Abstract
This chapter explores the ways that intersubjective experiences were evident during the social interactions that took place in two Australian infant and toddler early childhood classrooms. In philosophical terms, the word experience has traditionally been used to refer to individual perspectives; to perceptions, feelings, desires and thoughts that make up the private, inner life of an individual. When viewed this way, experience is subjective and personal, either in the form of introspective reasoning about, or the embodied experience of being in, the real world. The viewpoint advanced in this chapter contrasts with individualistic notions of experience to suggest that perspectives are not necessarily as private as some standpoints would have us believe. My starting point is the theoretical ideas of George Herbert Mead (1863–1931), who argued that by virtue of membership of a social group and associated, collective social practices, perspectives are regularly expressed and perceived during social interactions with others (Mead, Mind, self and society. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1934). In other words, during engagement in sociocultural, joint activities, individuals orient themselves to one another leading to an intersection of first person (individual) and third person (others) perspectives (Rochat, Others in mind: Social origins of self-consciousness. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009). In this chapter, I present data from two observational studies of infants, toddlers and their teachers to analyse the interpersonal and intersubjective dimensions of their experiences. I develop the argument that, when individual perspectives are expressed, interpreted and exchanged, infants and toddlers participate in the kinds of shared experiences that build a sense of togetherness and community within their classroom.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Avgitidou, S. (2001). Peer culture and friendship relationships as contexts for the development of young children’s pro-social behaviour. International Journal of Early Years Education, 9(2), 145–152.
Bates, E., Bretherton, I., & Snyder, L. (1988). From first words to grammar: Individual differences and dissociable mechanisms. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bateson, G. (1973). Steps to an ecology of mind: Collected essays in anthropology, psychiatry and epistemology. St Albans: Paladin.
Blackburn, S. (2005). The oxford dictionary of philosophy (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Brownlee, J., & Berthelsen, D. (2006). Personal epistemology and relational pedagogy in early childhood teacher education programs. Early Years: Journal of International Research and Development, 26(1), 17–29. doi:10.1080/09575140500507785.
Bruner, J. (1995). From joint attention to the meeting of minds: An introduction. In C. Moore & P. J. Dunham (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 1–14). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Carpendale, J., & Lewis, C. (2006). How children develop social understanding. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
De Haan, D., & Singer, E. (2001). Young children’s language of togetherness. International Journal of Early Childhood, 9(2), 117–124. doi:10.1080/0966976012005348 4.
Deegan, M. J. (1999). Play, school, and society. New York: American University Studies.
Degotardi, S. (2010). High-quality interactions with infants: Relationships with early childhood practitioners’ interpretations and qualification levels in play and routine contexts. International Journal of Early Years Education, 18(1), 27–41. doi:10.1080/09669761003661253.
Degotardi, S., & Pearson, E. (2009). Relationship theory in the nursery: Attachment and beyond. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 10(2), 144–145. doi:10.2304/ciec.2009.10.2.144.
Degotardi, S., & Pearson, E. (2010). Knowing me, knowing you: The relationship dynamics of infant play. In M. Ebbeck & M. Waniganayake (Eds.), Play in early childhood education: Learning in diverse contexts (pp. 46–66). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Degotardi, S., & Sweller, N. (2012). Mind-mindedness in infant child-care: Associations with early childhood practitioner sensitivity and stimulation. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27, 253–265.
Elfer, P., Goldschmied, E., & Selleck, D. (2003). Key persons in the nursery: Building relationships for quality provision. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Emde, R. E. (2001). Foreword. In L. Gandini & C. Pope Edwards (Eds.), Bambini: The Italian approach to infant and toddler care (pp. vii–xiv). New York: Teachers College Press.
Franco, F., & Butterworth, G. (1996). Pointing and social awareness: Declaring and requesting in the second year. Journal of Child Language, 23, 307–336.
Gillespie, A. (2006). Games and the development of perspective taking. Human Development, 49, 87–92. doi:10.1159/000091334.
