How Things Matter in Everyday Lives of Preschool Age Children: Material-Semiotic Investigations in Psychology and Education

Authors

  • Michalis Kontopodis

Keywords:

actor-network theory, agency, childhood, eating, ethnography, material-semiotics

Abstract

This article draws on materials from ethnographic and participatory research on everyday eating practices in Berlin kindergartens. It argues that agency is not always a-priori located in the human subject. Agency can be translated and distributed over relational networks that include people and things; it can even be left over to things depending on the constellation in question. A material-semiotic approach is thus outlined that pays attention to micro-configurations and closely explores action – a focus which can further advance psychological theory and methodology.

Author Biography

Michalis Kontopodis

Dr. Michalis Kontopodis is Research Associate at the Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research University of Amsterdam. His work lies in the interface between educational psychology, anthropology and science and technology studies. His monograph Neoliberalism, pedagogy and human development: exploring time, mediation and collectivity in contemporary schools has just been published with Routledge (2012). He has co-edited special issues of the journals: Outlines: Critical Practice Studies; Memory Studies; Science, Technology & Human Values and ETHOS, as well as the books Children, development and education: Cultural, historical, anthropological perspectives (coedited with C. Wulf & B. Fichtner, Springer, 2011) and Das Selbst als Netzwerk: Zum Einsatz von Körpern und Dingen im Alltag (with J. Niewöhner, transcript, 2010).

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Published

2012-02-22

How to Cite

Kontopodis, Michalis. 2012. “How Things Matter in Everyday Lives of Preschool Age Children: Material-Semiotic Investigations in Psychology and Education”. Journal für Psychologie 20 (1). https://journal-fuer-psychologie.de/article/view/116.

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 1 (2012): Material Girl_Boy: Intersubjektivität und Technik im alltäglichen Leben von Kindern

Section

Schwerpunkt

License

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