ABSTRACT
This chapter explores questions about the relative advantages and disadvantages of regarding scientific thinking in young children through a domain-general perspective or through a domain-specific lens. We are particularly interested in how these differing views influence educational practice in the elementary grades. Domain-general frameworks are critical for helping policy makers and educators achieve analytic purchase on goals for science learning. They steer the field toward a clear vision of ‘what develops’ and propose answers to the question: What is it, beyond content knowledge, that students should come to understand over the 12 years of their science education (Ford & Forman, 2006)? A vision responsive to this question needs to be shared by stakeholders at all levels of the educational system if instructional goals, content, and tasks are to cumulate toward desired endpoints.
