Productively Undoing a Doctoral Study: Ethically Researching Early Childhood Education and Care in the Majority World

This thesis productively undoes (Spivak, 2012) a doctoral study in the early childhood education and care classes of an NGO run school in Pune, India. I tell the story of my original research project that intended to develop a rich understanding of children’s play and early learning in an early childhood education and care setting through a children’s rights lens within in a marginalised community, while also problematising the universal application of dominant Minority world discourses to the lives of young children living diverse childhoods in the Majority world. Using a combination of Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological systems theory, Vygotsky’s socio-cultural historical theory, and post-colonial theory the study was designed to collect data by ethnographic observations in the school and wider society, along with participatory methods with the children (such as drawings and photovoice), and interviews with teachers and parents. However, Spivak stepped into the process, interrupted me, and stopped the research study in its tracks after the last trip to the school by asking if the subaltern could speak (1992). Rather than analysing the data for themes, trends and results, the data and individual pieces of the research study are taken apart and played with. I push them, pull them, unthread them, rip them, add new threads, braid them, and re-rupture them. I then view them from different theoretical perspectives (Jackson and Mazzei; 2012) and interdisciplinary perspectives, before gently, and with productive intention, attempt to put them back together to offer possible insights and considerations for more ethical possibilities when researching in the Majority world for educational researchers, and for those working in early childhood education and care alike. Format, form, and voice are played with using a narrative approach to the writing process allowing the authority of my voice to be interrupted, challenged, or joined by the voices of children and the interpreter with whom I co-researched. Whispers of conversations, social media posts, news, song lyrics, and stories that surrounded me, interrupted me, or spoke to me during the writing process weave in and out of the story at different times and in different voices.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

National University of Ireland Maynooth

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Matson, Sinéad

Language dc:language

en