The significance of transitional objects in an early childhood classroom
By Colleen Goddard
As a long time educator of toddlers and twos, and a current Ph.D. student
studying transitional phenomena and object relations, I have had the distinct pleasure
and privilege to observe teachers in the school where I work, dedicated to
celebrating the presence of transitional objects in their classrooms. In one of
my daily visits I was delighted by the number of stuffed animals, rag dolls and
teddy bears that were abundantly present and harmoniously integrated into the
work and play of the children in the fours room. In a classroom where early
educators might expect objects of attachment to be
mandated to bedrooms, back packs and family travels, I witnessed the
integration of these beloved objects in numerous ways and in a variety of areas
in the room.
According to the New York University Psychoanalytical Institute, “the
transitional object may be conceived of in three ways: as typifying a phase in
a child's development; as a defense against separation anxiety; and, lastly, as a neutral sphere in which
experience is not challenged.” I was amazed how the transitional objects that
found their way from home to school did not challenge the teachers in the
particular classroom I was visiting.
I observed one child clutching her beloved dog while reading a book to her
friend – both she and her dog were actively turning the pages – and with every
page turned, she looked down at her dog, lovingly and with great appreciation
and gratitude for his
apparent contribution and cooperation. Another
child was squishing, squeezing and stuffing his Snoopy inside a wooden block
and alternatively opening the refrigerator door so his dear dog could “chill
out”. I was struck by the level of self-awareness this particular child had for
his own self-regulatory needs and how to meet them.
On the rug, two children were constructing a magna tile rooftop for two
animals – one floppy ear extended carefully up and out of the construction,
while a rainbow colored bear covered in band-aids was laying on top. These
children were deep in conversation about their “hospital” and how their loved
creatures would get better. And across the room, sitting on the floor in front
of her cubby, a young girl was combing her fingers through her raggedy doll’s
hair, another child was sitting with her oversized gingerbread doll, holding a
phone to her ear, and placing one next to her doll, as she nodded in agreement
that Mommy would come back after lunch, and another child was sitting in the
dramatic play kitchen, feeding and clothing her bear, holding it close to her
heart.
These children were utilizing transitional objects into their work and play
– personified instruments of self expression - and this was synonymously
supported, acknowledged and honored by their teachers.
The term transitional object was coined in 1951 by D.W. Winnicott as “a
designation for any material to which an infant attributes a special value and
by means of which the child is able to make the necessary shift from the
earliest oral relationship with mother to genuine object-relationships.”
Transitional objects are self-chosen — a child’s first “not-me possession”
— like a blanket, teddy bear, pacifier, doll. The reliance on such objects is
rooted in sensorial elements that lessen the stress of separation,
while they soothe and comfort the child.
A transitional object provides an understanding of
human development commencing with infancy and early childhood. As children
procure and utilize transitional objects, this becomes indicative of how they
will interact with and maintain human relationships. According to developmental
psychologist Robert Kegan, human development is not possible without
self-referential contexts and meanings. As Kegan states, “meanings are founded
on the distinctions each person makes of the stimuli he or she engages
with” — mainly the object(s) they receive, choose, or discover which have
an internal life of their own. However, if the self-appointed object is
refuted, critiqued or denied in any way, attachment difficulties may arise
later in life. The object allows for and invites emotional well-being, and
without such an object, true feelings may be concealed, suppressed, or
dismissed as the infant/child has no other means by which to cope with,
comprehend, and contend with the world.
In the earliest of classrooms, transitions are experienced over and over. A
parent says goodbye and the child responds in a cathartic release of emotion.
It is in these moments where the healing power of transitional objects is fully
utilized. A “Mother” offers her son an old t-shirt she has worn and the
sensorial elements calm and support this child through the good-bye, as he
metaphorically and literally holds on to the promise of her return.
As an early childhood educator, prior to the start of school, I visited
every family in their home and asked parents what their
child’s transitional object was. Most families shared that their child was
“perfectly fine” and didn’t “need” anything. Once school began, however, I
observed that those children who did not apparently “need” a transitional
object were using self-chosen objects that they had discovered in the
classroom. If Mom had left her scarf unintentionally, it became a security blanket.
Other children would carry pillows or stuffed animals they discovered in the
classroom, hold on to them tenaciously until the parent returned, and then
release these items with utter abandon – flung in the air as the children ran
to their mother or father.
In other situations, transitional objects were often apologized for by
parents, and hidden in cubbies, or backpacks. An ethnographic study in a
preschool in Sweden advocated the use of transitional objects, however, at the
same time, this particular institution also implemented very specific ground
rules in terms of how, where, and when the object could be used.
This particular response gives way to the debatable aspects of the use of
transitional objects. Why are transitional objects perceived as socially
unacceptable, restricted, and allocated to certain times and places? If taken
in context as part of human development, if the object thought to make one
stronger and more resilient in the face
of difference and trauma, is removed or
denied access to, it can actually create more anxiety and
discourse. In fact, research indicates that those children who were deprived of
object relations were often more susceptible to pathological disorders. In
addition, the usage, availability and consideration of such objects can enhance
the connectedness between child and adult and amongst children themselves.
How do transitional objects create meaning as they shape human development?
Transitional objects are representative of every human developmental milestone
– both for the individual self and the differential other. It is the “other”
that is synonymous with the external source of identification– albeit
mother/father – and also the first “not me possession” – the transitional
object which is self-chosen by a child to provide comfort, solace,
predictability, and constancy – representational of a stable and predictable
world. Transitional objects typify that which is rudimentary and sound. In
essence, the object represents the process by which one can navigate life, and
experience a homeostatic inner balance, a cohesive sense of well-being at every
developmental milestone.
According to Mark Brenner, transitional objects continue through the course
of our lives, as “sacred keepsakes” which pull us back to “a place and time of
great solace and memory.” It is the
dependence, identification and attachment to objects outside of the self —
photographs, wedding bands, mementos, music, art and culture — which
define both nostalgic memorials, but more importantly, and astutely, define a
state of connection and presence in the world. However, if the cell phone,
computer, watch, wallet or keys are left or forgotten — the teddy, blanket
or bottle misplaced or misbegotten — one may feel disconnected, removed,
displaced. It is the placement, allocation of and attendance to transitional
objects, which connects us to a secure base. And it is the secure base of human
development that I am drawn to celebrating in the early childhood classroom -
where transitional objects not only bridge the connection from home to school -
but allow for the emergence of a child’s inherent sense of self – supported,
respected and honored by early childhood educators, which — according to
psychologist Abraham Maslow — “matters more than anything else in the world.”
Colleen Goddard is a Child Development Specialist at Beginnings
Nursery School in New
York City and a Ph.D. student at Fielding Graduate
University
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