Guest Post: What is a 'Normal' Child?: The Unseen Impact of Labelling Children in our Settings.
Guest Post: What is a 'Normal' Child?: The Unseen Impact of Labelling Children in our Settings.
by Professor Rachel Holmes
In this guest article from Professor Rachel Holmes, she challenges us to reconsider how we shape children's identities and manage behaviour in early years education. Her research reveals how common practices can unintentionally cement negative reputations and limit children's potential.
Some of the key points that I took away from reading her thoughts are:
Identity is relational:
• Children's identities are formed through interactions with others, the environment, and institutional practices.
The problem with the labels that we give children (we all do it!):
• Labels can provide support but also limit our perception of children.
• "No child conforms exactly to any diagnostic category." - Mallett & Runswick-Cole
The negative effects of public behaviour management like stickers, charts and sad clouds!
• Visible systems like sticker charts can solidify reputations.
• These practices may strongly influence children's own negative self-perception and others’ perceptions of them.
Questioning 'Normal'
• Schools and settings often operate with an unspoken concept of the 'normal' child.
• This can lead to seeing differences as problems to be fixed, rather than seeing difference as ‘typical’.
Embracing Difference:
• We should see difference as an invitation, not a threat.
• "How can we make time to attune better to a child's interestingly divergent trajectories?" - Holmes
Call to Action:
Through her work, Professor Holmes is urging practitioners to:
• Recognise the relational nature of identity
• Be cautious with labels
• Question assumptions about 'normal' development
• Reconsider public behaviour management strategies
• Celebrate and work with children's unique qualities
By addressing these issues, we can create more inclusive environments where all children can thrive, regardless of how they differ from perceived norms. Have a read and see if you agree.
What is a 'Normal' Child?: The Unseen Impact of Labelling Children in Our Settings
By Professor Rachel Holmes
In my research[1], I've explored how children's identities are shaped when they start school, and how certain practices can cement reputations that become difficult to change. This work raises important questions about how we approach behaviour management and identity formation in early years settings.
Identity in school is not simply about individual characteristics but is deeply relational. Building on Foucault (1984, p. 47), I've argued, "Identity is about sets of relations inside which we all live. Relations not only with each other, but also with other bodies such as communities, places, contents and surroundings that constitute the materiality and matter of the world" (Holmes, 2022). Children's identities emerge through complex interactions with peers, teachers, physical spaces, and institutional practices.
Schools and settings often use labels and categories to identify and manage children's behaviour and needs. While these can provide explanations and access to support, we must recognise that "no child conforms exactly to any diagnostic category, so any relief a label offers is always and only temporary" (Mallett & Runswick-Cole, 2016, p. 115).
Moreover, labelling practices can inadvertently reinforce notions of 'normal' versus 'abnormal' development. As Anita Sanyal Tudela (2019, p. 97) notes, "students are constructed according to what has to be controlled in them or otherwise managed or changed in order for them to appear more like the ideal."
I want to draw attention to how public behaviour management strategies like behaviour charts and stickers can solidify children's reputations (MacLure[2], et al. 2012). When we use these approaches in our classrooms, we're cementing reputations for many of our children, possibly strongly influencing their view of themselves and of school[3]. These visible systems of reward and punishment can shape not only how others perceive a child, but also how children come to view themselves.
Schools often operate with an unspoken concept of the 'normal' child against which others are measured. As I've observed, "The term 'normal' is rarely uttered, yet finds itself embedded in every aspect of school life" (Holmes, 2022). This focus on 'normalcy' can lead to children who don't fit the mould being seen as problems to be fixed, rather than individuals with unique strengths and needs.
I urge early years practitioners to reconsider how we view and respond to children's differences. We need to recognise the relational nature of identity, be cautious with labels, question our assumptions about 'normal' development, reconsider public behaviour management strategies, and embrace difference.
As Valerie Walkerdine (1999) argues, "students are constructed according to what has to be controlled in them or otherwise managed or changed in order for them to appear more like the ideal" (p. 2). This construction of the 'ideal' student can have profound effects on children who don't fit this mould.
We must ask ourselves: "How can we make time to attune better to a child's interestingly divergent trajectories? If minor identities reject the idea of being fixed, stable and individualised, how can we reflect on the structuring forces in school?" (Holmes, 2022).
By grappling with these questions, early years practitioners can create more inclusive environments that allow all children to thrive, regardless of how they might differ from perceived norms. Taking inspiration from the poet Pádraig Ó Tuama, I conclude in my work that we should be "interested in ways in which difference and un-sameness can be seen like an invitation, rather than a threat" (Holmes, 2022).
Professor Rachel Holmes
Rachel Holmes began her teaching career in 1990 in an inner-city school in Manchester and has since worked across primary, Further, and Higher Education. Her research is rooted in the challenges faced by children and young people in educational settings.
Rachel has held several notable roles, including membership in the AHRC Peer Review College since 2020 and Co-Director of the Education, Childhood and Youth pathway in the White Rose Doctoral ESRC Training Partnership (2018–2023). Her research focuses on socially marginalised children and young people, combining art practice with qualitative research. Key projects include "Becoming a Problem" and "Things of the Least."
Rachel is committed to interdisciplinary research that fosters innovation and inclusivity in education.
References:
Holmes, R. (2022). A struggle without an end: working with minor identities in school. [RH_Keynote_for_Catalyst_Website_5451_-compressed.pdf (nationbuilder.com)].
MacLure, M., Jones, L., Holmes, R. and MacRae, C. (2012) 'Becoming a problem: behaviour and reputation in the early years classroom', British Educational Research Journal, 38(3): 447 – 471.
Mallett, R. and Runswick-Cole, K. (2016). The urge to know "normal": Theorising how impairment labels function. In R. Mallett, C.A. Ogden and J. Slater. (Eds.), Theorising Normalcy and the mundane: precarious positions. University of Chester Press.
Sanyal Tudela, A. (2019). Normalcy and Deviance: The Production of Schools and Their Subjects. In C. Matus (Ed.), Ethnography and Education Policy. Education Policy & Social Inequality, vol 3. p. 93 - 109.
Walkerdine, V. (1999). Violent Boys and Precocious Girls: regulating childhood at the end of the millennium. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 1(1), 3-23.
[1] Odd: feeling different in the world of education (AHRC, 2018 – 2021)
[2] Becoming a Problem: How Children Acquire a Reputation as ‘Naughty’ in the Earliest Years at School (ESRC, 2006-8)
[3] Addressing 'problem behaviour' in the early years: an innovative film resource (ESRC, 2010)
Very interesting article and yes agree. Teachers often like to label the children as if that would help them or the children manage themselves. I just wanted to add one more thing to this article. More often than not, us adults, have unrealistic expectations of children's behaviour, specially, that are not even age appropriate. That with all mentioned above, complicates matters for our young children because by limiting their potential, we are often times actually limiting their development, learning and growth. A good example of that is when children have more obvious schemas and are already being labelled as autistic when they just might be at a different level of development or have certain sensorial needs.