The Significance of Conflict in Infant Care

Interactions Between Teachers and Infants in Nurseries

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the significance of conflict in infant childcare. I interacted with infants from 0 to 3 years old in a local nursery, and analyzed my interactions with them. The study period was from April, 201X to March, 201X+1. I analyzed four episodes based on the following perspectives that I defined in previous papers: “intentionality,” “physicality,” “responsiveness,” “empathy,” and “caregiving.” Results showed that conflicts inevitably appear in childcare, with two significant consequences: forming an attachment between infants and the nursery teacher, and strengthening the teacher’s “intentionality.” In order to benefit from conflict, it is important to increase nursery teachers’ sensitivity to the “physicality” of the infant and to continue to try to understand infants’ inter-subjectivity.