Learning dispositions and the role of mutual engagement: factors for consideration in educational settings

Abstract

This article describes an emerging theoretical framework for examining relationships between learning dispositions and learning architecture. Three domains of learning dispositions - resilience, reciprocity and imagination - are discussed in relation to the structures and processes of early childhood education settings and new entrant classrooms. This framework was developed during the analysis of the data collected for the Dispositions in Social Context project, funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund and headed by Anne B. Smith and Margaret Carr. This article includes examples from this research project, which explored the relationship between learning architecture and the dispositions of children within these education contexts.