What did sitting in a teacher’s lap mean to young children in day care?

Details

The study focused on a particular relationship between teachers and one- to three-year-old children: a child sitting in a teacher’s lap. It asked when and in what situations this happened, which children sat there, why they were there, and how they expressed emotional well-being while in a teacher’s lap.

Relational, sociocultural and revised attachment approaches to emotional well-being provided the theoretical framework. Data were collected using ethnographic methods and analysed qualitatively. Two day-care groups in Finland participated.

For most of the day, at least one child was in a teacher’s lap. The teacher’s lap signified not only consolation and confidence but also delight. For children, it was also a contested site for gaining teacher attention and displaying power. Teachers enjoyed this affective bond with the children, and having a child in their lap also had practical value: sometimes it guaranteed undisturbed play for the other children.