Let me set the scene. Imagine you are in Paris (aaaahhhh, Paris). You are in one of those gorgeous little street cafes and you have just pulled up a chair at our table. Sean Walker - a gifted early years teacher - and I are deep in conversation, sparked by my time spent in his classroom at the International School of Paris amidst a glorious project that involved, well…trains. I hope that you might read the following as if you are ‘listening in’ to that conversation - perhaps imagining what you might ask or share if you could join in. The truth is that Sean and I HAVE had many lively conversations about teaching (and about music but that’s another story) both in person and via whatsapp. What you are about to read is a reflection and extension of our dialogue. Hence my playful term ‘diablog’ … an unusual but I hope interesting blog post that we have been writing back and forth, for the last few weeks. So grab a chair and join us, tu veux un verre de vin? …
K Hi Sean! When I spent time in your classroom last year, I was immediately struck by the thoughtful, relaxed, independent and joyful learning environment you had created - I think you were only a few months into the school year. Before we talk about one project in particular, could you share a little about how you design for learning through play with your kindergarten children?
S I have learned how to look for and think “big picture”. It’s what I’m doing now to focus on your first question! I’m going to build a response around design and play. Design is actually one of the concepts we are inquiring into now in Kindergarten. The children have identified thinking, making, testing and changing as processes in design. Let me try those! I do a lot of thinking about the culture that I want to co-create with the children - a culture of thinking where we puzzle over ideas together, make sense of what confuses us, wonder about the unknown and play with possibilities. I think about how to get young children excited about learning and which routines and materials might motivate them. With the classroom assistant, we test ideas out, continually monitoring individuals, groups and the class as a whole to see the types and levels of engagement, thinking and interactions. Changes are made as a result of being reflective practitioners. Culture is built around a set of shared beliefs and values, so relationships are key. Trust takes time to build, but I am fully aware that my daily interactions with children convey so much about what is important. I try to model curiosity, playfulness, kindness and connection to others in what I do.
K And you most definitely do model those things - I have seen it first hand. I think the point you make here is so vital. We can be highly intentional, we can think about how we design experiences and curate the environment, etc. but the key for this kind of rich, agentic, thoughtful culture really lies with the manner in which we engage with children (which of course is influenced by how we ‘see’ them - by the image of the child we choose to hold. That is fundamental to a play-based context.
S Play is interpreted so differently by so many.To ensure that I am explicit in planning for play, I take a strong stand about what play means to me, so I can be intentional in the choices I make. Kindergarten have time to play inside and outside every day. Play is initiated by the children and is self-directed. It is the child who is actively exploring, making choices and playing with possibilities. I understand that there are different types of play and I try to make sure there are resources available to support different play types, especially the use of open-ended materials (loose parts). I try hard to listen carefully to what children talk about throughout their day to get a sense of what’s really on their mind - their connections, their feelings, their experiences, their theories and their questions. I spend time reflecting on these to see what patterns emerge to form potential “big pictures”. Then I find myself wondering about how best to respond to these observations.
K That is interesting. I often think about the kind of internal ‘dance’ we do with our thinking as children engage in play. I feel like my mind moves back and forward between the immediate and often very specific focus the child or children are engaged with - be it building towers, designing clothes for dolls, experimenting with an art medium, etc. and the bigger picture this is linked with. This kind of conceptual thinking is so fascinating. We are asking ourselves ‘what concepts live in this project?’ I remember that one of the projects that really stood out when I was in your room, was based around the construction of a train. This is not an uncommon choice for groups of children of this age - especially well-travelled children like those in international schools. Can you explain how this project first emerged and why you chose to support and nurture it the way you did?
S As part of our first unit of inquiry, we were exploring the concepts of play, learning and curiosity. To spark children’s curiosity (and thinking ahead to our second unit of inquiry on structures), we visited France Miniature. The children enjoyed seeing castles, towers and monuments in miniature form, but the energy level and excitement completely changed every 6-7 minutes as a train from the working model railway whistled past and silenced my carefully crafted questions about scale, architecture and history! Eyes lit up each time the train passed, and then scanned the park in anticipation of when and where the next train would come from. These were more than sparks of curiosity, so with a commitment to the values outlined in the last question, how could I not support the children’s interests?
K Another wonderful example of having to be incredibly open-minded and flexible to allow ourselves to let go of what we had anticipated would happen and to lean into what is actually happening! So much of this is about noticing, isn’t it? It is learning how, as an educator, to really notice what is ‘catching’ the children’s interest. And then it becomes a matter of figuring out how to harness and extend that energy through materials, questioning, etc.
