scholarly journals Living in this space: Case studies of children's lived experiences in four spatially diverse early childhood centres

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ann Pairman
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
International Trends ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Child Friendly ◽  
Space Case

<p>Consistent with international trends, many children in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) spend the majority of their waking day in an early childhood centre [ECE]. Drawing on children’s and teachers’ perspectives in four spatially diverse, all-day ECE centres in NZ, this study investigated the relationship between ECE centre built environments and children’s lived experiences in light of characteristics of ‘child-friendly’ environments (Chatterjee 2005, Kennedy, 1991). Situated at the intersection of children’s geography and childhood sociology, this thesis used case-study methodology to foreground the experiential aspects of children’s spatial interactions, including their feelings of wellbeing and privacy, their mobility and social interactions. Conceptually, this study draws on a constructionist paradigm derived from Lefebvre’s (1991) theorisation of space as a product of the social-material relations, and from his notion of rhythmanalysis (2004); combining the two Lefebvrian concepts with Gibson’s (1979) theory of affordances provides a novel approach for understanding the agency of children and teachers in the process of the production of space. Research strategies were primarily ethnographic and included naturalistic observation, video records, child-led tours, photography, bookmaking, spatial mapping, focus groups, and measurement of noise levels. The findings revealed that space and its materiality matters for children’s lived experiences as well as for children’s and teachers’ agency. Opportunities for child-friendly lived experiences were influenced by the extent to which diverse rhythms and activities could coexist harmoniously in each physical space, with larger and more complex spaces offering greater affordances. The size of each centre’s activity space added a layer of dynamics to spatiality by narrowing or expanding these opportunities. Additionally, open-plan space afforded highly mobile younger children opportunities to exercise agency through collaboration. The rules and norms that governed children’s spatial practices were influenced by teachers' decisions and actions and these were enabled or constrained by spatial affordances. My findings suggest that, in addition to the ‘iron triangle’ of adult:child ratios, group size, and qualifications, space is an affordance that can create the conditions for quality practices, rich lived experiences, and teachers’ and children’s agency. A number of theoretical, conceptual and empirical contributions are made to our understandings of young children’s lives in group based ECE settings.</p>

scholarly journals Living in this space: Case studies of children's lived experiences in four spatially diverse early childhood centres

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ann Pairman
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
International Trends ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Open Plan ◽  
Child Friendly ◽  
Space Case

<p>Consistent with international trends, many children in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) spend the majority of their waking day in an early childhood centre [ECE]. Drawing on children’s and teachers’ perspectives in four spatially diverse, all-day ECE centres in NZ, this study investigated the relationship between ECE centre built environments and children’s lived experiences in light of characteristics of ‘child-friendly’ environments (Chatterjee 2005, Kennedy, 1991). Situated at the intersection of children’s geography and childhood sociology, this thesis used case-study methodology to foreground the experiential aspects of children’s spatial interactions, including their feelings of wellbeing and privacy, their mobility and social interactions. Conceptually, this study draws on a constructionist paradigm derived from Lefebvre’s (1991) theorisation of space as a product of the social-material relations, and from his notion of rhythmanalysis (2004); combining the two Lefebvrian concepts with Gibson’s (1979) theory of affordances provides a novel approach for understanding the agency of children and teachers in the process of the production of space. Research strategies were primarily ethnographic and included naturalistic observation, video records, child-led tours, photography, bookmaking, spatial mapping, focus groups, and measurement of noise levels. The findings revealed that space and its materiality matters for children’s lived experiences as well as for children’s and teachers’ agency. Opportunities for child-friendly lived experiences were influenced by the extent to which diverse rhythms and activities could coexist harmoniously in each physical space, with larger and more complex spaces offering greater affordances. The size of each centre’s activity space added a layer of dynamics to spatiality by narrowing or expanding these opportunities. Additionally, open-plan space afforded highly mobile younger children opportunities to exercise agency through collaboration. The rules and norms that governed children’s spatial practices were influenced by teachers' decisions and actions and these were enabled or constrained by spatial affordances. My findings suggest that, in addition to the ‘iron triangle’ of adult:child ratios, group size, and qualifications, space is an affordance that can create the conditions for quality practices, rich lived experiences, and teachers’ and children’s agency. A number of theoretical, conceptual and empirical contributions are made to our understandings of young children’s lives in group based ECE settings.</p>

Critical Geography in Preschool: Evidence of Early Childhood Civic Action and Ideas about Justice

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Katherina A. Payne ◽  
Anna Falkner ◽  
Jennifer Keys Adair
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
General Education ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Critical Geography ◽  
Civic Action ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Children Of Color ◽  
Embodied Experiences ◽  
Inclusion Classroom

