Playing boys: the body, identity and belonging in the early years

Abstract

In early childhood, the body is frequently used as a pedagogical reference point to establish, affirm and stabilize children’s gendered and racialized identities. Through this naming of the body, identities are disciplined to fit the social expectations and norms that circulate in educational settings. This article uses data from a case study in an early childhood setting to show how material bodies are not only subject to disciplinary regimes but are also sites of agency for varied practices of embodiment. Embodiment, in this sense, functions as a technology of identity and social belonging rather than as a state of being. Finally, the ‘technologies of self’ used by children presented certain dilemmas to teachers who wished to collaborate with children to establish inclusive communities and to respect children’s agency.