EDUCATIONAL APPROACH OF THE “Little Scientist´s House” FOUNDATION
Every child should be given the opportunity to discover their preferences, interests and talents in natural sciences and technology. The “Little Scientist´s House” foundation would like to contribute to this with its educational approach and further training offer to educational professionals.
The offers of the “Little Scientist´s House” association are aimed at the development of a positive attitude towards natural sciences and technology, which is influenced by fun, enjoyment, curiosity and enthusiasm and the overall competence development of children.
Curiosity and enthusiasm as the gateway to natural sciences and technology
The “Little Scientist´s House” foundation understands curiosity and enthusiasm as they key to a positive access to natural sciences and technology. This applies to both children and adults alike. Most children have a natural interest in natural science subjects, which is driven by curiosity and free from prejudices. In our workshops, we would like to offer teachers opportunities to encourage this natural interest in a way that is appropriate for children.
Children and teachers design the learning process together (co-construction)
We see education as a social process. Co-construction means that children learn by working together with others, but also by individual exploration and shared reflection. In principle, learning processes should be “constructed” by both children and professional teaching staff. The aims of co-constructive education processes are:
- · Develop new contents together
- · Get to know different perspectives
- · Solve problems together with others
- · Broaden the present horizon of understanding
- · Exchange ideas
In a very special way, these aims are associated with the development of the children’s learning competence. The joint development of educational processes makes it possible for the children to learn about what they are learning and how. This happens by dealing with one’s own cognitive processes (thoughts, opinions, attitudes etc.), i.e. the knowledge of a learning person about their knowledge, their newly gained findings and the journey there. The development of these skills is also known as meta-cognition.
Promotion of basic competences
It is not only the curiosity and enthusiasm about natural sciences and technological phenomena that can be encouraged by experimenting, but also an array of further basic competences that children require later on in life. For example, these include learning competence, language competence, social competence and fine motor skills.
