Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to re-examine traditional early childhood pedagogy, with its focus on play and the development of the individual child, from a perspective that explores the complexity of young children's interactions and social practices. Using transcripts of video segments of young children engaged in their daily play and interactions, this paper focuses on how young children in one preschool classroom construct gendered positions by working on each other to take up discursive practices. Play is seen not as a value- neutral activity but one where children learn the strategic and pragmatic language of power and gender.