Chapter One: Introduction The aim of this research is to explore how parents and school staff use language to make sense of the behaviour of a Reception-aged child, which is understood to be ‘challenging’. More specifically, the aim is to analyse how language is used to construct the child and bring meaning to the child’s actions. I have adopted a largely reflective approach to the research, and feel that an awareness of how my interest within this area has developed is helpful at this stage. During my undergraduate studies in Sociology I was introduced to the thinking of Gramsci and Foucault. I became particularly fascinated in the use of language as a social tool, an interest that continued to grow as I began working in schools ten years ago. At this stage I felt that I became witness to the impact of discourse and hegemony upon children’s developing sense of self and felt that categories produced by society were often oppressive and disempowering. Within my work as a Teaching Assistant, often closely supporting children in primary schools who were categorised within the school system as ‘challenging’, I often felt frustrated by the development of negative reputations around a child (often shared and reinforced within staffroom conversation) and how such reputations appear to impact on both how children are treated and how the child feels about themselves and others. I have a particularly strong memory of a child who was understood as ‘challenging’ in Reception of the school I worked in and the language around him, even at such a young age, included descriptions of him being ‘just evil’. Later within my role of Lead of Social-Emotional Well-Being in a Primary school I attempted to work closely with both children and school
Chapter One: Introduction The aim of this research is to explore how parents and school staff use language to make sense of the behaviour of a Reception-aged child, which is understood to be ‘challenging’. More specifically, the aim is to analyse how language is used to construct the child and bring meaning to the child’s actions. I have adopted a largely reflective approach to the research, and feel that an awareness of how my interest within this area has developed is helpful at this stage. During my undergraduate studies in Sociology I was introduced to the thinking of Gramsci and Foucault. I became particularly fascinated in the use of language as a social tool, an interest that continued to grow as I began working in schools ten years ago. At this stage I felt that I became witness to the impact of discourse and hegemony upon children’s developing sense of self and felt that categories produced by society were often oppressive and disempowering. Within my work as a Teaching Assistant, often closely supporting children in primary schools who were categorised within the school system as ‘challenging’, I often felt frustrated by the development of negative reputations around a child (often shared and reinforced within staffroom conversation) and how such reputations appear to impact on both how children are treated and how the child feels about themselves and others. I have a particularly strong memory of a child who was understood as ‘challenging’ in Reception of the school I worked in and the language around him, even at such a young age, included descriptions of him being ‘just evil’. Later within my role of Lead of Social-Emotional Well-Being in a Primary school I attempted to work closely with both children and school
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