S There are many useful strategies, tools and models to guide the process of inquiry, but without the energy that children and adults bring to learning, it might feel quite “formulaic”. The energy that playfulness, curiosity and authenticity ignite to foster a culture of inquiry is unmistakable. The synergy in a learning space when sparks of wonder, doubt, discovery, theory and confusion collide from both adults and children is boundless. Perhaps we can think of it as the difference between “acting” as an inquirer and “being” an inquirer. Of course, there are questions we might plan in advance, but the most compelling parts for me are those unscripted moments of being genuinely intrigued, puzzled or surprised.
K So how is that project coming along? What opportunities for inquiry are you seeing or supporting? Have other concepts been developed through this experience?
S What’s fascinating is that four months after your visit, Kath, the inquiry is still evolving. It hasn't run out of steam at all! At different times, it may be slower or faster and it sometimes accelerates at unexpected times! The key is that the drivers of the inquiry are the children, and not me! The children are “on track” as they remain curious and motivated about where their play and inquiries might take them. Coincidentally (or not?), the origin of the word ‘train’ is the Latin word ‘trahere’ meaning to pull or to draw! It’s wonderful to see how many different directions the inquiry has been pulled in so far and the range of concepts that have been explored and ‘drawn’’ from the train.
One day, some of the children decided to eat their snack in the train!
K Oh I love that! Isn’t it fascinating the way etymology can help us take our thinking deeper about a particular idea? Inquiries that sustain children’s engagement over time are indeed those that continue to ‘pull or draw’ them in - and often attract new members to the group.
S Absolutely! Just today, the children’s play transitioned from transformative play (where materials were combined to make something new) to dramatic play. The children created tickets for the train they had been building, and for the first time, a different group of children joined to role play a train ride, complete with the use of loose parts to symbolise the snacks that were on sale.
Anyone for snacks?
S But let me take you back to what happened after the field trip…Some children chose to build a train from a cardboard box. The train remained as a single carriage and one box for many weeks as the children developed narratives about their fantasy high speed rainbow train that fought off sea monsters, alongside dialogue about many features of trains such as tracks, tunnels and lights. The concrete structure of their train transported them between the real and imaginary worlds in a very organic way. As the children built their train, there was also an inquiry into structures, the design process and materials and their affordances as part of the new unit of inquiry. The class was invited to explore many different materials and to think about the connections between properties and uses. While other children constructed bridges, towers and castles, these particular children often applied the processes of design, exploration and experimentation in making choices about their train.
K Ah - so while the train project was happening with one group, there were several other projects happening that helped create a conceptual thread across the class? I note the way you used the phrase ‘the class was invited…’ which goes to the role of the educator here. Seeing opportunities, seeing the conceptual threads and opening up possibilities and opportunities to extend and connect inquiries. Invitations are more than the way we curate materials - they are captured in our questions and gentle suggestions. Anyway, back to the trains!
S. I then asked the librarian for non-fiction books about trains. The children naturally gravitated towards the photographs, recounting personal experiences of times they had been on trains, and expressing their delight and intrigue in seeing different trains and their features. They chose to use these books as they were building their train, often noticing details they might use themselves, or for general inspiration. Concepts they showed particular interest in were speed, distance, time and place. The books that were used in the children’s play were soon requested to be read aloud to the class. I also offered different maps of places and train routes (from the Metro in Paris to the Underground in London to networks of train lines between countries). Each week, something the children noticed from the texts made its way back into their play. For example, using sliding polystyrene pieces to countdown the hours and minutes until the train arrived at its destination.
K I want to put that phrase ‘something they noticed from the text made its way back into play’ in flashing lights!! The artful selection of texts (both fiction and non fiction) can add such richness to the play. Of course engaging with texts is one of the ways we position the child as researcher - what can these books tell us? But this is happening more organically. A seamless integration.
S. Coincidentally (or not?) the day we got to the page about the Eurostar train, Kath, you were on your way to London from Paris on the Eurostar and we had been texting that morning. Sharing your messages with the class was so thrilling for the children as you were there experiencing first-hand what we were looking at in photographs. As they imagined themselves on board the Eurostar, a question that they really grappled with was “How do we build tunnels underwater?” The children had plenty of theories to share, and we then thought about how we might find out. Linked to their interest in speed and place, they also wondered, “Are bullet trains in other places outside of Japan?”
K That question about building tunnels underwater is something I ask myself every time I am on that train!! I find myself theorizing too…and I have not actually ever taken the next step of finding out but I actually love ‘playing’ with my thinking about it.
S.I wouldn’t say trains were a particular interest or area of expertise for me. If it were music, it would be a different story!