Goffman, E. (1976). Interaction ritual. New York: Doubleday.
Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Gopnik, A. (2009). The philosophical baby. New York: Farra, Straus and Giroux.
Honig, A. (2002). Secure relationships: Nurturing infant/toddler attachment in early care settings. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Katz, L. (1998). The context of teacher-child relationships. In C. P. Edwards, L. Gandini, & G. Forman (Eds.), The hundred languages of children (pp. 27–45). Greenwich: Ablex Publishing.
Kendon, A. (1990). Conducting interaction: Patterns of behaviour in focused encounters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Liszkowski, U., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2008). Twelve-month-olds communicate helpfully and appropriately for knowledgeable and ignorant partners. Cognition, 108(3), 732–739. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.06.013.
Løkken, G. (2000). Tracing the social style of toddler peers. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 44(2), 163–176.
Martin, J. (2005). Perspectival selves in interaction with others: Re-reading G. H. Mead's social psychology. Journal for the theory of social behaviour, 35(3), 231–253. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5914.2005.00278.x.
Martin, J. (2007). Educating communal agents: Building on the perspectivism of G H. Mead. Educational Theory, 57(4), 435–452. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.2007.00267.x.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self and society. Chicago: University of Chicago.
Mead, G. H. (1938). The philosophy of the act. Chicago: University of Chicago University Press.
Meins, E., Fernyhough, C., Fradley, E., & Tuckey, M. (2001). Rethinking maternal sensitivity: Mothers’ comments on infants’ mental processes predict security of attachment at 12 months. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines, 42(5), 637–648. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00759.
Moss, P. (2007). Bringing politics into the nursery: Early childhood education as a democratic practice. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(1), 5–20. doi:10.1080/13502930601046620.
Musatti, T., & Panni, S. (1981). Social behavior and interaction among day-care center toddlers. Early Child Development and Care, 7(1), 5–27.
Nelson, K. (1996). Language in cognitive development: The emergence of the mediated mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nelson, K. (2007). Young minds in social worlds: Experience, meaning, and memory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Papatheodorou, T. (2009). Exploring relational pedagogy. In T. Papatheodorou & J. Moyles (Eds.), Learning together in the early years: Exploring relational pedagogy (pp. 3–18). Oxon: Routledge.
Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York: International Universities Press.
Reck, A. J. (Ed.). (1981). Selected writings: George Herbert Mead. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rochat, P. (2009). Others in mind: Social origins of self-consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sokolowski, R. (2000). Introduction to phenomenology. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Thompson, R. A. (2005). Multiple relationships multiply considered. Human Development, 48, 102–107. doi:10.1159/000083221.
Tomasello, M. (2008). Origins of human communication. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Tomasello, M., Kruger, A. C., & Ratner, H. H. (1993). Cultural learning. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 16(3), 495–552. doi:10.1017/S0140525X0500012.
Trevarthen, C. (2008). Introduction. In J. Zlatev (Ed.), The shared mind: Perspectives on intersubjectivity (pp. vii–xiii). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
van Oers, B., & Hännikäinen, M. (2001). Some thoughts about togetherness: An introduction. International Journal of Early Years Education, 9(2), 101–108. doi:10.1080/0966976012005346 6.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zlatev, J., Racine, T. P., Sinha, C., & Itkonen, E. (2008). Intersubjectivity: What makes us human. In J. Zlatev, T. P. Racine, C. Sinha, & E. Itkonen (Eds.), The shared mind: Perspectives on intersubjectivity (pp. 1–14). Amsterdam: John Benjamin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Degotardi, S. (2014). Expressing, Interpreting and Exchanging Perspectives During Infant-Toddler Social Interactions: The Significance of Acting with Others in Mind. In: Harrison, L., Sumsion, J. (eds) Lived Spaces of Infant-Toddler Education and Care. International perspectives on early childhood education and development, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8838-0_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8838-0_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8837-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8838-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)