Childrens Interests, Inquiries and Identities

Childrens curiosity about their lives and worlds motivates many interests. Yet, adults often have fixed ideas about what childrens interests are and have been criticised for trivialising childrens interests. This book offers a critical and accessible engagement with research on childrens interests that challenges us to move beyond surface-level understandings. Childrens Interests, Inquiries and Identities argues that the powerful relationship between interests and informal learning has been under-recognised and undervalued. The book proposes new principles for understanding childrens learning. It provides evidence that we need to look beyond the activities or topics children may currently be selecting to find out who and what has stimulated their interests, how we might identify and interpret interests more analytically and deeply, and how we might respond and engage with these in ways that take childrens interests seriously. Moving beyond play-based activities, Helen Hedges explains and illustrates a number of ways by which childrens interests can be interpreted and understood, to get to the heart of what really matters to, and for, children. The book draws on examples from research with children aged under 5 years, and young adults aged 18-25. It also includes a chapter on teachers interests. It presents new and original models for interests-based curriculum and sociocultural curriculum and pedagogy for future examination in research and practice. This book demonstrates that leaving behind long-standing, taken-for-granted practices that have influenced understandings of curriculum, pedagogy, learning, and outcomes allows a new perspective of childrens interests to emerge. It will be of interest to researchers, postgraduate students, and practitioners in the early years, parents, and other professionals who work with young children.