Digital literacy practices and pedagogical moments: Human and non-human intertwining in early childhood education

Abstract

Various forms of digital devices have established themselves as resources within constructions of professional practices in early childhood education. This article is centred on the question of how we might rethink an example of digital practice based on a Foucauldian understanding of discourse and a rhizomatic understanding of digital practice through the actor network theory. The article puts forth several theoretical arguments to examine data illustrating recurring situations from an ethnographically inspired fieldwork in Norwegian kindergartens. Acknowledging how material agency destabilises human knowledge, the final section of the paper presents the Deleuzian concept of 'event' to examine some elements that evoke forces and actions in the network. The article argues that the potential of these forces can both open up pedagogy in relation to digital practices, as well as challenge notions of agency when non-humans are understood as actors.

Material as actor in the enactment of social norms: Engaging with a sociomaterial perspective in childhood studies to avoid the ‘traps of closure’

“…Nordtømme (2015) shows how space and materiality are educational resources in kindergarten as well as theoretical tools in order to understand the possibilities of play. Focusing on the digital life in ECEC, Lafton (2015) shows how digital practices in ECEC institutions are a tangled net of actions, discourses, materiality and knowledge. Burnett (2017) examines how tablets are enacted in multiple ways, depending on the assemblages within which they are enacted.…”

Domesticated Smartphones in Early Childhood Education and Care settings. Blurring the lines between pedagogical and administrative use

“…Previous research on digital tools in ECEC facilities focuses on different aspects of ICTs. Some explore ICTs such as tablets, computers and interactive whiteboards, and how they are implemented for pedagogical purposes (Henward 2018), asserting that ICTs shape learning, meaning making, and play (Lafton 2015). Another strand focuses on ECEC professionals, exploring how they understand processes of technology implementation (Blackwell, Lauricella, and Wartella 2014;Nikolopoulou and Gialamas 2015;Palaiologou 2016;Thorpe et al 2015).…”

Approaching Agency in Intra-Activities

“…Actors: The actor-network theory (ANT) aims to destabilise the subject and thereby allows the consideration of both humans and non-humans as participants in practice (Latour, 2005). According to Lafton (2015), the idea of how human agency is habitually assumed can therefore be reconsidered, and this allows recognition of the forces working between humans and non-humans within a network. According to Latour (2005), an actor can be anything that modifies other actors through a series of actions.…”