Researchers: , and Vanessa Paki
Project Dates: 2010 - 2012
Partnerships, Researchers: Tai Tamariki (Te Papa)
This project was a two-year project in partnership with Tai Tamariki, an education and care centre under the auspices of the Wellington Region Free Kindergarten Association. The centre opened in June 2010 and is housed downstairs in the building of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. A key focus of the project is researching the ways in which 鈥榝unds of knowledge鈥� (embedded in the museum鈥檚 collections) might be woven together with 鈥榝unds of disposition鈥� (especially curiosity). The notion funds of disposition was developed during an earlier TLRI project in partnership with nine early childhood centres, co-directed by Margaret Carr and entitled 鈥楲earning Wisdom鈥�. Learning dispositions in the early years were also the subject of a Marsden Fund project in a partnership between WMIER and the University of Otago (Carr et al., 2009).
The research will explore how funds of knowledge (a notion borrowed from the literature) can develop from the children鈥檚 interactions with the artifacts and collections at Te Papa and in what ways these interactions also provide a context for curiosity. We hypothesise that curiosity in the early years is characterised by sustained attention, exploration, dialogue and interest and that knowledge and disposition come together in experiences of 鈥榖eing a scientist鈥�, 鈥榖eing a social scientist鈥�, or 鈥榖eing an artist鈥�. Colleagues from Deakin University in Melbourne are advisers to the project. We will write case studies of these interactions with artifacts and collections as the project progresses.
Project outputs
Clarken-Phillips, J., Carr, M., Paki, V. (2012) Our place: Being curious at Te Papa. Wellington. Teaching Learning Research Initiative. (PDF - 887.31KB)
Carr, M., Smith, A.B., Duncan, J., Jones, C., Marshall, K & Lee, W. (2010) Learning in the Making: disposition and design in early education. Rotterdam: Sense.
Publications
2012
Clarkin-Phillips, J., Paki, V., Fruean, L., Armstrong, G. and Crowe, N. (2012). Exploring te ao M膩ori: The role of museums. Early Childhood Folio, 16(1), 10-14.