The dignity of the quotidien in early childhood education
The Dignity of the Quotidien repositions understandings of everyday practices in early childhood education and care (ECEC), by bringing value and visibility to the epistemological and ontological nature of everydayness. By applying the construct of quotidien (Sheringham, 2006) to educational discourse, this thesis demonstrates that the everyday is a highly contextual relational space; a shifting reality across ECEC settings that is created, experienced and produced rather than a ubiquitous sequence of practices, rituals and routines. Indeed, the resilience of quotidien practices, coupled with the subjectivities of pedagogical spaces, has the capacity to structure and bring identity to ECEC theories in practice.
A three-month case study was undertaken in an Australian long day care centre that celebrates the richness of the everyday and is committed to the reciprocity of respectful relationships. Using the methodology of pedagogical documentation, everyday moments build a rich picture of how ontological qualities shape theory within contexts, bringing an indentity to ways of working creted in the space of the everyday. Coupled with the pedagogical documentation of everyday moements, a Knitting Project was also implemented. Through the 'language' of knitting, this metaproject revealed insights into the quotidien thinking, the shared qualities underpinning the educators' way of working. This synergy of thinking weaves an epistemology that brings identity to our everyday design with children.
The relationship of ECEC concepts, practices and spaces and quotidien discourse weaves, together a re-imagining of quotidien within the context of educational practice. This thesis demonstrates that in ECEC, quotidien is a concept that enlivens the interdependent relationship of theory and practice, through the situated lens that the construct brings to pedagogical spaces. As a thesis by publication, this work includes multiple components, which are submitted as a complete entity.