Mosaic of care: Preschool children’s caring expressions and enactments

Children engage in a multitude of reciprocal relationships of care within Early Childhood Care and Education settings; they act as both care-receivers and care-givers. In order to better understand the ways in which children construct care (i.e. as they receive it and provide it to others), this study investigated how 15 three- to five-year-olds expressed, enacted, and then subsequently described and explained their experiences of care in one preschool classroom in the Midwestern United States. Data were captured using the Mosaic approach and included observations, photographs, videos, child conferences, and book-making. Analysis of the data revealed that children constructed care in five ways: to minimize the discomfort or pain of others, support relationships, promote positive emotion, enhance healthy and safe habits, and ensure the longevity and sustainability of their shared resources. Interpretations and implications of the mosaic of care generated in the site are discussed