**8. Conclusion**

*Early Childhood Education*

science?

**7.1 Sid the Science Kid**

1.Select a television show that has a scientist included. The stereotypical or nonstereotypical portrayal of the scientist is not as important as the discussion that

2.Discuss with your child or your class some explicit assumptions about the scientist\* on the show. For example, does the scientist wear a lab coat? Do they always work in a basement? What activities are they doing that considered

3.Just start asking the child questions about scientists, and see where it leads. Try to listen to the child and know that you do not have to answer every question.

Sid the Science Kid was selected as an example in the section because this author has used this television show for a research study to understand what aspects of science preschoolers were exposed to during the 1 and 30 minute episode. The goals of this particular study were (1) to analyze process skills: observing, inferring, classifying, measuring, predicting, and communicating within each episode; (2) to evaluate the number of questions asked within an episode; and (3) to evaluate and analyze how and who used the word "scientist" during each episode. Overall study findings (about the use of process skills) suggested preschoolers are exposed to observation and predicting most often while watching the television show and are exposed to an average of fifteen questions per 30-min episode. The explicit and implicit use of the word scientist (an average of five times per episode) might actually help young

Another research study about Sid the Science Kid found that the show successfully engaged both preschool children and their adult caregivers. It also reported that during and after viewing Sid the Science Kid, children asked more questions related to the concepts from the programs [2cite]. This is not surprising since children's exposure to particular topics would naturally lead to the questioning of new information in which they were exposed. It was found that when comparing viewers and non-viewers when presented with similar materials to those they had watched on Sid the Science Kid, the children in the viewer's category replicated the activities and use terminology they heard on the show, while nonviewers did not [30]. In a study with adult viewers, adults reported increased confidence with science content and increased comfort and interest in engaging in science activities with their preschool-aged children (2cite). Another reason this show would be good to have a discussion about the role of the scientist was that it was specifically found in a research study to measure the impact of the show on caregivers' reports of low-income children's science talk at home and found that watching the show had a

Sid is a "Science Kid" who wants to be a scientist when he grows up! The television show produced by the Public Broadcasting System first began in 2008; since then they have aired about 70 episodes about the 4-year-old Sid. The main character, Sid, is an inquisitive preschooler who is always asking questions about how things work and the world around him. As he goes to preschool each day, he tries

\*This can also work for field trips or visits like the zoo or science centers that

will follow between you and the young scientist.

have places where scientists are working on site.

children visualize themselves as scientists [29].

positive impact on children's science talk [31].

**106**

**7.2 Who is Sid?**

It is recommended that teachers restructure their learning environment so that student beliefs about science, scientists, and themselves will lead to positive attitudes and to less-sex-role stereotypic views concerning the nature of science and features of a typical scientist [34]. This chapter has suggested that teachers can successfully address stereotypes in existing early childhood science classroom without restructuring their entire classrooms. Simple addition and/or modifications of trade books and/or television episodes (or visits from scientists) will serve their students well, by creating opportunities for discussions to broadening early childhood students' ideas about who can be scientists and engineers.

This chapter examined the development of the young scientists. It is often accepted that approaches to teaching young children in general include science and seeing themselves as scientists. However, as children progress through the school years, something happens with traditional schooling, and children often lose their curiosity and their sense of being scientists. They tend to try in fit in traditional idea of what others believe they should be a scientists or not, and this contributes to their science identity beginning as in early childhood.

In early childhood settings, children must be supported in their own role as scientist, and exploration is key to seeing themselves as a scientists. The Reggio Emilia approach and the Montessori method both were mentioned earlier in this chapter as examples of learning environments where children can "see themselves as scientists". Thus, children assume the role of scientists naturally.

Young children are impressionable and are forming images of not only their own identity but also their science identity. This is an important realization for teachers and parents of young children to recognize so that they can have fruitful discussions to uncover any stereotypes or limited thinking on the part of the young child. As previously discussed in this chapter, this can be accomplished through several ways that include trade books, trips to the zoo, or television shows. The most important aspect is that it is intentional on the part of the adult to try and build a communication stream between the child and the adult to discuss the implicit and explicit assumptions that will inevitably come with age and culture.

Early investment and exposure to scientists and engineers can inspire many years of discovery, even if children do not enter science careers. Finding

developmentally appropriate trade books and television shows to address stereotypes can be both meaningful and relevant to the everyday lives of young children and their teachers. In addition, science content is framed in relatable ways to its characters yet investigated through the nature of science, through posing questions and investigating objects and events that can be directly observed and explored for young scientists.

This chapter offered some practical tips for teachers because there is a real need for professional development for early childhood teachers on the issues of stereotypes in general.
