Greerton Early Childhood Centre

Greerton Early Childhood Centre Infants and Toddlers is an education and care centre located in Tauranga.

Innovation

Teaching children to ask questions (domains of knowledge) – The use of children 'question asking' and 'question exploring' to generate working theories. This includes communicating with pre-verbal infants and toddlers by reading the body and sign languages with which pre-verbal children express their curiosity and their developing understandings about the world.

Centres of Innovation (COI) research

Main research question:

• The Greerton COI team asked: How does a ‘question asking’ and ‘question exploring’ culture support children to develop working theories to shape and re-shape knowledge for a purpose?

Sub questions included exploring:

• What kinds of questions babies ask and what kinds of working theories they develop?
• How can teachers better respond to babies in their research endeavours?
• Does the image of the child as ‘researcher’ enhance their ability to shape knowledge and act as planners of their learning?

COI tenure

Calendar years 2006/2007/2008 (Round three).

COI research associates

Wendy Lee (Email: wendy.lee@xtra.co.nz)
Margaret Carr (Email: margcarr@waikato.ac.nz)

COI Final Report

Negotiations are currently underway to publish a book drawing on their COI findings.  For more information please contact Lorraine Sands at greertonecc@xtra.co.nz

For information regarding the unpublished final COI report to the Ministry of Education please contact Lyn.Wright@minedu.govt.nz

Service location

1 Emmett Street, Tauranga, New Zealand.

Visitors

Greerton Early Childhood Centre completed its Centre of Innovation contract on 31 December 2008 and is no longer resourced to accommodate visitors.

Contact details

Contact person: Lorraine Sands
Postal address: 1 Emmett Street, Tauranga, New Zealand
Telephone: 07 578 8048
Email: greertoninfants.toddlers@xtra.co.nz or greertonecc@xtra.co.nz