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Beyond pedagogical intention: exploring more-than-human entanglements in early childhood education and care.

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Title: Beyond pedagogical intention: exploring more-than-human entanglements in early childhood education and care.
Authors: Liu, Bonan1 (AUTHOR) bonan.liu@uni-muenster.de
Source: Ethnography & Education. Oct2025, Vol. 20 Issue 4, p362-378. 17p.
Subject Terms: *Early childhood education, *Storytelling, Anthropocentrism, Ethnology research, Social processes, Transcendence (Philosophy)
Geographic Terms: China, Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng, China)
Abstract: This paper explores how Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) can be understood as a space consisting of human and more-than-human entanglements. Moving beyond traditional anthropocentric perspectives, it examines how children, animals, objects, and environments intra-act within educational settings. Drawing on an ethnographic story from a kindergarten in Nanjing, China, the study adopts storytelling as a methodology to trace the dynamics triggered by a street cat's unexpected entry. Using the ontological concept of entanglement, the paper rethinks how ECEC boundaries are continually negotiated between human and more-than-human actors. The findings highlight how more-than-human elements are selectively included or excluded through situated boundary-making processes. Storytelling, as both an analytic and representational practice, offers a way to engage with the complexities of relational life in ECEC, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the fluid, co-constitutive relations shaping educational spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Ethnography & Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Beyond pedagogical intention: exploring more-than-human entanglements in early childhood education and care.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Liu%2C+Bonan%22">Liu, Bonan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> bonan.liu@uni-muenster.de</i>
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Early+childhood+education%22">Early childhood education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Storytelling%22">Storytelling</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Anthropocentrism%22">Anthropocentrism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethnology+research%22">Ethnology research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+processes%22">Social processes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Transcendence+%28Philosophy%29%22">Transcendence (Philosophy)</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22China%22">China</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nanjing+%28Jiangsu+Sheng%2C+China%29%22">Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng, China)</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This paper explores how Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) can be understood as a space consisting of human and more-than-human entanglements. Moving beyond traditional anthropocentric perspectives, it examines how children, animals, objects, and environments intra-act within educational settings. Drawing on an ethnographic story from a kindergarten in Nanjing, China, the study adopts storytelling as a methodology to trace the dynamics triggered by a street cat's unexpected entry. Using the ontological concept of entanglement, the paper rethinks how ECEC boundaries are continually negotiated between human and more-than-human actors. The findings highlight how more-than-human elements are selectively included or excluded through situated boundary-making processes. Storytelling, as both an analytic and representational practice, offers a way to engage with the complexities of relational life in ECEC, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the fluid, co-constitutive relations shaping educational spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Ethnography & Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/17457823.2025.2514751
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 17
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      – SubjectFull: Early childhood education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Storytelling
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      – SubjectFull: Anthropocentrism
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      – SubjectFull: Transcendence (Philosophy)
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      – SubjectFull: China
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      – SubjectFull: Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng, China)
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              M: 10
              Text: Oct2025
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