Science Education over 40 Years

Abstract

Forty years of scholarly thinking has been documented in the Australian Pre-School Quarterly (APQ) and the Australian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC). Has our thinking changed over the years? Have readers been usefully informed about developments in early childhood pedagogy? This paper provides an analysis of all published papers in early childhood science education in these journals as they relate to the broader literature in science education published elsewhere. Including science education in the early childhood curriculum has challenged early childhood pedagogy and raised many confronting questions about accepted practices. This analysis is revealing and demonstrates the tensions and struggles found in situating science education within an early childhood curriculum.