Are the Kids Alright? A Black Mother’s Microethnography and How It Can Inform Early Childhood Educational Practices

Toni Denese Sturdivant

Are the Kids Alright? A Black Mother’s Microethnography and How It Can Inform Early Childhood Educational Practices

Abstract

This microethnography explores play, power, and discourse as it relates to Black racial identity development in two preschoolers aged two and four who are the author’s daughters. Knowing more about the racialized content embedded within children’s play can help early childhood educators plan diversity related experiences that account for the specific topics that children are thinking about. However, children may sensor themselves in classroom settings in a way that they do not in the comfort of their homes. For this reason, the researcher used her position as a mother to document authentic play experiences. Using the privilege of an insider positionality, the author used qualitative data collection methods which included observations, field notes, and audio transcriptions. Data was collected over the course of eight weeks in the home of the participants. With an aim to answer the research question: how does my daughters’ play grapple with issues of race or issues related to race? The researcher used a racialized lens in examining their play. Data was analyzed in two tiers with the first tier using a lens of double consciousness, or an internal struggle between being oneself and being accepted by an oppressive society, and the final using intertextual critical discourse analysis. Findings revealed that the preschoolers in the study grappled with race in their play. Specifically, they displayed three types of discourse intertextuality, 1) responding to dominant discourse, 2) contradicting dominant discourse, and 3) confirming them. Implications for early childhood practitioners are discussed.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Other Fields of Education , Studies on Education

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Toni Denese Sturdivant This is me
United States

Publication Date

June 24, 2021

Submission Date

March 30, 2021

Acceptance Date

April 26, 2021

Published in Issue

Year 2021 Volume: 4 Number: 1

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA85XU46PE

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Sturdivant, T. D. (2021). Are the Kids Alright? A Black Mother’s Microethnography and How It Can Inform Early Childhood Educational Practices. Language Teaching and Educational Research, 4(1), 45-58. https://izlik.org/JA85XU46PE