Jill Bean's Introduction

I teach Kindergarten at Lansdowne Friends School.  I have experience working with kids from 3 years old to entering ninth grade, have mostly concentrated on the younger grades (K-2).  I am passionate about teaching and am highly invested in my students and their development.  I developed this blog as part of the Brain and Behavior 2009 Summer Institute and the Inquiry Institute 2009. 

I tend to view science as a way of learning, rather than a content.  Scientific learning occurs continously and throughout our lives; it is how we make meaning of our world.  I think that science education at the elementary level should focus on the process of science: teaching how to create stories, make observations, revise their stories, think critically, etc.  The "science content" merely provides the context within which this instruction occurs.

I think the most pressing obstacles that I face when teaching inquiry science are

• lack of money and resources:  In order to engage my students in the types of rich and deep activities that I think would most benefit them, I would need to have access to wide range of materials. 
• parenting styles and beliefs:  I often have to spend as much time and effort (if not more) educating the families of my students about inquiry and valuing the process more than the "right anwer".

Brain and Behavior Project:

I am now exploring musings on Play, Emergence, and Self-Regulation.