“I don’t know why, I just love it!” What are the factors that influence children to identify a favourite subject within the primary classroom?

Abstract

Whilst children will happily vocalise a list of school subjects they love - they struggle to explain why. Where research does include primary age pupils’ perspectives, reductive thinking regarding subjects is already apparent at age six. This proposed study adopts a case study methodology, utilising mixed methods to capture quantitative as well as qualitative data, to explore what influences Year 2 children (Key Stage 1, age 6-7), when it comes to having a favourite subject at school and considers the implications for practitioners.