Seeing children’s learning subjectivities for inclusive pedagogy in early childhood education

This chapter explores the importance of relational and attentional practices for inclusive pedagogy with children whose learning subjectivities are not easily recognized within early childhood education and are not well-understood by practitioners. The argument presented here is that practitioners need to be willing to affirm such children, who are often described as ‘complex’, not according to a set of universal standards, but as singular subjects who engage with the world in meaningful ways. In particular, it is argued that close attention is needed to children’s body-world experiences and to the existence of connections with human but also more-than-human aspects of the learning environment. A recurring motif is used – one young autistic child’s experience of the interactive whiteboard in his early years classroom – to explore the ways in which the world offers itself to children in educational spaces, what possibilities for learning exist, and what practices constitute an inclusive pedagogy.