An exploration into young children's embodied engagement with storyworlds through curated storyworld play

Abstract

This thesis explores young children’s embodied engagement with the storyworlds of picturebooks during a playful activity, called curated storyworld play, within English Reception classrooms. The research draws upon two conventionally opposing theoretical framings, sociocultural and sociomaterial perspectives towards meaning-making. These perspectives are used to construct a nuanced conceptualisation of embodied engagement as referring to how meanings are both intentionally conveyed through and unexpectedly arise in the body, through a dynamic interplay between movements and sensations. The research additionally attends to the pedagogical approaches of a class adult during the playful activity. A microethnographic perspective is used to generate video observations of 4- and 5-year olds’ embodied engagement within two classrooms over five months. Observations are subjected to a fine-grained multimodal analysis, focusing on the characteristics of movements. Analysis of video observations identified how changes in the occurrence of movements were associated with three qualities of embodied engagement: fragmentary, lingering and intermittent. These qualities led to changes in sensations and subsequent extensions to engagement, with engagement ricocheting, amplifying and crystallising. Analysis also identified how changes in proxemics were aligned with two types of engagement: engaging from outside of storyworlds and engaging from inside of storyworlds. These types of engagement were fluid, with children oscillating back and forth between engaging inside and outside of storyworlds. These extending and fluid trajectories of young children’s embodied engagement emerged through myriad planned and unexpected material and social interactions, drawing attention to the relational components of embodied engagement. A class adult frequently altered their support and varied their level of participation alongside young children’s extended and fluid embodied engagement. These changes were always reactive as a class adult attempted to read and understand young children’s embodied engagement. Given these findings, the study argues for the value in providing playful opportunities for embodied engagement and staying open to unfolding and extending possibilities during such opportunities.