I am inspired by the idea of diffraction as a way of describing my interest in patterns of interference in early childhood education. A nudge in thinking creates a ripple and then a wave: a wave that in turn might overlap with another wave, perhaps with one that originated in some other place and time, in some other reality, created by some other meeting of minds or energies or materials, infinitely reconfiguring what is real and what is true. Hill (2017) explains,

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“Diffraction, within the context of physics, involves the bending and spreading of waves when they encounter a barrier or an opening. Diffraction therefore, as a metaphor for inquiry involves attending to difference, to patterns of interference, and the effects of difference-making practices. Diffraction creates something ontologically new, breaking out of the cyclical, inductive realm of reflection” (p. 2).

 

Diffraction not only as a metaphor but also as a method of practice, is helpful in framing my intentions as an educator to strive toward a critical and creative consciousness in my life, work and relationships: “Diffraction is a narrative, graphic, psychological, spiritual, and political technology for making consequential meanings” (Haraway, 1997, p. 14) and “accounting for how practices matter” (Barad, 2007, p. 90). Beyond reflection, in which practitioners study and are limited to what is already there, diffraction provides opportunities and openings for more generative ways of thinking about children and teaching in different unique and situated contexts (Moxnes & Oxgood, 2018).

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​In the field of early childhood education, diffraction can be used as a method for making a difference (Hill, 2019). For example, when resistance is offered against the dominance of child development theories as ways of pre-determining who a child is and how they should learn, new patterns, ways of thinking and ways of knowing can emerge from this interference. When openings are created to allow for children to be co-creators of curriculum rather that compliant subjects, patterns of difference can be seen as positive and full of possibilities.