‘It’s the little bits that you have enabled me to see’. Reconceptualising the voices of babies using the video interaction dialogue model with early years educators

Abstract

ABSTRACT Grounded in Froebelian Principles, infused with Bakhtin’s Dialogism, this paper draws from a larger ethnographic doctoral study to illuminate the way seven Early Childhood Educators based in England reflect on, and reconceptualise the voices of babies through engagement with a new reflective model, Video Interaction Dialogue (VID). Through a process of rewinding and slowing down time, individuals reflected on the emotional dimensions of interactions with babies to uncover how their voices manifest in practice. Conflict between personal dispositions, professional responsibility and opposing forces in the broader environmental climate occurred but, stepping back from authoritative, regulated pressures in the nursery environment promoted opportunities for new ways of thinking to emerge. Analysis of data was framed within a Cultural Historical Wholeness Approach, examining societal, institutional, and personal dimensions. Three dominating themes emerged: Reconceptualization of babies’ voice and agency, Empowerment, Reaffirmed value in professional role. Fundamentally, educators embarked on a journey becoming highly conscious of their own actions enacting an increased integrity and confidence to reframe the voice of babies as a valued aspect of institutional practice.