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Our place: Being curious at Te Papa

Funding year: 
2008
Duration:
2 years
Organisation: 
University of Waikato
Sector: 
ECE sector
Project start date: 
January 2010
Project end date: 
January 2012
Principal investigator(s): 
Jeanette Clarkin-Phillips
Research team members: 
Margaret Carr, Vanessa Paki
Research partners: 
University of Waikato, with Wellington Regional Free Kindergarten Association and Te Papa

Project Description

This Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) project was sited in a kindergarten, Tai Tamariki, at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington. This kindergarten is a full day-centre for children aged 0–5 years. On average, 70 percent of the families include staff at Te Papa. The research focused on the relationship between the teachers, children and families at the kindergarten and selected exhibitions at Te Papa. It was extended to include these relationships with exhibitions at nearby art galleries.

Research questions

The three questions that guided the research were:

  1.  How might the construction of knowledge and stories about the world and its representation in objects and exhibitions be encouraged in an early childhood centre at Te Papa? A sub-question was: How do young children construct knowledge from museum objects and exhibits?
  2. Does the opportunity to interact with a range of cultural taonga deepen children’s understanding of the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa/ New Zealand?
  3.  How do the family members, as employees of Te Papa, contribute their “funds of knowledge” to the learning experiences of children attending the early childhood centre, and how do the children share their experiences with their families?

 

 

 

Project Contacts

Jeanette Clarkin-Phillips
jgcp@waikato.ac.nz

Professor Margaret Carr
margcarr@waikato.ac.nz

Vanessa Paki
paki@waikato.ac.nz

Project Outputs
 

2012

Publications

Carr, M., Clarkin-Phillips, J., Beer,A., Thomas, R. & Waitai, M. (2012): Young children developing meaning-making practices in a museum: the role of boundary objects, Museum Management and Curatorship, 27:1, 53-66.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2012.644696

Clarkin-Phillips, J., Paki, V., Fruean, L., Armstrong, G. and Crowe, N. (2012) Exploring te ao Māori: The role of museums. Early Childhood Folio Vol 16 No. 1 10-14.
http://www.nzcer.org.nz/nzcerpress/early-childhood-folio/articles/exploring-te-ao-maori-role-museums

2011

Presentations Conferences and Workshops

Wellington Region Free Kindergarten Association Teachers Conference 2011

Te Tari Puna Ora o Aotearoa New Zealand Childcare Association Annual Conference 2011

New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) Annual Conference 2011

2010

Presentations Conferences and Workshops

Wellington Region Free Kindergarten Association Teachers Conference 2010

Te Tari Puna Ora o Aotearoa New Zealand Childcare Association Annual Conference 2010

New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) Annual Conference 2010