2023 Volume 63 Issue 3 Pages 645-656
This study was designed to examine how children expand their knowledge of plants and use analogical inferences by interacting with their teacher and other children. With this aim, I observed a class of five-year-olds for six months. The results of this study identified four functions of the personification of plants. The teacher personalized plants in order to 1) teach children to feel familiar with and behave kindly towards plants, 2) help children to use inferences drawn from their knowledge about people, 3) help children to use inferences drawn from their knowledge about other plants, and 4) explain what they look like. The results gleaned from the long-term observation suggest that children learn how to become familiar with plants and grow plants through interactions. Moreover, different teachers may use personification in diverse ways; their beliefs and experience may affect their methods of utilizing personification.
