Out of bounds: place, children’s mobility and spatial experiences in Australian early childhood education

This paper addresses key pedagogical topics related to children’s socially and culturally constructed educational places. The study stems from an examination of how children engage with and make use of place and space in two Australian early-childhood centres. It explores how educators from these centres managed their educational space and how this impacted children’s use of it. It also highlights the usefulness of spatial mapping as a methodological research tool and offers possibilities for others to adopt this as a tool. We focus on the children’s use of the physical spaces, their mobility and the bathroom space. Our findings indicate that when locating themselves in the preschool, children mostly followed the rules and norms put in place by adult educators. At times, children would subvert, resist, redefine or play with these rules and locate themselves in spaces deemed ‘out of bounds’ by the educators, particularly the bathroom. Our analysis shows that the ways in which educators are gatekeepers of educational places and their decisions impact how children use their places. The implications of children’s push back attitude are significant, opening avenues for educators to embrace more participatory and democratic pedagogies. This shift may amplify children’s rights to use their educational spaces in ways that better serve their needs.