ABSTRACT
Within early years research, the concomitant growing body of empirical evidence, consequent to the increase in research on emotion and embodiment, highlights the emotional intensity inherent in both the context and the close relationships with young children that take place there, creating "affectively charged" settings. As a research tool, autoethnography can help us make sense of our lives by working reflexively on self-narratives that may, for example, express "turning-point moments". As a sub-genre of ethnographic practices, autoethnography seeks to portray individual experiences by locating the writer centre-stage. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) research into the messy areas of early years work and helps problematise practice to gain deeper insights; the area of complexity, though under-researched, is currently growing. It extends the debate in education discourses through helping develop a broader epistemological base drawn from experience, embodiment, and praxis.
