4.1 Case study: suitability and trust
Researchers Kris Kalkman and Alison Clark (2017) draw on the idea that children need to experience a sense of belonging or suitability in order to be active participants in their communities (Woodhead and Brooker, 2008). The researchers suggest that children can reflect on their own degree of suitability when negotiating their role in social play, and it is in this context that the presence of a listening adult might support children’s meaning making.
Consider the following narrative from Kalkman and Clark’s research in which they focus on the role-play experiences of Bahja, a 4 year old girl who joined a Norwegian day care setting from the Middle East. Bahja spent 3 months in the setting’s Badger Group learning about Norwegian language and culture but then joined the Fox group with other children in their final year of day care before school. As you read the extract, note how Bahja seems to reflect on her own suitability to play within the group, and how she approaches a listening adult (Kris Kalkman, researcher author who has spent considerable time listening to children in the setting) to support her play on the periphery, and share in her meaning making about her cross-cultural experiences.
Princesses and Dragons
… As the girls put on their pointy princess hats and silky gowns, they negotiate their roles, discussing and explaining to each other what they will do and how they will do this. When done, they instantly begin their play, some running around as princesses yelling that the dragons are coming, others pretending to be the dragons, ready to capture the princesses and take them to their prison towers. As the girls play, it seems that none of them have noticed that Bahja has arrived in the Fox group this morning.
… having received no invitation to join the girls, she walks into the group and with a somewhat sad expression on her face, she passes the girls by, unnoticed. Walking into the group, she spots Kris, the first author, observing her. Bahja begins to smile and walks over to him. Passing him by, she stands behind him and opens a large wooden chest. From this chest, she takes up a silky gown frequently used by the other girls in their role play. Holding it in front of her, she examines it closely. Then she puts on the gown, and when she is finished, she smiles at Kris, asking him, ‘Do you want to play with me?’ ‘Certainly, Bahja,’ Kris replies, and instantaneously, Bahja starts narrating and takes more content from the chest. Even though enthusiastically narrating, the first author notices how Bahja struggles with finding Norwegian words and as such supplements with Arabic and body language to communicate her intention whenever she notices that Kris doesn’t understand her. But, without any doubt, the first author understands that Bahja is narrating her own version of the princess and dragons role play, as routinely performed by her peers.
Kalkman and Clark suggest that Bahja does not quite identify herself as ‘suitable’ to engage fully in this particular play, perhaps because she does not yet align with all of the social and cultural references. She does however find support in her relationship with an adult who she knows will listen, and integrates some of the group play activities with her own cultural expressions, enabling a sense of participation and belonging.
Summary points
- Complex transitions can involve linguistic and cultural shifts, listening to individual experiences can support children to explore their sense of belonging.
- Developing relationships with children based on listening and trust, can provide a context for them to make meaning of their transition experiences.
- Children who are making significant shifts in transition may vary their levels of participation over long periods of time and often look for the support of a long-term listening partner.
Activity 4 Listening for ideas to support transition
Part 2 Planning to support transition
For the second part of this activity use the insights that listening to Rory and Tanya have given you and list 3 pieces of advice that you would give to a practitioner who is planning to support a transitioning child or group of children from Reception to Year 1. Then add three more suggestions that you would make based on the listening approaches that you have learned about in this course. Use the space below to record your points:
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Discussion
Because of the importance that Rory and Tanya highlight about play that they particularly enjoyed in Reception, it would be appropriate to ensure that the preferences of the children who are making the transition are known. These activities could then also be on offer during any settling in periods. Information about friendship groups for children moving up would also be useful so that children could retain their own support network as they experienced transition. Rory also referred to the shared visiting that took place between the class groups and so it would be helpful to replicate this approach.
You will have a number of other ideas about how practitioners could also support transitions. These could have included:
- Preparatory sessions with the child and their family to listen and respond to multiple perspectives on children’s needs and interests.
- Time spent listening to children’s views in the early days of transition to reflect on potential barriers to participation?
- Promoting the value of listening to children as they share their boundary objects that reflect their wider identities.
4 Complex transitions
