Professor Abigail Hackett Professor of Childhood and Education
Professor of Childhood and Education
Summary
I am a Professor of Childhood and Education at the Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University. I am particularly interested in the role of place, materiality and the body in young children’s lives and literacies. My work is located mostly in communities, and non-formal learning spaces.
About
With a background in museums, I have expertise in young children’s experiences of museum spaces. I am particularly interested in methodology, and, as my research is mostly with children aged under three years, I experiment with visual, sensory and ethnographic methodologies for understanding tacit and inchoate aspects of young children’s lives.
One major strand of my research looks at the literacies and meaning making practices of young children in communities. I have carried out ethnographic research with families and children aged under three years, looking at how children’s multimodal meaning making relies on sound and movement in a more-than-human world. It is, I have argued, emergent, provisional and political, deeply entangled with body and place.
A second ongoing strand of my research looks at young children in museums. I have proposed new theoretical frames, grounded in movement, the body and how places are experienced and experimented with, to help educators and museum professionals make sense of young children’s experiences of museum visiting, and to inform provision for early year audiences.
Increasingly my research engages with the context of young children’s lives today, characterised by precarity, increasing inequality and environmental uncertainty. Education has an important role to play in redefining human / planetary relations, informed by historical understandings of how the current situation emerged in a context of colonial expansion and exploitation. My research looks at how young children could be involved in these conversations, and how early childhood educators might respond to the question of what literacies are relevant for thriving in a precarious environmental future.
Research
- Social and Economic Research Institute
Towards Toddlerhood: reframing toddlers and their development through the arts
AHRC, PI, with Jill Pluquailec, Rachel Holmes, Christina MacRae, Jayne Osgood and Victoria de Rijke (2025-2027)
Asking; How can arts practice generate critical conversations with, and alternative understandings of, toddlerhood? this cross-university, collaborative networking project will widen debates about how ‘development’ situates different children differently and what the alternatives, such as a post-developmental lens, can offer.
Voices of the future: Collaborating with children and young people to re-imagine treescapes
NERC, Co-I, PI is Kate Pahl (2021-2024)
This major interdisciplinary project investigates the value of treescapes from the perspectives of children and young people, in order to ensure sustainable treescapes for the future. I direct a work package within this project titled Re-imagining the language of trees: treescapes and very young children exploring language, place and belonging in outdoor spaces, in order to cocreate new ways of thinking about emergent language.
Supporting young children’s language through place and movement in museums
Humber Museums Partnership (2022), PI, with Christina MacRae and David Shannon
A continuation of my long term collaboration with Humber Museums Partnership, this research will understand young children’s experiences of museums, galleries and outside spaces, as they begin to open and welcome family groups. In particular, we are interested in what this situation might have to teach us about the emergence of young children’s language and its relationship with place.
The emergence of literacy in very young children: place and materiality in more-than-human world.
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017-2021)
This major ethnographic study of young children’s literacy practices in community settings in Northern England, has investigated the role of place, materiality and the body in the emergence of literacy in young children between the ages of 12 and 36 months.
KINDKNOW The Centre for Systemic Research on Diversity and Sustainable Future
Norwegian Research Council, PI is Elin Eriksen Odegaard (Sept 2018 – August 2023)
International co-operating partner with University of Tromso on a workpackage entitled The methodology of place – in between local tradition and the development of place in kindergartens for the future. This is part of Kindergarten Knowledge Centre for Systemic Research on Diversity and Sustainable Development, a major Norway wide five year research centre project.
