Self-Regulation and Emergent Curriculum Inquiries in the Kindergarten Classroom

This doctoral dissertation explores and defends my belief that when teaching teams co-construct emergent curriculum inquiries with children in their Kindergarten classrooms, this teaching practice supports the childrens ability to self-regulate. My research brings together two broad areas of study: emergent curriculum and self-regulation. Emergent curriculum inquiries are sustained investigations built around childrens interests. Self-regulation is a reflective learning process where children become aware of what it feels like to be overstressed, recognize when they need to up-regulate or down-regulate, and develop strategies to reduce their stress. It has been acknowledged as fundamental to learning in the Kindergarten program. Self-regulation is a prominent issue today because children are experiencing much more stress than in the past and many consider it a better indicator of school success than IQ. The data for my research was generated during an ethnographic case study of four Kindergarten classroom environments where teaching teams co-constructed emergent curriculum inquiries with the children. My analysis of the data relied on the distinction between four components of emergent curriculum: inquiry design, design of the environment, documentation, and conversation. Assertions grounded in the data about these components of emergent curriculum provide new evidence of a relationship between inquiries and self-regulation. When looking across all the findings, four especially compelling arguments emerged to support my belief that when Kindergarten teachers co-construct emergent curriculum inquiries, this teaching practice supports the childrens ability to self-regulate. The first argument is that, just as they do in play, children learn how to self-regulate during emergent curriculum inquiries. The second argument is that during emergent curriculum inquiries the teachers used scaffolding and that this process supports the childrens ability to self-regulate. The third argument is that emergent curriculum inquiries promote positive emotions such as elation, inspiration, pride and curiosity that generate energy. This energy improves childrens concentration and strengthens their ability to self-regulate. The fourth argument is that children use oral language as a self-regulatory tool during emergent curriculum inquiries, which helps them to regulate their own emotions and behaviours. My conclusion is that emergent curriculum inquiries in Kindergarten do support the childrens ability to self-regulate.