Exploring how play-based pedagogies support mixed ethnic identity formation

Colilles, Sharon

Abstract

This thesis explores some of the ways in which children’s ethnic identities have been conceptualised by sociocultural and funds of knowledge (FOK) theorisation. Situated within the context of a private day nursery in the north of England, the study problematises established conceptualisations about how realities are mediated to elicit the viewpoints of three children aged 3-4 years. Research design uses praxeological principles (Bertram and Pascal, 2012) in collection processes to generate data. Employed is a two-stage qualitative methodology; semi-structured interviews with practitioners and observation using video-cued recordings of adult directed play experiences explore how the children show awareness of similarities and differences in mixed ethnic identity.
Positioning democracy at the heart of pedagogy in participation, findings evidence children’s capacities for sharing previously constructed discourse from externally encountered experiences with peers and practitioners. Contributions indicate the biracial learner will use new terminologies of brown, light brown and whiteish, together with established societal categorisations of black and white interchangeably. Although the children’s sense of cultural understanding aligned with skin colour differentials relating to self and others, they also decoded values attributed to skin colour terminology (used in larger societal contexts) to describe individuals outside of the setting.
Concepts surrounding socialisation processes; children’s ability to engage in play-based pedagogical approaches; dynamics between power and agency and its influence on dispositions for shaping learner identity; and black researcher positionality have been central for supporting understanding about the complex nature of the socio generative dispositions that drive and perpetuate practice, as well as insider/outsider dispositions. Within the process of research ‘voice’ has been given to what is often experienced, internalised, and goes unsaid for ‘black’ women researchers.
Contribution to knowledge extend beyond academic publication, critical debate at national and local level about circumstances pertinent for inclusion in policy and early years curriculum development are indicated.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jul 7, 2021
• Keywords: Child’s Voice, Ethnicity, Identity, Pedagogy, Power.
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7459888
• Award Date: Nov 2, 2020