ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the literature and research related to the issues of teaching and learning in early childhood. It discusses a sociological approach to teacher-child interactions from an early childhood perspective. With regard to teacher-child interactions, early childhood teachers enforce which actions are acceptable in the culture of their specific school environment through engaging in an exchange of actions with the child. The connection between early childhood teaching and emotion is evident in research where young children are perceived as agentic partners in the learning, social and emotional interactions they experience in group settings. Membership Categorisation Analysis (MCA) is useful for investigating interactions between teachers and young children as direct observations of their orientation to categories in the co-construction of the interaction is afforded. Through observing the participant's explicit reference to categories during their turns at talk, an insight into their understanding of daily interactions in situ is afforded.
