Helen Hedges

Early Childhood Communities of Inquiry: Children's and Teachers' Knowledge and Interests Helen Hedges

Early childhood curriculum and pedagogy are complex. Although children's interests are a common source of early childhood curriculum, little literature exists that has researched the nature of children?s interests, nor how teachers recognise and use these to co-construct curriculum. In addition, the highly participative, interpretive and intuitive nature of early childhood teaching means many kinds of evidence inform teachers? professional knowledge. This book provides some insights into these matters of value to teachers, researchers and policy makers. An interpretation of children's interests, from a sociocultural perspective, requires a more analytical understanding of children's and teachers? knowledge, experiences and interests. Further, participatory learning enables children and teachers to co-create a foundation for conceptual learning. Two inquiry continua and one model are offered to incorporate key theoretical ideas and arguments. Using communities of inquiry as an approach has the potential to transform early childhood learning-and-teaching environments.