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While there have been several attempts to account for relationships between humans and non-human animals in the social sciences and humanities, the discipline of education has, until recently, steered clear from the so-called animal turn. Drawing on post-anthropocentric theorizations, we introduce a concept of withling(s) and develop it empirically in the context of early years education. In particular, we zoom into one practice of science education at a kindergarten in order to consider what kind of child-animal relations are and might become invoked. Our concept of withling(s) is not an a priori positive one as during the dance between earthworms, pupils, teachers and technologies, both joy and suffering are invoked simultaneously.

While there have been several attempts to account for relationships between humans and non-human animals in the social sciences and humanities, the discipline of education has, until recently, steered clear from the so-called animal turn. Drawing on post-anthropocentric theorizations, we introduce a concept of withling(s) and develop it empirically in the context of early years education. In particular, we zoom into one practice of science education at a kindergarten in order to consider what kind of child-animal relations are and might become invoked. Our concept of withling(s) is not an a priori positive one as during the dance between earthworms, pupils, teachers and technologies, both joy and suffering are invoked simultaneously.