INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING: AN INNOVATIVE PROPOSAL FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

In a constant changing world, young generations need to develop scientific skills as basic competence for life and school. The work we present aims to promote that these skills can be applied on children of very young ages. It makes a systematic review of the literature and develops an innovative proposal for children of 5 years old, based on inquiry-based learning. It represents a revolutionary advance in autonomous and critical thinking student's education. It encourages them to become good communicators and reflective people, willing to play an active role and make a difference in the world. The inquiry approach that we propose for children's education is aligned with the competencies that the student must have in the 21st century, ensures the increase of their motivation to learn, the development of observing and inquiry skills, as well as a positive change on the student's attitudes towards learning. Our results indicate that the benefits of its implementation exceed the drawbacks and traditional schools must develop inquiry activities, by individual and social potential they generate.