K I find this question of teacher knowledge such an interesting one because I believe two competing ideas at once. Some of the best inquiries I have seen or engaged in are those where the educators are genuinely learning alongside the children - their content knowledge is minimal so they are modeling what it really looks like to want to find out and to be delighted in discovery. But I ALSO find it incredibly powerful when there is an inquiry that does link to an area in which I have expertise. Not because I can then answer all their questions but because I ask better ones. I can probe, nudge and invite stronger conceptual connections. Like so many aspects of our work - it’s not one or other, it’s both. And not knowing content doesn’t mean we don’t know concepts.
S. Yes - the thinking is far beyond the “limits” of trains. The big ideas being explored are rich and limitless. They allow for and provoke inquiry, and I find myself caught up in genuine awe, wonder, doubt and uncertainty, excited to venture into the unknown and learn more. It has also been a very practical way to connect our own life experiences to learning in the classroom. We shared stories about the train journeys we had been on during the holidays, getting to school and weekends I had in London. One day, I showed the children my Eurostar ticket which prompted the most amazing inquiry into the use of numbers. (Seat numbers, carriage numbers, train numbers, 24 hour time and elapsed time!). These mathematical ideas were drawn out of the children’s play. Sometimes, the children pulled and applied mathematical ideas from contexts initially not connected to trains. These links to mathematics make me think about your interactions with a few of the children and the role of language. It would be great to hear you share what happened in your own words.
After learning about length and a metre, the children chose to measure their train and solve the problem of how to measure something that was longer than 1 metre!
K. That was such a beautiful opportunity for me - spending time with your young learners! I sat and listened to them for a while, and asked them all about what they were doing. There was such richness in their language (and for most children English is their second or third language) that it activated my passion for ‘language experience’. Using the voice to text app on my phone, I recorded the children’s explanations about their process and I think I suggested that their ideas would potentially make for a great book that others could benefit from. We re-read the text together and they added some more and then I sent it to you later with a message for them. The fact I had discussed the writing of ‘Winsome’ with them earlier and talked about being an author helped - like we were having an author-to-author moment. It was such a thrill to then get those beautiful Whatsapp messages and videos from the children reading their book to me. It felt so authentic and I hope gave them a strong sense of audience for their writing.
S It certainly did, but far beyond that one moment in time with that one particular group. The children read aloud their trains book to their parents using an online platform and then to the class. Showcasing themselves as authors inspired other children to write their own books, including one group who invented their own language! The trains group wanted to write a second book. They chose to write an instructional text, sequencing the steps of constructing a train. They included steps they had not yet taken, and then used their second published book as a plan for their construction each day. As well as considering how play might enhance language, I have found it so purposeful to consider how language might enhance play. It felt a crime to be talking, reading and writing about trains and not see a real working train! We walked to a nearby Metro station and spent time observing the station and the trains. The concept of symbols was powerful to connect much of our thinking. We noticed so many symbols around the station, on information boards and on maps. Just last week, we chose to take the Metro instead of the school bus to go on a PE field trip. What might be considered mundane or inconvenient by some, the journey triggered so many insightful observations and thoughtful questions.
K. Oh I wish there was more of this! In my early teaching days (technically, I could have taught YOU Sean - how scary is that!) we had a lot of flexibility to go outside the school more or less on a whim. To take a walk around the block, head to the local library etc. That kind of spontaneity has a lot going for it. Regardless, we all need to remind ourselves that lived, direct, real experiences have such enormous benefits for learning. And, as you say, even a simple thing like a visit to the train station, the local supermarket or a walk around the block can be transformative when we are engaged as inquirers - making the everyday new again or seeing it through different eyes. And of course these real experiences then find their way back into play - play being a vehicle for making sense of experience.
S.Yes! “Paris as a classroom” is a tagline for our school! Play is so often the perfect catalyst for inquiry through which children’s curiosity is revealed in such a natural way. These stories about trains so far were all very spontaneous and in response to experiences, interests and materials in the past few months. Two weeks ago, I was curious about what the children might be interested in finding out more about beyond what I had noticed in their play. So, how did I find out? I sat on the floor as they were using loose parts to add features to their train (paperclips for the lightswitch, a piece from a marble chute for the loudspeaker and added cardboard boxes for additional carriages) and asked, “What else would you like to explore and find out about?” It was an invitation without expectation. Two of the children started to ask about how engines were made. This led to children sharing their theories and thinking about how we could find out. We have started to look at images and text in books, and the children suggested we find videos, too. Coincidentally (or not?), a child’s family member works with engines and the children have developed a set of questions to conduct an interview. It is so important that children at this young age are exposed to many different sources and ways of finding out as they engage in the process of inquiry and develop important skills.
