Dialogic Collaboration for Planning an Early Childhood STEAM Workshop

This research focuses on the collaborative process between four science teachers and a group of educational researchers for developing an Early Childhood STEAM workshop. It explores the advantages and challenges of having an ongoing dialogue from different perspectives during the planning process. Using video recordings of planning sessions and observation notes as research data, this study adopts both analytical and interpretive approaches to content analysis. We conclude that that the dialogic, open-ended structure of the planning sessions: i) creates a space for positive emotions to emerge, ii) distributes leadership among the participants, iii) is open-ended and backward designed.