The Embodiment of an Early Childhood Practitioner

Deborah Albon

The Embodiment of an Early Childhood Practitioner

School of Education

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Abstract

Taking its initial inspiration from the work of feminist writers such as Elizabeth Grosz (1994) who argue for a conceptualization of the body as an entanglement of the corporeal, psychical and textual, this paper explores various, often competing, understandings of the body of the early childhood practitioner. Drawing on ethnographic data from a baby/toddler room I show how practitioners navigate understandings of their bodies as ‘maternal’, ‘non-sexual’, and ‘fit and healthy’ in the context of their daily work in early childhood education and care (ECEC). I will argue that the physical body, as lived through by practitioners, is an aspect of professional work in ECEC – a profession overwhelmingly made up of women - which has been under-explored thus far.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 23 Jun 2017
Event	Gender and Education conference - Middlesex University, London, London, United Kingdom Duration: 21 Jun 2017 → 23 Jun 2017

Conference

Conference	Gender and Education conference
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	London
Period	21/06/17 → 23/06/17

Cite this

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title = "The Embodiment of an Early Childhood Practitioner",

abstract = "Taking its initial inspiration from the work of feminist writers such as Elizabeth Grosz (1994) who argue for a conceptualization of the body as an entanglement of the corporeal, psychical and textual, this paper explores various, often competing, understandings of the body of the early childhood practitioner. Drawing on ethnographic data from a baby/toddler room I show how practitioners navigate understandings of their bodies as {\textquoteleft}maternal{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}non-sexual{\textquoteright}, and {\textquoteleft}fit and healthy{\textquoteright} in the context of their daily work in early childhood education and care (ECEC). I will argue that the physical body, as lived through by practitioners, is an aspect of professional work in ECEC – a profession overwhelmingly made up of women - which has been under-explored thus far.",

author = "Deborah Albon",

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note = "Gender and Education conference ; Conference date: 21-06-2017 Through 23-06-2017",

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N2 - Taking its initial inspiration from the work of feminist writers such as Elizabeth Grosz (1994) who argue for a conceptualization of the body as an entanglement of the corporeal, psychical and textual, this paper explores various, often competing, understandings of the body of the early childhood practitioner. Drawing on ethnographic data from a baby/toddler room I show how practitioners navigate understandings of their bodies as ‘maternal’, ‘non-sexual’, and ‘fit and healthy’ in the context of their daily work in early childhood education and care (ECEC). I will argue that the physical body, as lived through by practitioners, is an aspect of professional work in ECEC – a profession overwhelmingly made up of women - which has been under-explored thus far.

AB - Taking its initial inspiration from the work of feminist writers such as Elizabeth Grosz (1994) who argue for a conceptualization of the body as an entanglement of the corporeal, psychical and textual, this paper explores various, often competing, understandings of the body of the early childhood practitioner. Drawing on ethnographic data from a baby/toddler room I show how practitioners navigate understandings of their bodies as ‘maternal’, ‘non-sexual’, and ‘fit and healthy’ in the context of their daily work in early childhood education and care (ECEC). I will argue that the physical body, as lived through by practitioners, is an aspect of professional work in ECEC – a profession overwhelmingly made up of women - which has been under-explored thus far.

M3 - Paper

T2 - Gender and Education conference

Y2 - 21 June 2017 through 23 June 2017

ER -