The disappearance of the body in early childhood education

Joseph Tobin

pp. 111-125

in: Liora Bresler (ed), Knowing bodies, moving minds, Berlin, Springer, 2004

Abstract

The body is disappearing in early childhood education. Once a protected site within the larger world of education in which the body could flourish, preschools are now a battle-zone in the war against the body, sites where the bodies of children and the adults who care for them fall under increasing scrutiny and discipline. The decline of the body in early childhood education takes many forms: compared to a generation ago, young children are spending less time in the sandbox and more at the computer; they are less likely to sit on their teachers' lap or to be given a hug, to finger-paint, dance, or run naked through a sprinkler, or to engage with their peers in physical interaction of either the affectionate or rough-housing varieties.