Sims-Schouten2015

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Sims-Schouten2015
BibType ARTICLE
Key Sims-Schouten2015
Author(s) Wendy Sims-Schouten
Title Bullying in early childhood and the construction of young children as premoral agents: implications for practice
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Bullying, Children
Publisher
Year 2015
Language English
City
Month
Journal Pastoral Care in Education
Volume 33
Number 4
Pages 234–245
URL Link
DOI 10.1080/02643944.2015.1094121
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

Bullying continues to be common, despite extensive research and policy focus. With few studies concentrating specifically on early childhood, there are indications that more research is needed to establish the different mechanisms related to direct and relational victimisation in young children. The current paper sets out to analyse parents’ and early years practitioners’ talk in relation to bullying in early childhood in the light of notions of young children’s agency, intentions and morality. The key question here is how practitioners and parents make sense of this, and what narratives are invoked. In-depth focus group discussions are analysed, drawing on multi-level ‘synthesised’ discourse analysis as a methodological framework. Firstly, drawing on discursive psychology, I focus on the interactive accomplishments of talk, such as managing facts, blame and accountability. The second level of discourse analysis focuses on the wider discourses that participants draw on to make sense of themselves, which includes common sense discourses and ideologies. Findings show that in their narratives, early years practitioners and parents move from discussing examples of bullying in early years, to suggesting that young children ‘don’t understand’ and are incapable when it comes to deciding about right and wrong behaviour. Implications and issues to do with early intervention are discussed.

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