Grandparents and Grandchildren Negotiating Nature Together

• Main Author: Brown, Jeanne Marie
• Language: EN
• Published: New Mexico State University 2018
• Subjects: Early childhood education
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10985661

<p> Grandparents play an important yet varied role in grandchild care-giving, from being the primary caregiver of their grandchildren, to sharing living space and child rearing with their children and grandchildren, to providing informal childcare for grandchildren while their parents/guardians are at work. Grandparents also play a variety of roles in family constellations, including tradition keepers, storytellers, and family gatherers. One unexplored question in the research literature is how grandparents providing care negotiate nature with their grandchildren. Using the theoretical concepts of Funds of Knowledge, <i>nepantla</i>, and Common Worlds anthis study documents and analyzes how grandparents and grandchildren use space, sensory experience and story to negotiate nature experiences. Six groups of grandparents and grandchildren with a history of lifelong nature involvement are co-researchers in this study. The first data collection method was the Mosaic approach, which includes participant observation of care-giving routines, child-led tours of geography important to their care receiving, and child-taken photographs. The second method was walking interviews with grandparents, which were mapped using geographic information systems to produce a spatial transcript. The final method was to create documentation books and a slide show in the style of the Municipal Infant-Toddler Schools of Reggio Emilia that were shared in a large group gathering of all participants. Data analysis was undertaken using a critical constructivist lens, part of a larger crystallization approach. </p><p> Key words: grandparents, nature, grandchildren, children's geographies, geo- narratives, Funds of Knowledge, <i>nepantla</i>, Common Worlds </p><p>