Politicizing Transitions in Early Childhood

Abstract

The idea of transitions in early childhood education practice rests on a conceptualization of time that is characteristic of western thought: time as spatialized by having been divided into discrete units. This article explores the space-time dimension in relation to transitions. Drawing on Deleuzian-inspired writings on duration, time as intensive, and bodies and affects, the article engages with the following questions: Are there ways to rethink the idea that a child ‘has trouble with transitions’ ? What do we take for granted as we focus on children's difficulties in transitioning? What are we overlooking when we only pay attention to how children move through activities? How might we direct our attention to what deeply affects children instead of looking only at the shift from one activity to the next? And, perhaps most importantly, what else might be going on in the very moment of a transition? Using an ordinary event from an early childhood classroom as an example, the article argues that too much focus on how children transition from one activity to the next keeps us from exploring the idea of transitions in relation to the intensities children experience and how their experiences endure.