The challenge of doing inquiry science in the early years

Abstract

Inquiry-based learning science is being promoted at primary level across Europe. Storytelling has also been explored as a means to introduce problems and questions to a science investigation. The aim of this dissertation was to develop a pedagogy where a number of lesson plans (4 lessons) and a related story book (with 4 stories) were created to support teachers in inquiry science. These were implemented by three teachers who tried them out with their year two classes. Feedback on the activities was obtained through interviews conducted with both the teachers and the children after the lessons. All the lessons were observed by the researcher. The feedback showed that the children enjoyed the activities and were engaged, learnt science content and interacted with the big book used. The teachers felt that they were able to act as role models for the children during the lesson but did experience some challenges. The main challenge encountered by the teacher while doing science inquiry was that they were too much concerned about the children getting the correct answer which is not the main scope of inquiry. They consequently placed less emphasis on the acquisition of inquiry skills. The study shows that teachers need practice, time and reflection to eventually become successful inquiry teachers.