ERIC Number: EJ1197438
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1350-293X
EISSN: N/A
Affectionate Touch and Care: Embodied Intimacy, Compassion and Control in Early Childhood Education
Cekaite, Asta; Bergnehr, Disa
European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, v26 n6 p940-955 2018
Relational care, interpersonal intimacy and emotional attunement are crucial for children's development and wellbeing in ECEC. The present study examines how they are enacted in a Swedish preschool (for 1-5-year-olds) through recurrent adult-child physical conduct, i.e. affectionate and affectionate-controlling touch. The data consist of 24 hours of video-recorded observations of everyday activities. The study shows that educators' Affectionate-Comforting touch was used for emotion regulation as compassionate response to children's distress; Amicable touch engaged children in spontaneous affection; and, Affectionate-Controlling touch was used to mildly control and direct the child's bodily conduct and participation in preschool activities, or to mitigate the educators' verbal disciplining. The study demonstrates the emotional complexity of ECEC enacted through the practices of haptic sociality. It supports the holistic policies arguing that embodied relational care should be integrated in ECEC, contrary to ideas that connect professionalism with emotional distance and lack of physical contact.
Descriptors: Interpersonal Relationship, Intimacy, Emotional Response, Child Development, Well Being, Early Childhood Education, Preschool Children, Teacher Student Relationship, Altruism, Affective Behavior, Foreign Countries, Tactual Perception
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A