Abstract
In this article I explore if and how very young children can be the educators of their early childhood educators. I describe and discuss a story constructed form a fieldwork done in one early childhood setting in Norway. The story is read with Levinas and his concepts Said and Saying. Further I discuss if and how this might be understood as education arguing that the children`s expressions are offering new beginning and change in the pedagogical thinking and praxis within the early childhood setting.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The word traces is translated from the Norwegian word “spor” which also can be translated into footprints, prints, paths or tracks.
References
Åberg, A., & Lenz-Taguchi, H. (2005). Lyssnandets Pedagogik (A pedagogy of listening). Stockholm: Liber förlag.
Bae, B. (2005). Å se barn som subjekt (Seeing children as subjects). http://odin.dep.no/bld/norsk/tema/familie_og_barnehager/barnehager/004051-990665/dok-bn.html.
Bae, B. (Ed.). (2012). Medvirkning i barnehagen: potensialer i det uforutsette (Participation in kindergarten: Potentials in the unforseen). Bergen, Norway: Fagbokforlaget.
Biesta, G. J. J. (2003). Learning from Levinas: A response. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 22(1), 61–68.
Biesta, G. (2006). Beyond learning: Democratic education for a human future. Colorado, USA: Paradigm Publishers.
Biesta, G. (2008). Pedagogy with empty hands, Levinas, education and the question of being human. In D. Eguèa-Kuehne (Ed.), Levinas and education. New York: Routledge.
Canella, G. S., & Viruru, R. (2004). Childhood and postcolonization. New York and London: Routledge Falmer.
Clark, A., Kjørholt, A. T., & Moss, P. (2005). Beyond listening. Bristol: The Policy Press.
Dahlberg, G., & Moss, P. (2005). Ethics and politics in early childhood education. London and New York: Routledge Falmer.
Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. (1999). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: Postmodern perspectives. London: Falmer Press.
Davies, C. (1996). Levinas: An introduction. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press.
Fennefoss, A. T., & Jansen, K. E. (2012). Dynamikk og vilkår (Dynamics and conditions). In B. Bae (Ed.), Medvirkning i barnehagen: potensialer i det uforutsette (Participation in kindergarten: Potentials in the unforseen). Bergen, Norway: Fagbokforlaget.
Greve, A. (2007). Vennskap mellom små barn i barnehagen (Friendship between small children in kindergarten). Dr-polit avhandling, Det utdanningsvitenskaplige fakultet, Universitetet i Oslo.
Halvars-Franzén, B. (2010). Barn och etik: möten och möjlighetsvilkor i två förskoleklassers vardag. (Children and ethics: Encounters and possibilities in two preschool classes everyday life). Stockholm, Sweden: Doktorsavhandling, Stockholms Universitet.
Johannesen, N. (2002). Det glemte språket. Hvordan de minste barna bruker imitasjon i kommunikasjonen seg imellom. (The forgotten language: How very young children use imitation when communicating with each other.) Hovedfagsoppgave, Høgskolen i Oslo.
Johannesen, N. (2005). 1-2-3-småbarna er med (1-2-3-The youngest are included). In P. Arneberg, E. Juell, & O. Mørk (Eds.), Samtalen i barnehagen. Oslo: N.W. Damm og Sønn.
Johannesen, N. (2012). Å se det unike i små barns uttrykk: med Levinas som linse (To see the unique in the expressions of very young children). In B. Bae (Ed.), Medvirkning i barnehagen: potensialer i det uforutsette (Participation in kindergarten: Potentials in the unforseen). Bergen, Norway: Fagbokforlaget.
Johannesen, N. & Sandvik, N. (2008). Små barn og medvirkning—noen perspektiver (Very young children and participation- some perspectives). Cappelen Damm AS.
Johansson, E. (1999). Etik i små barns värld: Om världen och normer bland de yngsta barnen (Etics in very young children’s worlds: About values and normes among the youngest children). Göteborg: ACTA Universitatis Gothoburgensis.
Kjørholt, A.-T. (2007). Giving voice to children’s voices: Practice and problems, pitfalls and potentials. American Antropologist, 109(2), 261–272.
Kunnskapsdepartementet (The ministry of Education and Research). (2006). Forskrift om rammeplan for barnehagens innhold og oppgaver. http://odin.dep.no.
Levinas, E. (1961/2008). Totality and infinity. An essay on exteriority. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Duquesne University Press.
Levinas, E. (1981/2008): Otherwise than being or beyond essence. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Duquesne University Press.
Løkken, G. (2000). Toddler peer culture. The social style of one and two year old body-subjects in everyday interaction. Trondheim: Dr.polit.-avhandling Pedagogisk institutt, NTNU.
Olsson, L. (2008). Movement and experimentation in young children’s learning: Deleuze and Guattari in early childhood education. Stockholm: Stokholms Universitet.
Säfström, C. A. (2003). Teaching otherwise. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 22, 19–29.
Sandvik, N. (2011). Forstyrrelser av den pedagogiske orden, En re-tenking av medvirkning I møter mellom småbarnspedagogiske praksiser, filosofiske begreper og billedkunst (Interruptions of the pedagogical order, re-thinking participation in encounters between pedagogy with very young children, philosophical concepts and art. Trondheim, Norway, Phd-thesis (handed in), NTNU).
Sinha, S. (2010). Dialogue as a site of transformative possibility. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 29, 459–475.
Todd, S. (2002). Pedagogy as transformative event: Becoming singular present in context. Paper presented at PESGB conference, Oxford, March 26–28, 2010.
Viruru, R. (2001). Colonizing through language: The case of early childhood education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2, 31–47.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Johannesen, N. Overflowing Every Idea of Age, Very Young Children as Educators. Stud Philos Educ 32, 285–296 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-012-9351-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-012-9351-2