Collective Imagining: The Early Genesis and Development of a sense of Collectiveness during Infancy

178

Abstract

On entering formal education, infants face the demand of participating in collective educational rou¬tines and learning experiences. However, in this age period, the sense of collectiveness is still in an embry¬onic form. This study explored how infants enter into and experience the need for collectiveness and how teachers create the conditions for the development of a sense of collectiveness during infancy. Our educa¬tional experiment drew on a Conceptual PlayWorld, as a collective model of practice for the development of play and imagination. Thirteen infants (0,5—2 years old) participated in the study. Visual methods were used for digital data collection and analysis. It was found that, being in the imaginary situation as play part¬ners, teachers introduced to the infants’ environment the demand to align with the collective, consistently facilitated and sustained infants’ motive orientation to the collective. The use of props, the embodiment of the experience and the shift from physical objects and concrete spaces to a shared intellectual and abstract space appeared to be critical. The findings inform everyday practice and policy opening up a new area of understanding about the concept of collective imagining, as an important concept for the development of a collective orientation for infants.

General Information

Keywords: infants, collectiveness, belonging, imagination, play, early years, pedagogical positioning

Journal rubric: Problems of Cultural-Historical and Activity Psychology

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2021170312

For citation: Fragkiadaki G., Fleer M., Rai P. Collective Imagining: The Early Genesis and Development of a sense of Collectiveness during Infancy. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2021. Vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 84–94. DOI: 10.17759/chp.2021170312.

