‘Quilting’ with the Mosaic approach: smooth and striated spaces in early childhood research

Abstract

This article re-examines material from empirical studies carried out within a participatory paradigm involving the Mosaic approach (Clark, 2017), a particular visual, participatory approach, originally developed to research with young children their perspectives of their early childhood institutions. The work of Deleuze and Guattari (1987) has been a catalyst for exploring alternative ways of thinking about how young children make sense of the material world in which they are immersed. This article focuses on their concept of quilting through exploring the notions of smooth and striated spaces. These concepts are applied at the meta and micro level. Firstly how might ‘quilting’ with the Mosaic approach create both smooth or open-ended spaces for improvisation and striated or prescribed spaces within the research process? Secondly at a micro level, what might the concepts of smooth and striated space combined with a participatory approach, open up about the material and pedagogical environment in early childhood?

Keywords

• Mosaic approach
• listening
• improvisation
• materiality