Abstract
In this chapter, we explore early childhood educators’ experiences and perceptions of young children’s play and learning at dioramas, portrayals of frozen moments in time depicting three-dimensional scenes of the natural world. In this study, we interviewed ten early childhood educators at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Through teachers’ perspectives and experiences, we explore examples of play-based, diorama-based science learning activities. Findings suggest that play and learning at or inspired by dioramas looks different across classes and contexts but is perceived as vital in sparking imagination and creativity for young children when integrated into experiences, and affords unique opportunities for role play, games, and discovery. We provide examples of teachers’ perceptions of the affordances of dioramas for play and learning, as well as a variety of pedagogical approaches and strategies teachers’ use to bring to life dioramas and the science concepts represented within them. This study highlights how dioramas can be integral in play-based science learning—making museums that are not traditionally designed for children into places for play.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to recognize the members of the AMNH Education Department, and especially express our great appreciation to the teachers in Children and Family Learning. Data collection for this study took place during a heartbreaking and tumultuous time and we are so grateful for your willingness to participate and sharing your enthusiasm, passion, and time, which helped bring this study to life. We thank Karen Hammerness and Preeti Gupta for being critical friends on this project, and Veena Vasudevan for collaborative brainstorming in early stages. We acknowledge support from our editors, Lady Sue Dale Tunnicliffe and Teresa Kennedy, as well as our friend Roberta Altman for inspiration for this study.
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Wallace, J., Ingber, J.D. (2022). Sparking Imaginations: Exploring Science Teachers’ Perspectives and Experiences of Play and Early Learning at Dioramas. In: Tunnicliffe, S.D., Kennedy, T.J. (eds) Play and STEM Education in the Early Years. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99830-1_22
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