Re-examining and Re-assembling the Gendered Worlds of Preschool Girls

In this chapter, we draw upon data from a six-month study that took place in a progressive, multiage preschool classroom in the northeast United States. Our study focus was on the relationship between young children, gender, and curriculum. Using posthumanist concepts, we focus on how space and materials are actors who can aid in the production of gender in an early childhood classroom. Understanding place as assemblage, we draw upon political theorist Jane Bennett’s concepts of assemblage and thing power, as we map forces and actors in the preschool classroom: “loose parts” (a curated “natural” wooded, outdoor space) and “inner treetop” (the inside classroom space). Our findings show that gender emerges in different areas in preschool classrooms. We conclude with discussions of how separate and distinct possibilities and performances of gender configure into issues of equity and early childhood learning.