Publications
Journal articles
Hackett, A., & Myrstad, A. (2025). ‘Being there’ in more-than-human worlds; place, body and time in ethnographic research with children. Journal of Childhood Studies, 50 (1), 71-87. http://doi.org/10.18357/jcs501202522143
Hackett, A., Shannon, D.B., MacRae, C., & MacLure, M. (2025). A little thing that returns: Refrains and young children’s sense making in museum spaces. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. http://doi.org/10.1177/14687984251379605
Flewitt, R., Hackett, A., Holmes, R., & MacRae, C. (2025). Grasping the nettle: arts-informed responses to prickly ethics issues in participatory research with children, young people and families. Qualitative Research. http://doi.org/10.1177/14687941251350903
Pahl, K., Ambreen, S., Badwan, K., Carr, S., Cooper, D., Curtis, E., ... Vergunst, J. (2025). How many ways are there to measure a tree? – An experiment in cross-disciplinarity. Research for All, 9 (1). http://doi.org/10.14324/rfa.09.1.04
Hackett, A., Kraftl, P., Pool, S., & White, J. (2025). Fractured stories and voices of the future; coproduced research with young children and trees. Global Studies of Childhood. http://doi.org/10.1177/20436106251315211
Rasool, Z., & Hackett, A. (2024). "I kept telling myself I have to learn; it is good for me and my children”: Motherhood, motivation and learning English amongst a group of Pakistani British women. TESOL Journal, 15 (4). http://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.849
Hackett, A., Hall, M., Pahl, K., & Kraftl, P. (2024). Giving up the ‘Good Research Child’. Qualitative Research, 25 (4). http://doi.org/10.1177/146879412412644
Osgood, J., & Hackett, A. (2024). Unlikely Qualities of Writing Qualitatively: Porous Stories of Thresholds, In-Betweeness and the Everyday. International Review of Qualitative Research. http://doi.org/10.1177/19408447241242425
Shannon, D.B., & Hackett, A. (2024). The entanglement of language and place in early childhood: a review of the literature. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies. http://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2024.2312142
Hulston, S. (2024). Review: Abigail Hackett ‘More‐than‐Human Literacies in Early Childhood’. Literacy, 58 (1), 137-138. http://doi.org/10.1111/lit.12357
Shannon, D.B., & Hackett, A. (2023). Opaque reciprocity: or theorising Glissant’s ‘right to opacity’ as a communication and language praxis in early childhood education. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. http://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2023.2273336
Hackett, A. (2022). Beyond transparency: more‐than‐human insights into the emergence of young children's language. Literacy, 56 (3), 244-252. http://doi.org/10.1111/lit.12297
Hackett, A. (2022). Unruly edges: toddler literacies of the capitalocene. Global Studies of Childhood, 12 (3), 263-276. http://doi.org/10.1177/20436106221117575
Tesar, M., Duhn, I., Nordstrom, S.N., Koro, M., Sparrman, A., Orrmalm, A., ... Malone, K. (2021). Infantmethodologies. Educational Philosophy and Theory. http://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2021.2009340
Hackett, A., MacLure, M., & McMahon, S. (2021). Reconceptualising early language development: matter, sensation and the more-than-human. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 42 (6), 913-929. http://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2020.1767350
Hackett, A. (2021). Kim Lenters and Mairi McDermott, Affect, embodiment and place in critical literacy assembling theory and practice. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 21 (2), 310-313. http://doi.org/10.1177/14687984211003189
Myrstad, A., Hackett, A., & Bartnæs, P. (2020). Lines in the snow; minor paths in the search for early childhood education for planetary wellbeing. Global Studies of Childhood. http://doi.org/10.1177/2043610620983590
Boycott‐Garnett, R., MacRae, C., Hackett, A., Otito Tamsho‐Thomas, T., & Holmes, R. (2020). Bonbonnieres in the gallery: (re)presenting sugar in a family gallery space. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 39 (4), 754-769. http://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12320
Truman, S.E., Hackett, A., Pahl, K., McLean Davies, L., & Escott, H. (2020). The Capaciousness of No: Affective Refusals as Literacy Practices. Reading Research Quarterly. http://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.306
Hackett, A., MacLure, M., & Pahl, K. (2020). Literacy and language as material practices: Re-thinking social inequality in young children’s literacies. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 20 (1), 3-12. http://doi.org/10.1177/1468798420904909
Hackett, A., & Rautio, P. (2019). Answering the world: young children’s running and rolling as more-than-human multimodal meaning making. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 32 (8), 1019-1031. http://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1635282
Hackett, A., Procter, L., & Kummerfeld, R. (2018). Exploring abstract, physical, social and embodied space: developing an approach for analysing museum spaces for young children. Children's Geographies, 16 (5), 489-502. http://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2018.1425372
