ERIC Number: EJ912105
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1463-9491
EISSN: N/A
Metamorphosis: Play, Spirituality and the Animal
Bone, Jane
Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, v11 n4 p402-414 2010
Animal- and bird-becoming is an aspect of play as metamorphosis connected to spirituality in early childhood settings. The reconceptualisation of play presented here is supported by research that explored the spiritual experiences of young children in different early childhood contexts. Qualitative case study research carried out in Aotearoa New Zealand included children, teachers and families. The concept of "everyday spirituality" that emerged from this inquiry is informed by post-structural philosophical perspectives. Transformative spaces of "spiritual withness", the "spiritual in-between" and the "spiritual elsewhere construct everyday spirituality in these settings. Four narratives contribute to a bricolage about play as metamorphosis. This aspect of play challenges human/non-human animal binaries, and celebrates unfixedness and infolding: both features of the spiritual. Deleuzian concepts support the discussion and connections are made to the posthuman(ist) condition.
Descriptors: Animals, Play, Early Childhood Education, Young Children, Foreign Countries, Well Being, Imagination, Spiritual Development, Participant Observation, Change
Symposium Journals. P.O. Box 204, Didcot, Oxford, OX11 9ZQ, UK. Tel: +44-1235-818-062; Fax: +44-1235-817-275; e-mail: subscriptions@symposium-journals.co.uk; Web site: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/ciec
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New Zealand
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A