Undoing the Expressive Child: Gender, Space, and the Transition from EYFS to Year 1

(Thanks to Alexander Grey for the photo)

Written for CREC (Centre for Research in Early Childhood) in December 2024, this academic blog was developed ahead of my paper presentation at the British Educational Research Association (BERA) conference. The piece introduces the concept of Undoing the Expressive Child and interrogates taken-for-granted assumptions about expression within Early Years research and practice.

The blog challenges the dominant narrative that positions children as naturally expressive subjects whose thoughts and identities are readily accessible through speech, drawing or performance. In this piece, I argue that such expectations can unintentionally privilege certain modes of communication while marginalising others. Not all children express themselves in ways that align with adult-defined frameworks of visibility and voice.

Drawing on post-qualitative and relational perspectives, the article explores how expression is shaped by environment, relationships, material conditions and researcher interpretation. It asks what becomes overlooked when participation is equated with overt verbal or creative output. Silence, hesitation and non-normative forms of engagement are reconsidered as meaningful rather than deficient.

The concept of Undoing the Expressive Child invites practitioners and researchers to loosen their attachment to familiar participatory models. Rather than seeking to extract voice, the blog encourages attentiveness to the subtle, relational and sometimes resistant ways children inhabit research spaces.

This contribution extends debates in Early Years research, participatory methodology and childhood studies, offering a reflective lens on how assumptions about expression shape what is recognised, valued and documented.