Thesis
“I’ll need my magnifying glass” : facilitating young children’s critical thinking skills and dispositions in the context of (designed) detective mystery play
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2023
- Thesis identifier
- T16631
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 201686555
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- This thesis explores young children’s critical thinking (skills and dispositions) in the context of detective role play and investigates ways to facilitate it. A review of the literature showed that extensive work has been done in relation to the conceptualisation of critical thinking and instruction; however, the majority of this is focused on adults and young people. Despite acknowledging the importance of developing critical thinking in education, little research has been done in the context of the early years. This thesis, therefore, examines what 5-6-year-old children’s critical thinking looks like and the benefits and constraints of four specifically designed detective play experiences, adopting an ethical and rights-based approach to research with young children. This qualitative multiple-case study is grounded in play-based pedagogy and learning within a social constructivist theory. It is influenced by Dewey’s theory of experiential education and maintains an early years teacher–researcher perspective throughout. The study consists of four exploratory cases focusing on semi-structured mystery play experiences. A total of 24 children aged 5 to 6 years participated. Child-centred and pedagogically appropriate methods and tools were used to facilitate the voice and visualisation of young children’s critical thinking across these four scenarios. Conducting observations (direct and video recorded) was found to be effective in capturing the different ways young children expressed their thinking. These observations were analysed using a thematic analysis approach targeting Critical Thinking Moments. The findings show that engaging in investigative collaborative enquiry, dazzling children’s curiosity and interest, empowering children, listening to and acknowledging children’s thinking, and guiding and scaffolding were useful for facilitating critical thinking skills and dispositions. In addition, the consideration of design elements, such as the degree of structure, open-endedness, and content knowledge dependency, was found to be important for creating productive spaces for facilitating the thinking of young children. For example, an open approach to a task might be beneficial for an open-natured exploration of critical thinking, while a more structured and adult-controlled design might be more effective for facilitating and developing specific skills or dispositions. This study provides recommendations and implications for early years teachers, researchers, and policy makers.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Arnott, Lorna
- Wall, Kate
- Resource Type
- DOI
Relations
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PDF of thesis T16631 | 2023-06-20 | Public | Download |