A sensory landscape of place as an invitation to belonging in early childhood settings

This article analyses data from a study that explored the role of early childhood education in supporting a sense of belonging for immigrant children and families in Aotearoa New Zealand, whilst sustaining their connections with homes and homelands. We draw on teachers’ documentation of curriculum experiences, focus group discussions, and interviews to consider ways in which teachers purposely integrated sensory experiences from children’s home countries within the curriculum in order to generate a sense of belonging. After introducing the topic and relevant literature, we describe the research design for the study and characteristics of the four participating early childhood centres. We then summarise representative comments about incorporation of the five senses within the centres, and set up an extended vignette of one centre. We assert that the sensory landscape of a place is a taken-for-granted and thus a largely overlooked aspect of early childhood pedagogy worthy of direct theory and practice attention.