Flourishing Together Like a Troupe of Dancers in the Early Childhood Art Space

Abstract

This article describes drawing events with a group of toddlers and an educator that I observed during my master’s research study. The article demonstrates how their artmaking space became a pedagogical third site in which the children, educators, and materials flourished together. First, I discuss how posthuman and new materialist perspectives in early childhood education invite consideration of how humans and more-than-humans coconstruct their experiences of mutual teaching and learning. Then, discussing some of the findings from this study, I illustrate how the art space might become a meeting place where children, educators, and materials live together. Finally, I suggest some areas for future research.

Keywords:

• posthumanism,
• new materialism,
• pedagogical third site,
• art event,
• early childhood art education