ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of how we might view learning and assessment differently if we take children’s interests and inquiries seriously as a starting point, consider the moral dimensions of capability theory, and favour assessment of holistic outcomes over atomised, academic ones. Holistic outcomes such as learning dispositions and working theories in Te Whāriki incorporate knowledge, skills and strategies, attitudes and expectations. Examples of children’s interests-based working theories and learning, and teacher responses, are offered. These illustrate possibilities for a capability-oriented inquiry curriculum and relational pedagogy that involve deliberate and thoughtful strategies to engage with children’s inquiries.
