ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on finding solutions: the second of the four research behaviours academics in the Young Children As Researchers (YCAR) project identified as most important. The English word solution derives from the Latin solvere, meaning to loosen or to untie. The relationship between finding solutions and research is well documented; pragmatism linked with the construction of knowledge dates back to the Ancient Greeks' concern with praxis – or practical knowledge. Children in the YCAR project sometimes found solutions when they applied experiences they had had previously in new situations. In their everyday activities in the YCAR study, sometimes children discovered practical uses for solutions they had found. Sometimes, children in the YCAR study also created their own problems to solve before finding their solutions. Aligning with pragmatism children in the YCAR study sometimes devised practical methods to create solutions. The chapter has defined what finding a solution may mean, particularly in the field of early childhood.
