The Role of Student Choice in Learning and Its Impact on Early Child Development

Abstract

This qualitative study used a narrative research design to collect field texts from 40 students in first grade through college to record participants’ memories of learning in Kindergarten. The research addressed the question, “Will study participants recall more memories of self-initiated lessons and activities than other lesson types?” and explored a phenomenon experienced by the researcher during her 15 years of teaching Kindergarten that students consistently request the choice-based work time above all other activities, including recess. Data were collected from interview transcripts and analyzed in three formats: Coded Data, a Focus Word study, and an Initial Memories collection. Findings were based on the assumption that participants relayed memories that were important to them, reflecting areas of instructional importance to early childhood learning. Results in all three data formats emphatically indicated that choice, play, creativity, friends, and fun are the keys to successful, joyful early childhood learning and school experiences.