Revisiting rhizomatic connections and relationships in young children's thinking and meaning-making

Cliffe, Johanna (2023) Revisiting rhizomatic connections and relationships in young children's thinking and meaning-making. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 25 (1). pp. 57-70. ISSN 2537-7191

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to (re)explore possibilities within children's thinking, connecting and meaning-making. Connections and relationships play a significant role in how children develop their thinking and draw sense and meaning from the world around them. Yet, too often they are overlooked in favour of more traditional approaches to knowledge production and pre-determined curricula priorities. These more traditional and predetermined approaches, not only risk marginalising children's learning but may lead to early childhood practitioners (ECPs) missing or (mis)construing the potential and possibilities within encounters. This article critically (re)examines a vignette of practice in a pre-school setting in the South West of England, between a group of 4-year-old children, an early years researcher, an ECP and a bean. Through a Deleuzoguattarian (1987) lens concepts of rhizomes, assemblage and nomad, will be employed to problematise the vignette and reflect on/with multiple lines of flight, to accommodate alternative understandings of the encounter. Drawing on current social and relational pedagogic literature, the paper will consider the importance of connections and relationships in children's meaning-making processes. A deeper exploration of the complex nature of children's thinking, will support ECPs in understanding how children understand and make sense of their world.

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