The Development of Subjectivity in Young Children: Theoretical and Pedagogical Considerations

The author presents the outlines of a theory of subjectivity that is anchored in processes of identification. Subject formation is a continual process of becoming that is constituted by three interrelated processes: (1) intrapsychic factors within each child; (2) effects of participation in groups on the kinds of identifications and disidentifications a child adopts; and (3) effects of the discursive practices of society on the kinds of subjectivity a particular child performs. The author begins by outlining Melanie Klein's theory of the development of individual subjectivity through early object relations. Then, using neo-Kleinian writings, the effect of group membership on the child's evolving sense of subjectivity is explored. Ways in which specific discursive environments at home, at school, in popular culture and media etc. can either open up possibilities for expanded subject identification for children or limit those possibilities are then explored. Finally, the author explores the pedagogical implications of this way of thinking, focusing on the ethical responsibilities of teachers to understand the workings of otherness in subject formation so that they might create classroom communities that foster empathy and positive identity formation and diminish the capacity of children to hate and exclude others.