“Even when we’re big we’ll still be friends”: Working theories in children’s learning

Te Whāriki has two indicative learning outcomes: dispositions and working theories. The notion of dispositions has been explored extensively over the past few years, but the concept of working theories has remained obscure. This article begins to redress this situation. It looks at how children develop and refine their working theories about the world, and how early childhood teachers can challenge and guide their thinking.