Wonder Based Teaching

A Start Up Guide for Early Childhood Educators

 Wonder Based Teaching:
A Start-Up Guide

By Sally Haughey,
Founder of Fairy Dust Teaching

© 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted on a specific page, no portion of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or capturing on any information storage system, without
permission in writing from the authors.

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Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © Fairy Dust Teaching
 Contents

What is Wonder Based Teaching? 4

What are the benefits? 6
The 5 Stages 7
Stage 1 8
Stage 2 10
Stage 3 12
Stage 4 14
Stage 5 16
Recommended Resources 19

Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

INTRO

What is Wonder Based

Teaching?
Wonder Defined:
Noun: a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful,
unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable
Verb: desire or be curious to know something; feel admiration and amazement

Wonder Based Teaching is inspired from a combination

of approaches that address the whole child in the “Life is an adventure of
educational process. I have been deeply inspired by the passion, risk, danger,
Reggio Emilia Approach in Italy, Montessori, Forest laughter, beauty, love; a
Schools, and Waldorf Education.
burning curiosity to go with
Wonder Based Teaching is NOT a set of rules or the action to see what it is
something that can only be done in a private setting. It is all about, to go search for a
quite the opposite. It is shifting our lens as educators as pattern of meaning, to burn
teachers in today's climate with the power of wonder and
creativity under any circumstance.
one’s bridges because
you’re never going to go
I believe all children have a right to a wonder-based back anyway, and to live to
education in early childhood. Children are born with the the end.”
natural capacity for wonder. From the time a little baby
~ Saul D. Alinsky
feels the gentle touch of a mother’s nuzzle, to first the
time a toddler picks up a paintbrush to make his first
strokes, wonder is unfolding.

But that joy filled wonder in young children is slowly

being replaced with a standardized way of learning in the
classroom. Kindergartens are removing dramatic play,
three year olds are tracing their names, preschool circles
are filled with memorizing letter sounds. . .these are only
a few examples of how wonder is being replaced by skill
and drill.

When we get curious - the brain responds to our curiosity

by releasing dopamine (a pleasure producing chemical).
When we get curious and go after our desires, our brain
is treating that like reward system. This is why when
children engage in hands-on activities - it builds intrinsic
motivation. 4

Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

 We are “What we want to see is the child in
pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge
Architects of in pursuit of the child.”
~George Bernard Shaw
Wonder! A curious mind is a catalyst for intrinsic motivation.
The learning process in Wonder Based Teaching is
driven by the children’s interests and ideas. This
requires we become aware of our own limiting
belief systems and to reflect on our responses and
actions to children. Wonder based teaching is a
journey in cultivating wonder in our classrooms,
lunch rooms and homes.

We become architects of wonder.

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Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

 What Are the Benefits?
If we experienced life through the eyes of a child,
everything would be magical and extraordinary. Let our
curiosity, adventure and wonder of life never end!
-Akiane Kramarik

It’s crucial that young children have

hands-on, child-led learning to
become well-rounded, well-prepared
human beings.

Some of the benefits Include:

● The development of children’s

individual strengths and abilities
● Increases creative problem
solving and flexible thinking
abilities
● Children feel a sense of
ownership of learning process
● The development of high order
thinking habits and processes
● Increased retention of learning
● Boosts critical thinking
● Fewer classroom behavior issues

The magic of this approach is that it

develops the whole child and the
whole teacher. It is a growth based
education method for all who partake.

Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

 START-UP GUIDE

The 5 Stages of Wonder

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he
needs the companionship of least one adult, who can share
it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement and
mystery of the world we live in.”
-Rachel Carson

The 5 stages of wonder give you a pathway that will help catapult you into
your school year, with the curiosity and wonder of a child. There are five
stages in this framework, starting with the foundations of uncovering your
preconceived ideas and notions about learning and teaching and ending with
being a storyteller of the ideas, theories and growth of the children. This
framework is meant to be a continuum, where all stages could be happening in
multiple seasons of your wonder journey.

Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

 “Once we believe in ourselves, we can
risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous
Stage One: delight, or any experience that reveals
the human spirit.”
Awakening -E.E. Cummings

Wonder Wonder Based Teaching begins with unpacking

your inner views or notions about the role and
capacity of the child, the educator, the family, the
community and the process of education itself.
This is an ever unfolding process like peeling
layers off an onion. This is the heart of our work
as it expands what is possible!

The inner image of the child we have is like a lens

that colors everything we do as educators.
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Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

 “I would rather have a mind opened by wonder
than one closed by belief.”
-Gerry Spence
Daily reflective practice helps us unpack how our own life experiences have
shaped our expectations. When we see our own opinions of the place and
role of children (often hidden from our own view) - we can begin the process by
creating an authentic view of the child, the educator, the family, and education
itself. These become our guiding principles on the pathway of Wonder Base
Teaching.

It is important to take a stake in the ground by declaring our personal values

and vision of the child, the educator, the family and the educational process.
These become our operating system or guiding principles to the Foundation of
Wonder Based Teaching - is the fuel for the journey. I call it the Wonder Matrix
because everything you do as an educator is filtered through the matrix -
whether you are aware of it or not.

Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

 “If a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the
environment in which it grows, not
Stage Two: the flower.”
-Alexander Den Heijer
Preparing
In the Preparation stage, you lay the groundwork

for Wonder of your environment - the place you and the

children will do all of your wondering, creative
thinking, and exploration. This is the stage you
start to cultivate relationships with your
community, your families, your children.