Hackett, A., MacRae, C., McCall, K., Penfold, L., Wallis, N., Bates, E., & Cooke, L. (2018). Coda: posthumous conversations. A reading group to discuss the work of Dr Elee Kirk. Children's Geographies, 16 (5), 571-577. http://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2018.1497142
Hackett, A., Holmes, R., MacRae, C., & Procter, L. (2018). Young children’s museum geographies: spatial, material and bodily ways of knowing. Children's Geographies, 16 (5), 481-488. http://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2018.1497141
MacRae, C., Hackett, A., Holmes, R., & Jones, L. (2018). Vibrancy, repetition and movement: posthuman theories for reconceptualising young children in museums. Children's Geographies, 16 (5), 503-515. http://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2017.1409884
Gallagher, M., Hackett, A., Procter, L., & Scott, F. (2018). Vibrations in place: sound and language in early childhood literacy practices. Educational Studies, 54 (4), 465-482. http://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2018.1476353
Hackett, A. (2017). Parents as researchers: collaborative ethnography with parents. Qualitative Research, 17 (5), 481-497. http://doi.org/10.1177/1468794116672913
Hackett, A., & Somerville, M. (2017). Posthuman literacies: Young children moving in time, place and more-than-human worlds. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 17 (3), 374-391. http://doi.org/10.1177/1468798417704031
Procter, L., & Hackett, A. (2017). Playing with place in early childhood: An analysis of dark emotion and materiality in children’s play. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 18 (2), 213-226. http://doi.org/10.1177/1463949117714082
Hackett, A., Pahl, K., & Pool, S. (2017). In amongst the glitter and the squashed blueberries: crafting a collaborative lens for children’s literacy pedagogy in a community setting. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 12 (1), 58-73. http://doi.org/10.1080/1554480x.2017.1283994
Abdi, M., & Hackett, A. (2016). Candace R Kuby (ed.), Critical Literacy in the Early Childhood Classroom: Unpacking Histories, Unlearning Privilege. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 16 (3), 418-421. http://doi.org/10.1177/1468798416659216
Hackett, A. (2016). Young Children as Wayfarers: Learning about Place by Moving Through It. Children & Society, 30 (3), 169-179. http://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12130
Hackett, A., Pool, S., Rowsell, J., & Aghajan, B. (2015). Seen and unseen: using video data in ethnographic fieldwork. Qualitative Research Journal, 15 (4), 430-444. http://doi.org/10.1108/qrj-06-2015-0037
Hackett, A. (2014). Zigging and zooming all over the place: Young children’s meaning making and movement in the museum. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 14 (1), 5-27. http://doi.org/10.1177/1468798412453730
Hackett, A., & Dennell, R. (2003). Neanderthals as fiction in archaeological narrative. Antiquity, 77 (298), 816-827. http://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00061755
Hackett, A., Giles, W., & James, S. (2000). Successful vaginal delivery in a woman with amyoplasia. The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology, 40 (4), 461-463. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1479-828x.2000.tb01183.x
Book chapters
Hackett, A., Badwan, K., Dower, R.C., Ehiyazaryan-White, E., Farah, W., Flewitt, R., ... Shannon, D.B. (2025). The Rights of the Talker. In Badwan, K., Dower, R.C., Farah, W., Flewitt, R., Hackett, A., Holmes, R., ... Shannon, D.B. (Eds.) Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. (pp. 237-249). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927-25
Hackett, A., Badwan, K., Dower, R.C., Ehiyazaryan-White, E., Farah, W., Flewitt, R., ... Shannon, D.B. (2025). The Rights of the Talker. In Badwan, K., Dower, R.C., Farah, W., Flewitt, R., Hackett, A., Holmes, R., ... Shannon, D.B. (Eds.) Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. (pp. 237-249). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927-25
Hackett, A., MacRae, C., Shannon, D.B., Chester, R., Cooke, L., Hallberg, E., ... Toon, S. (2025). Rituals, vocalisations, and creating comfortable spaces. In Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. (pp. 119-130). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927-13
Badwan, K., Dower, R.C., & Hackett, A. (2025). Language beyond meaning. In Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. (pp. 159-167). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927-18
Badwan, K., Dower, R.C., Farah, W., Flewitt, R., Holmes, R., Hackett, A., ... Shannon, D.B. (2025). Language, place, and the body in childhood. In Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. (pp. 3-16). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927-2
Farah, W., Hackett, A., Holcomb, L., Nair, V.K.K., & Shannon, D.B. (2025). Coming together. In Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. (pp. 150-156). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927-16
