Tunnicliffe, SD; Bruguière, C; (2017) Growing Scientific Thinking with Fictional Picture Books: Questioning and Imagination in Early Years. In: Costa, MFPCM and Dorrío, BVJ, (eds.) Hands-on Science: Growing with Science. (pp. pp. 16-19). The Hands-on Science Network (HSCI)

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Abstract

Reading fictional picture books is a feature of early childhoods, with an adult or they look alone. In preschool and early years education such highly coloured illustrations are a feature of the story. These stories, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Fish is fish, or Tadpole’ promise, were not written and illustrated by their authors-illustrators / and authors and illustrators to inform about science but to tell an engaging story. However, they do introduce information related to the authentic science but inaccurate, and such are remembered by these early learners. Our innovatory work is about taking a more integrated science teaching approach with literature by using fictional storybooks in science classroom. We are exploring for the cultural trend of how primary curriculae can evolve with a development of a real scientific literacy through reading such books. The issue in scientific literacy is to ensure that the pupils acquire more than knowledge about the basic concepts in science but also a vision of how such knowledge relates to other events, why it is important and how this particular view of the world came to be. Scientific literacy involves a meaningful understanding of knowledge about the nature of science, scientific inquiry such as hypothesising and the major conceptual themes. It also enhances cognitive abilities, critical thinking to understand the big ideas of science and to be able to inform and persuade the others about these ideas The essence of such an approach is in the form of the teaching, how the books are used and the contribution (or intervention) by the adult and their own knowledge of the science portrayed. We consider the way in which the science information is elaborated from the point of view of the method being used to transmit such. The modes of language (reading, writing, talking) used in this process are also crucial. The potential that reading in an interactive manner of these colourfully illustrated fictional texts, with young pupils can offer in their scientific literacy development. While information books are often used in the science classrooms of older pupils, this is less the case with young pupils. However, the use of fictional texts and the reading of them is a feature. We are interested to ascertain in what conditions reading specific fictional storybooks that we called ‘realistic fiction’ storybooks might stimulate young children to engage in a scientific thinking manner of observations, evidence hypothesising as well as learning the form and usage of books. To what extend the teacher interventions during the reading allow the pupils to think for themselves about science aspects underlying these stories? How are the pupils able to put the sense of the story into their own words? How do their interpretation and their prediction about the story allow them to develop scientific thinking and imagination? We consider how we can attribute an epistemic aim to the reading of these ‘realistic fiction’. We show examples of a realistic fiction picture book Fish is Fish that reading with young children (4 - 5 years old) at nursery school. We present a taxonomy of the interventions of the teacher related with the development of children thinking. The issue is to allow the teachers to read realistic fiction storybooks with young children in order to develop a real scientific literacy and not only a merry image of the science (often inaccurate).

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