The Wonder Based Teaching path is one built

upon and driven by relationships. Relationship to
materials, friends, colleagues and even the
community.
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Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

 “The wider the range of
The Relationship possibilities we offer
Cultivator children, the more intense
will be their motivations
The task of the Wonder Based Educator is to and the richer their
prepare for wonder. This means cultivating experiences. We must
the relationship of wonder within the actual widen the range of topics
physical space through materials, loose parts,
sensory experiences and more.
and goals, the types of
situations we offer and
Additionally, we cultivate powerful their degree of structure,
relationships with the children, the family, and the kinds and
community.
combinations of resources
It’s important to note that we can’t just stop and materials, and the
here as a Wonder Based Educator. The most possible interactions with
incredible part of the journey is the cultivation
of wonder in all areas of our lives. It becomes
things, peers, and adults.”
a way of life - not just our teaching practice. -Loris Malaguzzi

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 “One of the greatest gifts we can
give to another, is to make them feel
Stage Three: seen, heard, and recognized the
miracle they truly are.”
Witnessing Emmanuel

Wonder
One of the most powerful things we can do as
educators is become witnesses to the work of
children - their play and developmental growth.

Where do we see the traces of wonder? During

this stage we practice deep listening and
watching. We notice the child’s conversations,
their schemas, their developmental markers. It is
a time to reflect on what the children are telling
you through the languages of their play.
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Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

Curious Observer
This is the stage where we as educators must learn to “The best scientists and
be curious as well. This is where slowing down and
explorers have the
listening to the children is absolutely vital. It's HOW
you discover the thread of interests from a child. We attributes of kids! They
become what I call “a perceiving presence.” ask question and have a
sense of wonder. They
When we bare witness to the activities and narratives
of the children - we are taking on being deeply have curiosity. 'Who,
engaged in perceiving their world. We become quiet what, where, why, when,
observers of their actions, words, friendships and more. and how!' They never
stop asking questions,
I like to call this the inhalation stage. You are receiving
- taking in - all of the theories and curiosities that are and I never stop asking
rising in the class. It is like breathing. We take an questions, just like a five
inbreath to bring the oxygen we need to survive on the year old.”
planet. In the same way, we take in the work and play
of the children and it becomes the “oxygen” of all that -Sylvia Earle
we do in the classroom.

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 “When we as teachers recognize that we are
partners with our students in life's long and
complex journey, when we begin to treat them with
Stage Four: the dignity and respect they deserve for simply
being, then we are on the road to becoming worthy
teachers. It is just that simple—and just that
Facilitating difficult.”
—William Ayers, "The Mystery of Teaching

Wonder After we have seen and heard the children’s

interests, desires, and ideas - we roll up our
sleeves and begin to assist the magic.

During this stage we become researchers of

wonder. What might expand or add to the
ideas and theories the children are playing with?
The children become powerful partners in
unfolding the possible wonder.
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Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

Collaborators
“I think us here to
This is the stage where we own that we are truly
collaborators in this journey with the children and their wonder, myself. To
families. wonder. To ask. And that
in wondering bout the big
When we inquire into what we witnessed by dialoguing things and asking bout
with the children - we honor them deeply. It is THEIR
the big things, you learn
curiosities that drive us and our research. We explore
and challenge the ideas and theories we observed. about the little ones,
almost by accident. But
I like to call this the exhalation stage. We are no longer you never know nothing
quietly perceiving - now we become active co- more about the big things
constructors of the children’s wonderings.
than you start out with.
We provide additional opportunities, invitations and The more I wonder, the
provocations to explore the ideas and interests we more I love.”
witnessed in Stage 3. -Alice Walker

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 “In PLAY, a child is always behaving
beyond his age, above his usual
Stage Five: everyday behavior: in play, he is, as
it were, a head above himself.”
Beholding -Vygotsky
In stage five we honor children by recognizing
Wonder the ideas and theories they have engaged in.
We acknowledge these treasures with our
narratives, photos, video, artifacts of the
children’s creative expression and more.

When we document children’s investigations,

curiosities, and projects - we give value to their
work and the child feels value in their self.
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Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

Storyteller and Recorder
I call this stage - “capturing” wonder. Capturing the traces of the children’s process is a
daily practice. We are not inside the old view of teaching. We are NOT here to fill the
children with knowledge like they are empty.

Rather - we follow the traces of their thinking and make it visible. When we document
the children’s process we are following the trail of wonder. It is an opportunity to build
a visual and written account of the children’s ideas, theories, projects and more. We
mark our time together with our documentation.

I like to think of documentation as the pedagogy of love. It is a profound practice of

making the work of the children in our classrooms visible. It is holding up a looking
glass for the children, ourselves, the families, and the community to see the
relationships that have unfolded in our thinking and friends.

This is also the stage where we can point to the standards, benchmarks and skills the
children have gained along the way.

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 Final Thoughts
Wonder Based Teaching is more than a way of thinking about education. It is a way
of life. It is lifelong journey of growth as an educator.

In my own journey as an educator - I have found two things to be crucial in my

growth:

● Ongoing training and development

● The companionship of like-minded colleagues

I would like to invite you join the Fairy Dust Teaching Wonder Tribe - we need you!
This is a community of wonder based educators who share their struggles and
celebrate their accomplishments. It is where I will take you on a deep dive into the
practices and strategies of Wonder Based Teaching.

The Wonder Tribe waiting list can be found here:

https://go.fairydustteaching.com/wonder-teaching-tribe/

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Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

 Recommended Resources:
Loose Parts Start Up Guide by Fairy Dust Teaching

Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

Through a Child’s Eyes: How Classroom Designs Inspires

Learning and Wonder by Sandra Duncan, Jody Martin and
Sally Haughey

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Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching

 For more ideas – go to
www.fairydustteaching.com 20

Wonder Based Teaching: A Start-Up Guide: © 2018 Fairy Dust Teaching