledge with teachers.
Content and knowledge building are developed through children’s interests so
that learning is meaningful rather than context-free (see also Krieg, 2011). While,
as noted earlier, there is now significant research on working theories, and much
wisdom in volumes on play and other research in early childhood education that
suggests the broad range of children’s topics of interest, an important next step is to
identify common interests to guide debates about teachers’ subject knowledge.
Future empirical research, in both local contexts and more broadly, can identify
patterns of children’s interests so that teachers are not expected to have an ency-
clopaedic mind, but can gain initial subject knowledge founded in children’s
interests to support children’s learning. This professional knowledge can be further
developed in specific teaching contexts where children’s particular family and
community experiences stimulate further interests.
Teachers also need discipline-specific skills of inquiry to guide, first, their own
new knowledge building to support children’s thirst for knowledge that happens on
occasion, second, children’s inquiries, and, third, to evaluate critically the content
presented to children (Krieg, 2010, 2011) from sources such as the internet. As noted
earlier in relation to inquiry as stance, this is not to necessarily steer children in
accurate directions per se, but to add thoughtful and appropriate complexity to
children’s ideas and thinking. The example of Daniel guiding children’s inquiry into
human and animal hearts, including through excursions outside the early childhood
setting, is a good example of using subject knowledge in relational pedagogy.
Summary
This chapter has offered a further interpretation of children’s interests, showing that
viewing children’s interests and inquiries as a basis for learning requires holistic and
flexible understandings of outcomes. Buzzelli (2015, 2018) applied capability
theory to assessment in early childhood, using learning dispositions as examples. I
have extended considerations of capability theory to working theories, an outcome
gaining attention internationally.
Working theories are children’s expressions of inquiry acts, representing chil-
dren’s ways of knowing and learning. They show ways children deal with their
everyday knowledge from life experience, and use this to evaluate new information
useful for further knowledge and action. Working theories also represent children’s
curiosity and efforts to connect understandings and experiences they are interested
in. These theories are provisional and exploratory, under continual improvement
until they serve children sufficiently well that they ignore further information
Working theories 131
offered in the meantime. Working theories are also evidence of children’s creativ-
ity, imagination, and agency.
Examples of children’s complex theories have been offered in relation to the
focus of capability theory on well-being. Working theories are evidence of the
nature and content of children’s interests. They require knowledgeable, patient,
and reflective teachers to engage with children’s theorising, and make efforts to inter-
pret these built on a solid foundation of relational pedagogy and related professional
knowledge.
Note
1 https://thebookwithnopictures.com
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8
(RE)POSITIONING TEACHERS’
INTERESTS IN CURRICULUM AND
PEDAGOGY
Introduction
Interests-based curriculum has been established as highly participative and inter-
pretive, requiring teachers to draw on a range of knowledge during planned and
spontaneous interactions with children. In keeping with the powerful relationship
between interests and informal learning, it is reliant on relational pedagogy to
empower children’s learning and foster holistic outcomes that accompany deep
interpretations of interests founded in funds of knowledge, inquiry, and funds of
identity.
As argued from the start of this book, children’s interests do not emerge from
thin air; they are sparked by their participation in family, community, and cultural
experiences, with people, places, and things. One particular community is the
children’s early childhood setting. Teacher knowledge and responsiveness to
empower children’s learning are important themes in previous chapters. Within the
literature on interests-based approaches, teachers’ own interests, the way these
might spark new interests in children, and the knowledge inherent in teacher
interests brought to pedagogical interactions, are largely invisible. Yet, teachers are
highly influenced by their personal knowledge and experiences when making
curricular and pedagogical decisions (see Hedges, 2012).
This chapter offers new insights, and an alternative argument to the allegiances to
child-centredness and learning through play that have dominated early childhood
curricula and pedagogy historically (Chapter 3). I briefly revisit these allegiances
before overviewing the limited literature to date that has incorporated teacher
interests in considerations of curriculum and pedagogy. I then present findings from a
re-analysis of data from four qualitative, interpretivist studies.
Teachers’ interests were often present in curriculum and pedagogy in these stu-
dies. Yet, in all cases, pedagogical documentation emphasised children’s learning,
DOI: 10.4324/9781003139881-8
(Re)Positioning teachers’ interests 135
subjugating the role teachers’ interests and knowledge played. While still placing
what matters to children as central, I argue that teachers might draw on,
acknowledge, and document their personal interests and related knowledge more
overtly in curriculum and pedagogy. These are valuable teacher assets that can
inspire and extend children’s learning.
I therefore make a case to (re)position teachers’ interests. As part of this posi-
tioning, in the second half of this chapter, I address the broader matter of teacher
professional knowledge, a topic that has perhaps suffered a similar fate to that of
children’s interests. As I noted in Chapter 1, everyone thinks they know what
interests comprise. Similarly perhaps, the association of early childhood teaching
with parenting and socialising children means many have strong views on what
teachers should know and do. Verity Campbell-Barr (2019a) notes that:
What I find strangely fascinating about early years professionalism is that it is a
profession that everyone thinks they can do or they at least assume to know
something about. The assumed knowledge and skills … are likely to be
derived from the fact that everyone has had a childhood and many people
have daily encounters with children.
(p. 107)
I discuss literature and debates about the components of early childhood teachers’
professional knowledge and implications for teacher identity. I argue for inclusion of
teachers’ interests, and explore current thinking about how professional knowledge is
drawn on in complex ways during teaching interactions.
Problematising an historical allegiance to child-centredness
Child-centredness as a term, like both interests and play, has suffered from
multiple taken-for-granted interpretations, leading to ambiguity and uncer-
tainty. Taken at surface value, it has commonly been interpreted as play and
learning that is child-initiated and interests-led in a curriculum that largely
comprised provision of a well-resourced, play-based environment. This framing
for play resourcing has been problematised in Chapter 3, and in Chapter 5
when children’s interests are understood as funds of knowledge that may not be
able to be represented in children’s play due to the influence of Western
ideologies on play provision.
Within a child-centred curriculum, teachers are positioned as observers, resource
providers, and facilitators. Such a child-centred positioning was at the expense of
considering complementary pedagogical framing and decision-making. The
accompanying mantra of “free play” has likely confused some teachers and dis-
couraged them from taking an active role in fostering children’s interests-based
learning in dynamic and ongoing interactions.
Child-centredness was located in a polarising relationship to teacher-centred
curricular provision typical of the dualistic oppositions in neoliberal and modernist
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