Doing space of participation in children’s peer relations in early childhood education
Ylikörkkö, Enni Mari; Ylitapio-Mäntylä, Outi; Emilson, Anette (2025-04-24)
Taylor & Francis
24.04.2025
Ylikörkkö, E. M., Ylitapio-Mäntylä, O., & Emilson, A. (2025). Doing space of participation in children’s peer relations in early childhood education. Early Years, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2025.2486994
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202505023042
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202505023042
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
This study aimed to deepen understanding of the ‘doing space’ of child participation in early childhood education (ECE), focusing on peer relations. The theoretical framework draws on a relational approach; child participation is a space that emerges in everyday social, material and cultural relations and its action. The narrative research material was produced in one Finnish ECE centre over one week. A dialogical analysis was carried out. Small stories are used as evocative anecdotes to demonstrate the findings. The analysis reveals that the doing space of participation in children’s peer relations appears as continuously emerging in various verbal and embodied ways. The doing space occurs especially as a social space, where material and cultural relations intertwine. Additionally, the teacher appears to be crucial. Although children follow norms, they can challenge practices in ECE. The article contributes to ECE research by opening up new perspectives on child participation as a relational spatial phenomenon.
This study aimed to deepen understanding of the ‘doing space’ of child participation in early childhood education (ECE), focusing on peer relations. The theoretical framework draws on a relational approach; child participation is a space that emerges in everyday social, material and cultural relations and its action. The narrative research material was produced in one Finnish ECE centre over one week. A dialogical analysis was carried out. Small stories are used as evocative anecdotes to demonstrate the findings. The analysis reveals that the doing space of participation in children’s peer relations appears as continuously emerging in various verbal and embodied ways. The doing space occurs especially as a social space, where material and cultural relations intertwine. Additionally, the teacher appears to be crucial. Although children follow norms, they can challenge practices in ECE. The article contributes to ECE research by opening up new perspectives on child participation as a relational spatial phenomenon.
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