Children's collective embodiment—Mobility practices and materialities in mobile preschools

The study investigates children’s mobility patterns in public spaces within the context of a mobile kindergarten (bus). Particular focus is placed on how materiality affects children’s movement patterns. 

Children in mobile kindergartens should be seen as a collective body in motion in public spaces. Through this collective body, children can negotiate their own mobility practices and use their agency. The study shows how the collective body is built on the collection of and collaboration between the children’s and kindergarten teachers’ bodies and material objects. Among other things, the collective body helps children to claim their democratic right to enter the public sphere.

The study’s data material was collected over a period of 14 months in a mobile kindergarten in Sweden. The theoretical framework for the analyses is mobile ethnography. Three kindergarten teachers and approximately 20 children (4-6 years old) participated in the study. The researchers collected data through participatory observation using video recordings and field notes.

Ladru, D. E. & Gustafson, K. (2020). “Children's collective embodiment—Mobility practices and materialities in mobile preschools". Population, Space and Place, 26(3):artikkel 2322.