"I wonder..." (Houen at al, 2016)

Houen, S. Danby, S., Farrell, A. & Thorpe, K. (2016) ‘I wonder…’ formulations in teacher-child interactions. International Journal of Early Childhood, 48(3), 259-276.

In this paper, Sandy Houen and colleagues show how the teacher’s use of “I wonder…’ as a prompt for children’s suggestions and ideas, creates opportunities for agency. The data show that the teacher taking a less knowing stance with ‘I wonder…’ encourages children to offer their own ideas with less prescription over the course of the interaction. Houen provides a thorough review of the use and implicit entitlement of requests, then illustrates ‘how request designs influence children’s agentic actions’ (p. 265).