Preschool Teachers’ Experiences of Teaching Nature of Science through Book Talks in Early Childhood Education

Science in preschool is a content area under construction in many countries. This study reports experiences from a project in which Nature of Science (NOS), as a content area for science teaching in preschool, was explored. Teaching about NOS means raising issues concerning the development of scientific knowledge and the ways in which humans are involved in these processes. We have previously reported on how children and preschool teachers in the project approached NOS through book talks and on spin-off effects in terms of children’s engagement in investigations. The present article focuses on preschool teachers’ experiences from the project in terms of created opportunities for learning and changes in how learning situations are played out as a result of implementing NOS teaching in preschool. These changes refer to both preschool teachers’ and children’s ways of acting in the learning situations. The data consisted of audio recordings of focus groups with preschool teachers. Their experiences were categorised into two main categories: (1) NOS teaching stimulates language use, and (2) NOS teaching stimulates creativity. The discussion highlights NOS as a content area that bridges science and other content areas and activities in preschool.