Digital literacy practices and pedagogical moments: Human and non-human intertwining in early childhood education

Abstract

Various forms of digital devices have established themselves as resources within constructions of professional practices in early childhood education. This article is centred on the question of how we might rethink an example of digital practice based on a Foucauldian understanding of discourse and a rhizomatic understanding of digital practice through the actor network theory. The article puts forth several theoretical arguments to examine data illustrating recurring situations from an ethnographically inspired fieldwork in Norwegian kindergartens. Acknowledging how material agency destabilises human knowledge, the final section of the paper presents the Deleuzian concept of ‘event’ to examine some elements that evoke forces and actions in the network. The article argues that the potential of these forces can both open up pedagogy in relation to digital practices and challenge notions of agency when non-humans are understood as actors.