TY - JOUR
T1 - Playing boys : the body, identity and belonging in the early years
AU - Skattebol, Jennifer
PY - 2006/9/1
Y1 - 2006/9/1
N2 - In early childhood, the body is frequently used as a pedagogical reference point to establish, affirm and stabilize children's gendered and racialized identities. Through this naming of the body, identities are disciplined to fit the social expectations and norms that circulate in educational settings. This article uses data from a case study in an early childhood setting to show how material bodies are not only subject to disciplinary regimes but are also sites of agency for varied practices of embodiment. Embodiment, in this sense, functions as a technology of identity and social belonging rather than as a state of being. Finally, the 'technologies of self' used by children presented certain dilemmas to teachers who wished to collaborate with children to establish inclusive communities and to respect children's agency.
AB - In early childhood, the body is frequently used as a pedagogical reference point to establish, affirm and stabilize children's gendered and racialized identities. Through this naming of the body, identities are disciplined to fit the social expectations and norms that circulate in educational settings. This article uses data from a case study in an early childhood setting to show how material bodies are not only subject to disciplinary regimes but are also sites of agency for varied practices of embodiment. Embodiment, in this sense, functions as a technology of identity and social belonging rather than as a state of being. Finally, the 'technologies of self' used by children presented certain dilemmas to teachers who wished to collaborate with children to establish inclusive communities and to respect children's agency.
KW - early childhood
KW - embodiment
KW - human body
KW - human identity
KW - social belonging
UR - http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/34729
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33748698617&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09540250600881667
DO - 10.1080/09540250600881667
M3 - Article
SN - 0954-0253
VL - 18
SP - 507
EP - 522
JO - Gender and Education
JF - Gender and Education
IS - 5
ER -