Material-discursive dimensions of early narrative learning in a kindergarten classroom

Abstract

This study applies posthuman theory and materiality to early literacy learning to support shifts in school-based practices from human-centered, developmental models using scripted curricula to one that acknowledges literacy as an intra-active, material-discursive process. The research was conducted in a kindergarten public school classroom where, twice per week, children listened to read alouds and crafted narratives using paper-based and digital tools. The intra-actions recognized children, books, recordings, and writing tools as active participants in the learning process. Learning was entangled with children’s bodies, voices, emotions, and memories. The material-discursive engagements altered the children’s becomings as literate beings. The findings challenge a narrow view of literacy and the child as the sole agent of literacy, highlighting how objects, gestures, playfulness, and cultural stories intra-act to shape learning. The study reimagines storytelling as a dynamic, embodied, and relational practice that disrupts conventional literacy pedagogies.