The aim of this article is to illustrate the potential of 'atmosphere' in order to consider more inventive ways of developing the language of young Norwegian ethnic minority children. The article draws on ethnographic data that emerged from doctoral studies. The analysis of the data draws on aspects of Arendt's philosophical work and Bakhtin's…

Western play theories and practices have had a dominant role in creating China's current discursive condition for preschool play. They are also essential to current knowledge production about play. However, this dominance tends to be transferred into rural preschools, which have recently mushroomed and demanded play activities. The authors reflect…

In this article, the authors problematize the dichotomization of play and learning that often shapes the agenda of early childhood education research and practice. This dichotomization is driven in part by the tendency to define learning in terms of formal learning (i.e. learning as an outcome of direct instruction and school-based approaches that…

This article considers what the repercussions are when the concept of "quality" is examined within the epistemological and ontological theoretical shifts that are afforded by post-humanism. In particular, Braidotti's configuring of thinking as "nomadic activity" and the need for "process ontology", together with…

Drawing on the work of Celia Genishi, this article discusses data from an ethnographic case study of young Latina/o children, starting in their four-year-olds classroom in a Head Start Program through their first grade year in a dual-language program in a public school. The children attended a bilingual Head Start program that followed a…

Starting with the research question "What is the role of play as a means of genuine inclusion of home language and cultural traditions in an intercultural early learning programme?", the article focuses on the role of cultural artefacts in a programme in which the majority of the children were refugees from Africa. The sociocultural…

This article discusses theoretical, methodological and analytical strategies for researching the material subject. The discussion relates to discursive practices in a preschool setting with children of one and two years of age, where the material subject includes both bodily and discursive practices. Using critical ethnography research, the author…

This article explores the construction of parent-teacher conferences in the Swedish preschool and focuses on processes that construct and maintain these meetings. The analysis draws upon an ethnographic study in two preschools and the empirical material consists of 11 audiotaped parent-teacher conferences and observations of everyday activities…