“We are all just family”: Exploring teachers’ views of infants and toddlers as capable and competent contributors in a mixed-age setting

Abstract

This thesis explores teachers’ views of infants and toddlers as capable and competent in their contributions, care and learning within one mixed-age setting. It engages with the aspirational statement of the New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki, for children “to grow up as competent and confident” (Ministry of Education [MoE], 1996, p. 9) by pursuing how teachers see infants and toddlers as already competent and confident. This research found that a mixed-age setting allows infants and toddlers to be viewed as agentic and purposeful in their language, social and physical engagement, and interactions with peers, adults and the environment. An interpretative, qualitative, case study design is utilised, drawing on interviews with six teachers, analysis of centre documentation, and field notes gathered from one mixed-age centre. Key findings reveal that intergenerational relationships that connect teachers, families, and children as a community are highly valued in this mixed-age setting. Infant and toddler wellbeing is supported by meaningful connections to siblings and older members of the extended family and therefore led to teachers identifying that infants and toddlers are confident contributors in their interactions with others in the community. Wenger’s (1998) ideas of community, culture, identity, and belonging are used to theorise the findings of this thesis within a community of practice and form the conceptual framework for this study. Infant and toddler contributions to the mixed-age setting are recognised and valued when teachers see that the sense of belonging and identity of each child are entwined with their relationships with others. Access to intergenerational relationships and community connections allow teachers to practise pedagogy that is representative of children’s and teachers’ cultures. This pedagogy of connectedness recognises teachers’ unique ways of responding to the curriculum, particularly interpreting the principles of relationships, family and community, and empowerment (MoE, 1996) and reflects practice that is specialised to infants’ and toddlers’ ways of being. This thesis concludes that infants and toddlers are both independent and interdependent in their interactions and explorations within the mixed-age setting. Access to people, spaces, and things means infants and toddlers can show their ability to be already both competent and confident in their contributions to the setting.