Abstract
Introduction: Long day care is a place for infants and toddlers to engage in communicative experiences that unite them together as a group. Although researchers have described infant-toddler group engagement involving shared activity, little is understood about how thoughts and feelings are shared collectively in a group setting.
Aim: This presentation will focus on the ways that infants and toddlers engage in collective intersubjective communication (Fivaz, 2017) through proprioceptive interactions (i.e., where thoughts and feelings are shared through the body).
Method: A mixed methods research design was undertaken using the triad (defined as a third infant interacting with an infant-peer dyad) as the unit of analysis. Participants were 20 focus children (aged 3 to 21 months), and four educators from two long day care centres in Australia. A total of 564 videoed observations of infant triads and 18 interviews were collected over a 19-month period and analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Key concepts of infant sociality and social development, and educators’ perceptions about infant behaviour were brought together to generate new understandings of infant-toddler shared communicative experiences during group engagement.
Results: Shared communicative experiences occurred through simultaneous rhythmic interactions involving bodily movements, imitation, sound, listening and shared emotion. These communicative experiences, termed ‘chorusing’, were more likely to occur amongst infants aged 12-months and over. In interviews, educators described these behaviours as being ‘separate but together’ with no one child domineering the play. The child was seen to be drawn to other infants through a shared sense of excitement and anticipation.
Conclusion: Infants and toddlers engage in contagious emotional moments where they are able to modulate together and regulate each other’s emotional and physical states in ways that suggest their developing capacity for a collective form of intersubjectivity.
Fivaz, E. (2017). The present moment in the primary triangle. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 37(4), 242–250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07351690.2017.1299499
Aim: This presentation will focus on the ways that infants and toddlers engage in collective intersubjective communication (Fivaz, 2017) through proprioceptive interactions (i.e., where thoughts and feelings are shared through the body).
Method: A mixed methods research design was undertaken using the triad (defined as a third infant interacting with an infant-peer dyad) as the unit of analysis. Participants were 20 focus children (aged 3 to 21 months), and four educators from two long day care centres in Australia. A total of 564 videoed observations of infant triads and 18 interviews were collected over a 19-month period and analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Key concepts of infant sociality and social development, and educators’ perceptions about infant behaviour were brought together to generate new understandings of infant-toddler shared communicative experiences during group engagement.
Results: Shared communicative experiences occurred through simultaneous rhythmic interactions involving bodily movements, imitation, sound, listening and shared emotion. These communicative experiences, termed ‘chorusing’, were more likely to occur amongst infants aged 12-months and over. In interviews, educators described these behaviours as being ‘separate but together’ with no one child domineering the play. The child was seen to be drawn to other infants through a shared sense of excitement and anticipation.
Conclusion: Infants and toddlers engage in contagious emotional moments where they are able to modulate together and regulate each other’s emotional and physical states in ways that suggest their developing capacity for a collective form of intersubjectivity.
Fivaz, E. (2017). The present moment in the primary triangle. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 37(4), 242–250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07351690.2017.1299499
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 07 Oct 2023 |
| Event | Early Childhood Australia National Conference 2023 - Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, Australia Duration: 04 Oct 2023 → 07 Oct 2023 https://www.ecaconference.com.au/2023/ https://www.ecaconference.com.au/2023/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/07/2023-ECA-National-Conference-Program-at-a-glance.pdf (Program) |
Conference
| Conference | Early Childhood Australia National Conference 2023 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | Kumarninthi—Becoming one: Old ways, new wisdom |
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Adelaide |
| Period | 04/10/23 → 07/10/23 |
| Other | The Early Childhood Australia (ECA) National Conference is one of the most eagerly anticipated events among those who work with young children. Early childhood educators, teachers, service leaders and executives, as well as policy-makers, program administrators, academics, researchers and allied professionals from across Australia—and from even farther afield—come here to be inspired through shared ideas and experiences in an environment of collegiality and collaboration. Delegates are able to critically and constructively review their thoughts and actions, and also celebrate among peers the achievements attained and advancements made in improving outcomes for children, their families and those who work with them every day. The 2023 ECA National Conference and associated events provide an opportunity to renew acquaintances and build relationships with others in the sector. I look forward to warmly welcoming delegates to the 35th ECA National Conference, Kumarninthi—Becoming one: Old ways, new wisdom in Adelaide next October! |
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