The Requirements and Consequences of Fostering Research Spirit in Children: A Review Study

This study has endeavored to explain the requirements and consequences of fostering research spirit in children. To this end, Iranian databases including Noormags, Irandoc, Civilica, Elmnet, SID, and Ensani were used to get 62 documents from 2001 to 2020. In the next step, 31 documents were selected and analyzed using PRISMA checklist indicators and based on relevance, effectiveness, and validity criteria. Furthermore, international databases including Eric, Sage, Elsevier, Google Scholar, and Taylor and Francis were used to get 43 documents from 2000 to 2020. Then, 19 documents were selected and analyzed based on relevance, effectiveness, and validity criteria. The data were analyzed via Altheide's process of document analysis. Analysis of the studies on the requirements of fostering research spirit in children resulted in identification of five main categories, including national and international needs, needs based on the most recent advancements in ICTs, needs related to children’s lives, children’s legal needs, and the educational system needs. In addition, the analysis of studies on the consequences of fostering children's research spirit resulted in identification of five main categories, i.e., development of children’s skills, boosting self-confidence, improving self-esteem, increasing children's participation, and developing knowledge about childhood experiences. Based on the identification of various factors related to the requirements and consequences of fostering research spirit in children, it is necessary that we plan for developing children as researchers. Accordingly, suggestions for developing children as researchers were presented.