Background U.S. preschool children from Latinx immigrant and Black communities often experience schooling rooted in compliance and overdiscipline. In these contexts, schools do not recognize the rich lived experiences of Children of Color as suitable for civic learning. This article explores how, when schools value young Children of Color as capable and their work as important, classrooms become sites of children's daily embodied civic action. Purpose Our study sought to better understand how children conceptualize and enact their ideas about community and to document the kinds of civic action present in early childhood classrooms. Applying theoretical tools of critical geography, we specifically analyzed how children used space and materials to enact their vision of a just community. Participants Three classrooms—an inclusion classroom, a bilingual classroom, and an English-only general education classroom—located within a Head Start center in South Texas participated in this study. The campus is roughly 65% Latinx, 33% Black, and 2% White, serving 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children. Research Design This study used a multisited, comparative ethnographic methodology. Multisited ethnography allows researchers to locate patterns and contextual differences that impact people's lived experiences. Initially, researchers conducted ethnographic observations through field notes, photographs, and short videos documenting children's action on behalf of or with the classroom community. Next, we used video-cued ethnographic methods, filming for three days in each classroom and editing the footage into a 20-minute film. We showed that film to teachers, families, and children in focus groups. Analysis occurred in multiple phases, during which we refined codes through individual, partner, participant, and team-level work. Findings Children used physical space and materials to assert community membership and to strengthen community ties. They adapted space and classroom materials to include other community members in shared activities. Finally, children advocated for space for their own purposes. Conclusions When teachers and administrators approach the classroom as a civic space where children representing racial, linguistic, and ability diversity can access embodied experiences with civic action, children can use their space to act on behalf of the community. Rather than offering lesson-based social-emotional learning, schools can reflect on how children might build a just, caring community through authentic embodied experiences that include having some control over space and materials. Doing so may allow a shift toward class environments that support shared endeavors and opportunities for children to care for community members.

Sobrevoo e trilhas da pesquisa: caminhos para olhar a Educação Infantil

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 590-607
Author(s):  
Marta Nidia Maia
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Doctoral Thesis ◽  
Specific Field ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Children's Education ◽  
Children’S Education

Este texto está centrado no processo e estratégias de pesquisa de tese de doutorado já defendida. Seu objetivo é apresentar os caminhos trilhados para elaboração da tese que trata do Currículo da Educação Infantil e sua relação com datas comemorativas. Propôs-se a ouvir sujeitos envolvidos no cotidiano desse currículo – profissionais e crianças. A pesquisa é um exercício de compreensão do particular como forma de apreensão do real, olhando a especificidade como parte de um todo no qual se insere e representa. Os indícios encontrados no campo específico da pesquisa, dizem respeito a ele, mas não só. Dizem respeito à totalidade que o produz, aos sistemas, às escolas, aos sujeitos implicados com a Educação Infantil e seu currículo.  Palavras-chave:Pesquisa – Currículo – Educação Infantil This text is centered in the process and doctoral thesis research strategies already advocated. Your goal is to present the paths for the preparation of the thesis dealing with the curriculum of early childhood education and its relationship with anniversaries. It was proposed to hear those involved in the daily curriculum that - professionals and children. The research is a particular understanding of the exercise as real apprehension so, looking at the specificity as part of a whole in which it operates and is. The evidence found in the specific field of research, relate to it, but not only. They relate to all the produce, systems, schools, the subjects involved with the Children's Education and curriculum. Key words:Search - Curriculum - Early Learning                         

On the Abolition of Belonging as Property: Toward Justice for Immigrant Children of Color

2021 ◽  
pp. 004208592110179
Author(s):  
Mariana Souto-Manning
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Immigrant Children ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Children Of Color ◽  
Immigrant Mother ◽  
The Us ◽  
Feminist Perspectives

Belonging matters in early childhood. Despite its importance, the majoritarian conceptualization of belonging is seldom problematized. In the US, the politics of belonging draws racialized lines of inclusion and exclusion, (re)inscribing longstanding racialized systems of inequity and injustice. Through critical race and Latina feminist perspectives and methodologies, an immigrant mother and son of Color examined their lived experiences. Findings unveil the urgency of upending formal racialized notions of belonging—for example, citizenship, co-naturalized with whiteness. Attending to the palpable consequences of ideological and relational borders that exclude and subjugate immigrants of Color, implications call for abolishing belonging as property and cultivating collective healing.

scholarly journals Diversity Considerations for Promoting Early Childhood Oral Health: A Pilot Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Prowse ◽  
Robert J. Schroth ◽  
Alexandria Wilson ◽  
Jeanette M. Edwards ◽  
Janet Sarson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Knowledge And Beliefs ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Immigrant And Refugee ◽  
Parents And Caregivers

Objectives. Several groups in Manitoba, Canada, experience early childhood caries (ECC), including Aboriginal, immigrant, and refugee children and those from select rural regions. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the views of parents and caregivers from four cultural groups on early childhood oral health and ECC.Methods. A qualitative descriptive study design using focus groups recruited parents and caregivers from four cultural groups. Discussions were documented, audio-recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed for content based on themes.Results. Parents and caregivers identified several potential barriers to good oral health practice, including child’s temperament, finances, and inability to control sugar intake. Both religion and genetics were found to influence perceptions of oral health. Misconceptions regarding breastfeeding and bottle use were present. One-on-one discussions, parental networks, and using laypeople from similar backgrounds were suggested methods to promote oral health. The immigrant and refugee participants placed emphasis on the use of visuals for those with language barriers while Hutterite participants suggested a health-education approach.Conclusions. These pilot study findings provide initial insight into the oral health-related knowledge and beliefs of these groups. This will help to inform planning of ECC prevention and research strategies, which can be tailored to specific populations.