K Absolutely. I am often asked about the relationship between inquiry and play and I find it endlessly fascinating to ponder. In the most simple of terms I would argue that play is often inquiry in its purest form. Children are figuring things out, there is a lot of trial and error, a lot of discovery, a lot of re-visiting and refining … all the elements we associate with inquiry. And then, woven into that can be the more ‘formal’ methods of research - reading a book, talking to someone with expertise, watching videos … this more intentional ‘finding out’ brings children into a cycle of investigating and meaning making but in a very organic and emergent way. It both arises from and feeds the ongoing play.
S This makes me think of destinations, time and distances. Children’s play and inquiries can travel long or short distances and can vary considerably in time. Sometimes the destinations are clear from the beginning, but sometimes emerge on the journey. The journeys may lead to new places, never been to before, or return to places based on needs or wants, and perhaps for some, simply to enjoy the ride!
The children decided that the train needed a train station. They chose the classroom, and created a map to show the destinations of the train.
K At the risk of making this the longest blog post in history, can I ask the question I think several readers will be asking: How does all this work within your curriculum/programme of inquiry, etc? I know you are a PYP school - so, how do you document this or even ‘justify’ it when there are particular expectations - at least to attend to the transdisciplinary themes across a year?
S. Let me circle back to where we started - big ideas! I think if schools have a shared vision about curriculum which includes the how (not just the what) and centres on learning and learners (and not just the teaching), we can work towards common goals and outcomes. We have a commitment to play, playful learning and inquiry and share with parents the skills and dispositions that these approaches cultivate. Our units of inquiry are intentionally framed around BIG concepts which allow for transdisciplinary explorations of many kinds. Some concepts may be considered more knowledge-based such as structures, imagination, nature and responsibility; others are more process-based such as curiosity, play, learning, choices, creativity and observation. Typically, the generalisations we are striving to help children develop an understanding of have a combination of knowledge-based and process-based concepts. These generalisations are called central ideas in a PYP school. Because of their open-ended and abstract nature, they naturally invite play and inquiry. Connections are also easily made between units of inquiry so children’s play choices and wonderings typically find a transdisciplinary theme(s) to journey through. As you often say, Kath, knowing your curriculum is vital! Specifically for this exploration on trains, the children were making connections to ‘Who we are’ (play and curiosity as elements of what it means to be human), ‘How the world works’ (how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; forces; structures) and ‘How we express ourselves’ (expression and imagination). In terms of disciplines, children were speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing and presenting as language learners. In mathematics, children extended their understanding of number, measurement and shape and space. In science, inquiries were linked to materials and their properties and forces. Beyond the disciplines, the AtLs (Approaches to learning) that were developed include aspects of communication, research, thinking, social and self-management skills. Children’s thinking is documented in many ways. Their theories, wonderings and connections (using the children’s exact words) are scribed in Google slides, alongside photographs or videos, and often shared back with the children as trains of thought. We monitor children’s learning through careful listening, and depending on the evidence we are looking for, the tools may change. For example, we develop templates to record our observations and children’s responses to questions asked during conferencing with clear criteria related to conceptual understanding. We also use 1-point rubrics to document evidence seen and heard related to the AtLs (Approaches to Learning). Learning walls are also used in the classroom to help make children’s thinking visible.This documentation can serve many purposes and audiences. It helps to look back and see where ‘the train’ has been and then make informed decisions based on evidence about where it might go next!
K I love the way trains have become such a metaphor for the work we do as inquiry based educators … following trains of thought, the ‘pull’ of certain interests, the way an inquiry is a journey with multiple pauses (stopping at stations) and new directions. I am imagining the idea of a “program of inquiry’‘ being much less like isolated, single tracks running in parallel and much more like a rail network of interconnecting concepts. I think this emergent, interconnected weaving of our intentions, children’s curiosities, curriculum expectations and community offerings - all finding a meeting point through play - is just so powerful. The question I am left with - not only from this time spent in dialogue with you but one that often rises up for me in great early years settings, is: how can we continue the essence of this emergent approach as children move through school? How can we bring a more playful and responsive stance to our work with older children? I see it in pockets, of course, but I’d love to see more of it.
K. Sean - THANK YOU for this conversation. The waiters are sweeping the floor and putting chairs on tables - and they are looking at us in a way that suggests it is time to! If my readers have managed to stay with us at the table - if they have sustained their focus during this lengthy diablog, I KNOW they will have learned so much from your thoughtful responses.
Merci et au revoir, à la prochaine
Now. IF YOU (dear reader) were at the table, what would you add? What would you ask?
Just wondering …
Kath