References

  1. Avgitidou S. Peer culture and friendship relationships as contexts for the development of young children’s pro- social behaviour. International journal of early years education, 2001. Vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 145—152. DOI:10.1080/713670688
  2. Brownwell C., Ramani G., Zerwas S. Becoming a social partner with peers: cooperation and social understanding in one and two-year-olds. Child Development, 2006. Vol. 77, no. 4, pp. 803—821. DOI:10.1111/J.1467-8624.2006.00904.X
  3. Davis B., Degotardi S. Educators’ understandings of, and support for, infant peer relationships in early childhood settings. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 2015. Vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 64—78. DOI: 10.1177/1476718X14538600
  4. Degotardi S., Pearson E. The relationship worlds of infants and toddlers: Multiple perspectives from early years theory and practice. UK: McGraw-Hill Education, 2014.
  5. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2017.
  6. Elkonin D. B. Psykhologiya igry [Psychology of play]. Moscú: Vlados,1999.
  7. Fleer M. The re-theorisation of collective pedagogy and emergent curriculum. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 2010. Vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 563—576. DOI: 10.1007/s11422-009- 9245-y
  8. Fleer M. ‘Conceptual play’: Foregrounding imagination and cognition during concept formation in early years education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2011. Vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 224—240. DOI: 10.2304/ ciec.2011.12.3.224
  9. Fleer M. Affective imagination in science education: Determining the emotional nature of scientific and technological learning of young children. Research in Science Education, 2013. Vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 2085—2106. DOI: 10.1007/ s11165-012-9344-8
  10. Fleer M. Collective imagining in play. In Schousboe I, Winther-Lindqvist D (eds.), Children’s Play and Development: Cultural-Historical Perspectives. The Netherlands: Springer., 2013, pp. 73—87.
  11. Fleer M. Theorising play in the early years. Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  12. Fleer M. Conceptual Playworlds: the role of imagination in play and learning. Early Years, 2018. pp. 1—12. DOI: 10.1080/09575146.2018.1549024
  13. Fleer M. Scientific Playworlds: a Model of Teaching Science in Play-Based Settings. Research in Science Education, 2019. Vol. 49, no. 5, pp. 1257—1278. DOI: 10.1007/ s11165-017-9653-z
  14. Fragkiadaki G., Fleer M., Ravanis K. A cultural-historical study of the development of children’s scientific thinking about clouds in everyday life. Research in Science Education, 2019. Vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 1523—1545. DOI: 10.1007/ s11165-017-9665-8
  15. Givry D., Pantidos P. Ambiguities in representing the concept of energy: a semiotic approach. Review of Science, Mathematics and ICT Education, 2015. Vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 41— 64. DOI: 10.26220/rev.2244
  16. Goulart M.I.M., Roth W.-M. Margin center: Toward a dialectic view of participation. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 2006. Vol. 38, pp. 679—700. DOI: 10.1080/00220270600692936
  17. Goulart M.I.M., Roth, W.M. Engaging young children in collective curriculum design. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 2010. Vol. 5, pp. 533—562. DOI: 10.1007/s11422- 009-9196-3
  18. Hedegaard M., Chaiklin S. Radical-local teaching and learning. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 2005.
  19. Hedegaard M. The educational experiment, In Hedegaard M., Fleer M., Bang J., Hviid P (eds.), Studying children- A cultural-historical approach. England: Open University Press, 2008, pp. 101—201.
  20. Hedegaard M. Analyzing children’s learning and development in everyday settings from a cultural-historical wholeness approach. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 2012. Vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 127— 138. DOI: 10.1080/10749039.2012.665560
  21. Hedegaard M. The significance of demands and motives across practices in children’s learning and development: An analysis of learning in home and school. Learning, culture and social interaction, 2014. Vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 188—194. DOI: 10.1016/J.LCSI.2014.02.008
  22. Howes C., Phillipsen L. Gender and friendship: Relationships within peer groups of young children. Social Development, 1992. Vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 230—242.
  23. Leontiev A.N. Activity, consciousness, and personality. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
  24. Li L., Quiñones G., Ridgway A. (eds.), Studying babies and toddlers: Relationships in cultural contexts. Singapore: Springer, 2017.
  25. Lindqvist G. The aesthetics of play: A didactic study of play and culture in preschools. Geteborg: Coronet Books, 1995.
  26. Pramling-Samuelsson I., Fleer M. Play and learning in early childhood setting: International perspectives. New York: Springer, 2009.
  27. Selby J.M., Bradley B.S. Infants in groups: A paradigm for the study of early social experience. Human Development, 2003. Vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 197—221.
  28. Shin M. Peeking at the relationship world of infants and caregivers. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 2010, Vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 294—302. DOI: 10.1177/1476718X10366777
  29. Sumsion J., Harrison L., Press F., McLeod S., Goodfellow J., Bradley B. Researching infants’ experiences of early childhood education and care. In Harcourt D, Perry B, Waller T (eds.), Researching young children’s perspectives: Debating the ethics and dilemmas of educational research with children. Routledge, 2011, pp. 113—127.
  30. Verba M. The beginnings of collaboration in peer interaction. Human Development, 1994. Vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 125—139.
  31. Vygotsky L.S. The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky: Vol. 1. Problems of general psychology. Plenum Press, 1987.
  32. Vygotsky L.S. The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky: Vol. 5. Child psychology. New York: Plenum Press. 1998.
  33. Zittoun T. Studying Higher Mental Functions: The Example of Imagination. In Valsiner J., Marsico G., Chaudhary N., Sato T., Dazzani V. (eds.), Psychology as the Science of Human Being. Annals of Theoretical Psychology. Springer, Cham. 2016, pp. 129—147.

Information About the Authors

Glykeria Fragkiadaki, Senior Research Fellow, Conceptual PlayLab, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7280-783X, e-mail: Glykeria.Fragkiadaki@monash.edu

Marilyn Fleer, PhD in Education, Laureate and Director, Australian Research Council,, Conceptual PlayLab, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1224-5510, e-mail: Marilyn.Fleer@monash.edu

Prabhat Rai, PhD in Education, Senior Research Fellow, Conceptual PlayLab, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9344-2614, e-mail: Prabhat.Rai@monash.edu

Metrics

Views

Total: 591
Previous month: 14
Current month: 1

Downloads

Total: 178
Previous month: 7
Current month: 0