‘Working theories’ are described as one of the two principal outcomes of Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite its prominence as a curricular outcome, the theoretical positioning of the concept of working theory remains relatively undebated, with researchers readily attributing the term to a constructivist approach to children's cognitive development, or, in line with the current emphasis in New Zealand, to sociocultural theory. Drawing on a small scale study of children's working theories, this article will argue that constructivist and sociocultural theories do not adequately account for the sophistication of this concept in practice and that complexity theory and Deleuzian imagery would be more helpful for describing children's theory creation. Complexity theory and Deleuzian concepts are introduced as potential resources for enhancing our understanding of working theories and, further, for developing pedagogies that address contemporary ethical and political concerns.
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