It is a scandal!

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 2-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Lloyd ◽  
Albert Banerjee ◽  
Charlene Harrington ◽  
Frode F. Jacobsen ◽  
Marta Szebehely
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Residential Care ◽  
Care Policy ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Trends ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Usa ◽  
International Comparative ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – This study aims to explore the causes and consequences of media scandals involving nursing homes for older persons in Canada, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the USA. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a descriptive case-study methodology which provides an in-depth, focused, qualitative analysis of one selected nursing home scandal in each jurisdiction. Scandals were selected on the basis of being substantive enough to potentially affect policy. An international comparative perspective was adopted to consider whether and how different social, political and economic contexts might shape scandals and their consequences. Findings – This study found that for-profit residential care provision as well as international trends in the ownership and financing of nursing homes were factors in the emergence of all media scandals, as was investigative reporting and a lack of consensus around the role of the state in the delivery of residential care. All scandals resulted in government action but such action generally avoided addressing underlying structural conditions. Research limitations/implications – This study examines only the short-term effects of five media scandals. Originality/value – While there has been longstanding recognition of the importance of scandals to the development of residential care policy, there have been few studies that have systematically examined the causes and consequences of such scandals. This paper contributes to a research agenda that more fully considers the media's role in the development of residential care policy, attending to both its promises and shortcomings.

scholarly journals Objective Functional Assessment After a Head Injury Using Movement and Activity in Physical Space Scores: A Case Report

2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 568-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Farnsworth ◽  
Danielle McElhiney ◽  
Shannon David ◽  
Gaurav Sinha ◽  
Brian G. Ragan
Keyword(s):  
Athletic Training ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Return To Play ◽  
Functional Score ◽  
Gps Receiver ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Objective Functional

Objective: To describe the potential benefit of using a global positioning system (GPS) and accelerometry as an objective functional-activity measure after concussion by creating Movement and Activity in Physical Space (MAPS) scores. Background: A 21-year-old female soccer player suffered a blow to the back of the head from an opponent's shoulder during an away match. No athletic trainer was present. She played the remainder of the match and reported to the athletic training facility the next day for evaluation. Differential Diagnosis: Concussion. Treatment: The athlete was removed from all athletic activities. Her symptoms were monitored based on the Zurich guidelines. She was also instructed to wear an accelerometer on her hip and to carry an on-person GPS receiver at all times for 10 days. Her total symptom scores for the 4 symptomatic days were 82, 39, 49, and 36. Her mean MAPS functional score for symptomatic days 3 through 5 was 900.9 and for asymptomatic days 6 through 11 was 2734.9. Uniqueness: We monitored the patient's function during the concussion-recovery process using an on-person GPS receiver and accelerometer to calculate personalized MAPS scores. This novel approach to measuring function after injury may provide a useful complementary tool to help with return-to-play decisions. Conclusions: An on-person GPS receiver and accelerometer were used to observe the patient's physical activity in a free-living environment, allowing for an objective measure of function during recovery. Her MAPS scores were low while she was symptomatic and increased as she became asymptomatic. We saw the expected inverse relationship between symptoms and function. In situations where accuracy of reported symptoms may be a concern, this measure may provide a way to verify the validity of, or raise doubts about, self-reported symptoms.

scholarly journals Living on the Margin:

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-51
Author(s):  
Jane Namuyimbwa Sewali-Kirumira
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Black Feminism ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Black African ◽  
Black Womanhood ◽  
African Feminism ◽  
African Experience

This article uncovers the hidden stepdaughter’s odyssey to Black African Feminism against the backdrop of Kigandan subservient womanhood and Euro-Canadian racism. The first section recounts early childhood experiences of an othered stepchild, followed by teenage anti-misogynist resistance to structural second-class citizenship in a majoritized boy’s school. Subsequent sections narratively capture the lived experiences of transitioning to racialized and subjugated Black womanhood in Germany and Canada, and the becoming of a proud Black African Anti-racist Feminist. Using personal photographs in the narratives makes the experience more present while the Luganda proverbs call forth the uniqueness of an African experience. This article uncovers different strategies of how a young Black African female combats multiple layers of Kigandan cultural subordination and systemic racism in order to excel as a professional immigration consultant and emerging anti-racism and Black feminism scholar.

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