Children’s bodily positioning in accounts of naptime in early childhood education and care: a Foucauldian perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT Naptime practices of early childhood education and care (ECEC) have been found to place children’s bodies under adult governance, leaving children few possibilities for agency and influence (e.g. Kuukka 2015; Nothard et al. 2015). In this study, we explore children’s (aged five to seven) accounts of naptime in ECEC, asking how children’s bodily positioning is manifested in them. We analysed two data sets: (1) ethnographic conversations and interviews with children in ECEC, and (2) children’s imaginative narratives on naptime in ECEC. The children’s accounts manifested three bodily positionings: docile, demurring, and rebellious bodies. The findings indicate children have limited possibilities for agency and control over their bodies in this context, although, according to the UNCRC, they have a right to have an influence in matters affecting them (UNICEF 1989). The study highlights the significance of considering naptime anew from the perspective of diminishing adult governance of children’s bodies in ECEC.