Dower, R.C., Hackett, A., Lee, A., & Shannon, D.B. (2025). Coming together. In Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. (pp. 227-233). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927-23
Hackett, A., & Shannon, D.B. (2025). Researching language and place. In Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. (pp. 104-118). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927-12
Power-Annand, A., & Hackett, A. (2025). Speech Bubbles. In Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. (pp. 70-79). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927-8
Hackett, A., & Gallagher, M. (2024). Voice. In Routledge Encyclopaedia of Qualitative Research methods. Routledge
Hackett, A., & MacRae, C. (2023). Observing-without-reading; material attractions to stone and water. In Osgood, J. (Ed.) Post-developmental Approaches to Childhood Research Observation. (pp. 23-38). London: Bloomsbury Academic: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/postdevelopmental-approaches-to-childhood-research-observation-9781350369757/
Hackett, A. (2022). Literacies Yet to Come: Young Children’s Emergent, Provisional and Speculative Literacies for Precarious Futures. In Cultural Studies and Transdisciplinarity in Education. (pp. 131-145). Springer Singapore: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6944-6_9
Holmes, R., MacRae, C., & Hackett, A. (2020). Introduction to Part I. In Working with Young Children in Museums. (pp. 15-26). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434457-2
Hackett, A., Holmes, R., & MacRae, C. (2020). Introduction. In Working with Young Children in Museums. (pp. 1-12). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434457-1
Hackett, A., MacRae, C., & Holmes, R. (2020). Introduction to Part II. In Working with Young Children in Museums. (pp. 77-86). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434457-9
MacRae, C., Hackett, A., & Holmes, R. (2020). Introduction to Part III. In Working with Young Children in Museums. (pp. 135-143). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434457-16
Gallagher, M., Hackett, A., Procter, L., & Scott, F. (2019). Vibrations in Place. In Sonic Studies in Educational Foundations. (pp. 129-147). Routledge: http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429329388-8
Caton, L., & Hackett, A. (2019). HEAD MOUNTED, CHEST MOUNTED, TRIPOD OR ROAMING? The methodological potentials of a GoPro camera and ontological possibilities for doing visual research with child participants differently. In Routledge International Handbook of Learning with Technology in Early Childhood. (pp. 362-376).
Hackett, A., MacRae, C., & Holmes, R. (2019). Introduction to part I. In Working with Young Children in Museums Weaving Theory and Practice. (pp. 15-26). http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434457-2
Hackett, A., MacRae, C., & Holmes, R. (2019). Introduction to part II. In Working with Young Children in Museums Weaving Theory and Practice. (pp. 77-86). http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434457-9
MacRae, C., Hackett, A., & Holmes, R. (2019). Introduction to part III. In Working with Young Children in Museums Weaving Theory and Practice. (pp. 135-143). http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434457-16
Hackett, A., Holmes, R., & MacRae, C. (2019). Introduction. In Working with Young Children in Museums Weaving Theory and Practice. (pp. 1-11). http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434457-1
Gallagher, M., Hackett, A., Procter, L., & Scott, F. (2019). Vibrations in place: Sound and language in early childhood literacy practices. In Sonic Studies in Educational Foundations Echoes Reverberations Silences Noise. (pp. 129-147). http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429329388-8
Hackett, A. (2015). Children’s Embodied Entanglement and Production of Space in a Museum. In Children’s Spatialities. (pp. 75-92). Palgrave Macmillan UK: http://doi.org/10.1057/9781137464989_5
Hackett, A., Procter, L., & Seymour, J. (2015). Introduction: Spatial Perspectives and Childhood Studies. In Children’s Spatialities. (pp. 1-17). Palgrave Macmillan UK: http://doi.org/10.1057/9781137464989_1
Hackett, A. (2015). Multimodality and sensory ethnographies. In Routledge Handbook of Literacy Studies. (pp. 295-307). http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315717647-31
Books
Hackett, A. (2021). More-Than-Human Literacies in Early Childhood.
Seymour, J., Hackett, A., & Procter, L. (2016). Children's Spatialities Embodiment, Emotion and Agency. Springer.
Hackett, A., Holmes, R., & MacRae, C. (Eds.). (n.d.). Working with Young Children in Museums. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429434457
Badwan, K., Dower, R.C., Farah, W., Flewitt, R., Hackett, A., Holmes, R., ... Ben Shannon, D. (n.d.). Language, Place, and the Body in Childhood Literacies. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781032677927
Postgraduate supervision
I have supervised doctoral projects on topics including early childhood literacies, coproduction with communities, young children, arts and museums, and post-qualitative methodologies. I welcome applications from students interested in my areas of research.