ABSTRACT
This chapter considers ways that the early childhood studio nurtures and supports a sense of attunement to children. A studio, as conceptualized through the work at the Canadian Capilano University Children’s Centre and Early Childhood Education Department, is a place where children, educators, and atelierista gather to think together and engage in extended curriculum projects. The authors explore processes of learning about the studio and shed light on emerging studio pedagogies. They explain how the sense of participation with the unknown invited a particular kind of listening to children’s processes, experiences, and interactions with materials. They learned to attune themselves to the rhythm and movements of children in artistic and playful ways, to the social and relational nature of children’s artistry, and to their multiple languages and forms of expression. This attunement invited care, collaboration, curiosity, sensitivity, and thoughtfulness. The chapter illustrates how listening and documenting, with a heightened sense of care, enabled the authors to view children’s perspectives, while honouring their images, creations, narratives, and voices.
