Building STEM Interest through Play
I believe that interests are the signs and symptoms of growing power. I believe that they represent dawning capacities. Accordingly the constant and careful observation of interests is of the utmost importance for the educator (Dewey, 1897).
The observation that students' interests play a key role in the formation of pedagogy is one that Early Years' educators are intuitively familiar with, as curriculum documents, governmental reports, and other policy texts that regulate Kindergarten programs articulate these visions (Touhill, 2012). While the term "interests" is used vociferously in these texts and in the broader historical catalogue of pedagogical investigation (see Dewey's Pedagogic Creed, 1897), little context is provided to it other than anecdotal or circumstantial reference, and thus leaves readers the onus of interpreting its experiential meaning and addressing the question of what to do with it once explicated.
In an archival museum dedicated to the work of Frances and David Hawkins (2019), an exhibit entitled "Cultivate the Scientist in Every Child: The Philosophy of Frances and David Hawkins" illustrates four of this couple's central ideas, using descriptions and photos of actual student projects. These four ideas are coupled to form a pedagogical approach that works to breathe life into scientific thinking in ways that are accessible, interesting, and provocative to Early Learners.
Eolithism: This term, originally coined by American engineer-novelist Hans Storm, refers to the practice of "engaging existing resources and interests as the starting point for learning experiences" (Hawkins, 2018, p. 1). An eolith is, adds Hawkins (2018), "literally a piece of junk remaining from the Stone Age" (p. 2), so the purpose of using it becomes an issue for workmanship. No design set in advance (e.g., curriculum, protocols of practice) can exhaust the possibilities inherent in the tool, so the user draws upon her/his own imagination, experience, and orientation with the world to further construct purpose with and for the tool, and in the process shaping and customizing the tool while simultaneously advancing his or her interests accordingly.
Messing about: Most early childhood educators will tell you that the ways children explore materials are not only important windows into their learning, but also that the particular ways children engage and form relationships with materials is worthy of close study. “Messing About” provides a way to conceptualize, understand, observe, and interpret children’s work as they explore materials. Hawkins proposed this as a cyclical system to guide teachers’ understandings after spending time observing young children’s explorations with science materials (Hawkins, 2002).
Phase O: a time for unstructured, open-ended play while teachers observe the children’s work;
Phase Δ: a time for differentiating work by identifying and pursuing multiple possibilities based on observations;
Phase ▢: a time for unpacking and verbalizing theories that have developed, through discussion among children and teachers.
The phases of learning can be cycled through on a micro-level, in which we examine the ways the individual moves through all three phases in one short-term experience; or on a macro-level, in which we examine the ways the individual or group shifts from phase to phase over a longer period of time [e.g., infants spend much of their time in explorative work (O phase) while older children spend more energy developing goals (Δ phase) and reflecting on their work (▢ phase)].
I, Thou, It: The relationship between the educator (I) and learner (thou) is mediated through the world or environment (It) in which such a relationship can exist. Hawkins believed that without an acknowledgement of context in something of interest (It) between both the educator and learner, the vitality of teaching and learning becomes eroded and eventually education ceases in such relationship. "The function of the teacher, then, is to respond diagnostically and helpfully to a child's behavior, to make what he considers to be an appropriate response, a response which the child needs to complete the process he's engaged in at a given moment" (Hawkins, 1974, p. 53). Accordingly, the teacher operates as a facilitator in the pedagogical relationship so long as the students' interest in the task is maintained, and therefore s/he works to prompt, urge, or encourage the learner to make use of the object, tool, or manipulative in ways that promote its further usage in the given task.
Teacher as Learner: The role of the teacher is not a passive agent in the three phases or processes of messing about; rather, it is active and assumes the character of a facilitator - someone who acquires knowledge of the subject matter mainly through observation of students' engagements, so they can make tailored suggestions, offer customized ideas and ask relevant questions to provoke learners along the way. This performativity models what it is like to be a scientist-in-action, as the teacher collects data, reflects on such collection at the same time as s/he is observing, and then recommends further action with the student to further engagement and interest with the object and task.
Scenario example: Building STEM thinking through Messing About!
MAGIC RAINBOW TOOTHPICK STARS
To set up this STEM provocation, you will need the following materials:
Toothpicks (we used colored ones but plain would work too)
A plate
A dropper (a straw works too)
Water
A picture (see display above) presented on the table as a way to stimulate STEM thinking but not showing how to solve this perceived mystery
Phase O: a time for unstructured, open-ended play while teachers observe the children’s work;
In this phase of the STEM activity, encourage students gathered to explore the various materials presented on the table and to consider the picture. While observing children take interest in the provocation, stimulate further thinking by asking a series of open-ended questions. For example:
What do you notice in the two pictures?
How might the scientist set up this experiment?
How might you use the dropper?
How might you turn the straight toothpick into the form you see in the picture?
How might you arrange the dry toothpicks to form your star?
Phase Δ: a time for differentiating work by identifying and pursuing multiple possibilities based on observations;
In this phase of the STEM inquiry, as a teacher-learner and facilitator the students would have had some time to demonstrate their engagement with the materials (Eoliths). Some questions to consider include:
Do the students appear able to problem-solve the experiment into steps?
Are the students able to independently figure out how to transform the linear toothpick into five perpendicular parts?
Are the students able to independently arrange the five perpendicular sides into the shape of a star?
Have the students shown evidence of hypothesizing the role of water, the water dropper in forming the shape of the star?
Pedagogical interventions would proceed based on observations of student performance and continued engagement in the task. The key in this phase is not to quash student interest or amplify feelings of helplessness or anxiety over not being able to figure out the mystery right away.
Phase ▢: a time for unpacking and verbalizing theories that have developed, through discussion among children and teachers.
In this phase of the STEM inquiry, the teacher (I) and learner (Thou) become focused on how and why the toothpicks (It) behave the way they do under conditions of the water infusion. Children verbalize their ideas about what they see and how change occurs through placing water in the centre of the star. Some questions to prompt learner reflections may include:
Do students point towards or refer to different parts of the toothpicks in their explanations?
Have the students described in their own words the features of the wood in different phases of the inquiry - e.g., dry/wet, straight/bent, contract/expand?
Do the students want to capture their observations through illustrations, photography, video-taping, written explanations, or other forms of documentation?
What do students theorize about ways to make this principle practical in their every-day lives? What applications do students forsee?
Theory behind the magic star:
The water is absorbed into the wood fibers due to capillary action. Capillaries are tiny hollow tubes within plants, like the trees that the toothpicks are made from.
Capillary action, the ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces against gravity, occurs in plants because water is attracted to the sides of the tiny straw-like capillaries (xylem).
As the water molecules move into the xylem, they pull additional water molecules with them because water molecules are “sticky”. This process is called cohesion and occurs because water molecules are polar, they have a slight positive charge on one side and a negative charge on the other.
Share key scientific terms when the teacher explains the process - note students' usage of these terms in their developing vocabulary.
Record student vocabulary
Encourage students to illustrate their knowledge and label parts