Dr Abigail Hackett

Who am I?

I am a Research Fellow at ESRI, where I write and research young children’s literacy and meaning making practices. I am particularly interested in the role of place, materiality and the body in young children’s lives. My work is located mostly in communities, and non-formal learning spaces. 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.

Academic and professional qualifications

PhD (2010-2014) ‘How do families with young children make meaning in a museum?’

University of Sheffield.

MA in Heritage Education (2004-05)

University of Newcastle.

BA in Archaeology and Prehistory (1999-2002)

University of Sheffield.

Why study Qualitative Methdology, Visual Methods, Early Childhood. ?

Postgraduate teaching

I teach Introduction to Qualitative Research as part of the WRDTP inter-disciplinary MA on Social Research.

Postgraduate supervision (completed/in progress)

Completed PhD Students

Lucy Caton (FT MMU VC Scholarship):
Entanglements in the computer club: learning as non-compliant and ‘in the making’? (minor corrections)

Completed EdD Students

Zoe Crompton (EdD): Interest in science: a case study of children’s perspectives (no corrections)

Current PhD Students

David Shannon (FT MMU Scholarship): Affect and Neurodiversity in the Early Years: Music/Sonic-art as socially just pedagogy (will complete Sept 2020)

Charlotte Arculus (FT ESRC-Collaborative 1+3 Doctoral Award 2017): 2-Curious: more than words (will complete Sept 2021)

Ruth Boycott-Garner (FT ESRC-Collaborative 1+3 Doctoral Award 2018): Affecting Space (starting Sept 2019)

Claudia Ferreira (FT ESRC-Collaborative +3 Doctoral Award 2019) Exploring Translanguaging through Posthumanism: English as an Additional Language (EAL) Children’s Transition from Home to Nursery (starting Sept 2019)

Research expertise

My focus is on the meaning making of young children, particularly those aged under three years. I am interested in the complexity of young children's non-verbal meaning making, and in particular I have developed a focus on their use of movement as a communicative practice. This connects with my theoretical interests in new materialism, sensory ethnography, multimodality, critical spatial theory and anthropology of childhood.

I am a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2020). My project is entitled "The emergence of literacy in very young children: place and materiality in a more-than-human world." Working ethnographically in community settings in Northern England, I will investigate the role of place, materiality and the body in the emergence of literacy in young children between the ages of 12 and 36 months.

Academic collaborations

I am a member of the Naming the World collective, an international group of researchers interested in young children's literacy practices, sustainability and pedagogy. We work across Australia, Finland and the UK, drawing on posthuman theories to decentre the human in our understandings of what literacy and sustainability might mean for young children.

Publications

• Featured Works

  A. Hackett, P. Rautio (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), pp.1019-1031.

  S. Truman, A. Hackett, K. Pahl, L. McLean Davies, H. Escott The Capaciousness of “No:” Affective refusals as literacy practices. Reading Research Quarterly.

  C. MacRae, A. Hackett, R. Holmes, L. Jones (2018). Vibrancy, repetition and movement: posthuman theories for reconceptualising young children in museums. Children's Geographies. 16(5), pp.503-515.

  A. Hackett, M. Somerville (2017). Posthuman literacies: Young children moving in time, place and more-than-human worlds. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. 17(3), pp.374-391.

  A. Hackett (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), pp.5-27.

• Books (authored/edited/special issues)

  J. Seymour, A. Hackett, L. Procter (2016). Children's Spatialities Embodiment, Emotion and Agency. Springer.

• Journal articles

  A. Hackett, P. Rautio (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), pp.1019-1031.

  A. Hackett, R. Holmes, C. MacRae, L. Procter (2018). Young children’s museum geographies: spatial, material and bodily ways of knowing. Children's Geographies. 16(5), pp.481-488.

  S. Truman, A. Hackett, K. Pahl, L. McLean Davies, H. Escott The Capaciousness of “No:” Affective refusals as literacy practices. Reading Research Quarterly.

  C. MacRae, A. Hackett, R. Holmes, L. Jones (2018). Vibrancy, repetition and movement: posthuman theories for reconceptualising young children in museums. Children's Geographies. 16(5), pp.503-515.

  A. Hackett, C. MacRae, K. McCall, L. Penfold, N. Wallis, et al. E. Bates, L. Cooke. (2018). Coda: posthumous conversations. A reading group to discuss the work of Dr Elee Kirk. Children's Geographies. 16(5), pp.571-577.

  A. Hackett, L. Procter, R. Kummerfeld (2018). Exploring abstract, physical, social and embodied space: developing an approach for analysing museum spaces for young children. Children's Geographies. 16(5), pp.489-502.

  M. Gallagher, A. Hackett, L. Procter, F. Scott (2018). Vibrations in Place: Sound and Language in Early Childhood Literacy Practices. Educational Studies. 54(4), pp.465-482.

  A. Hackett (2017). Parents as researchers: collaborative ethnography with parents. Qualitative Research. 17(5), pp.481-497.

  A. Hackett, M. Somerville (2017). Posthuman literacies: Young children moving in time, place and more-than-human worlds. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. 17(3), pp.374-391.

  L. Procter, A. Hackett (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), pp.213-226.

  A. Hackett, K. Pahl, S. Pool (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), pp.58-73.

  A. Hackett (2016). Young Children as Wayfarers: Learning about Place by Moving Through It. Children and Society. 30(3), pp.169-179.

  A. Hackett, S. Pool, J. Rowsell, B. Aghajan (2015). Seen and unseen: using video data in ethnographic fieldwork. Qualitative Research Journal. 15(4), pp.430-444.

  AC. Hackett (2014). Movement and Emergent Literacy. Early Education.

  A. Hackett (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), pp.5-27.

  AC. Hackett (2012). Running and learning in the museum: a study of young children’s behaviour in the museum, and their parents’ discursive positioning of that behaviour. Childhoods Today. 6(1), pp.1-21.

  A. Hackett, R. Dennell (2003). Neanderthals as fiction in archaeological narrative. Antiquity. 77(298), pp.816-827.

• Chapters in books

  L. Caton, AC. Hackett (2019). Head mounted, chest mounted, tripod or roaming? Ontological possibilities for doing visual research with children and GoPro cameras. N. Kucirkova, J. Rowsell, G. Falloon. In: The Routledge International Handbook of Playing and Learning with Technology in Early Childhood.. Routledge,

  A. Hackett, K. Pahl, S. Pool (2018). In amongst the glitter and the squashed blueberries: Crafting a collaborative lens for children’s literacy pedagogy in a community setting. In: The Art and Craft of Literacy Pedagogy. Routledge,

  T. Evans, A. Hackett, J. Magagula, S. Pool (2018). What parents know: a call for realistic accounts of parenting young children. E. Campbell, K. Pahl, E. Pente, Z. Rasool. In: Re-Imagining Contested Communities: Connecting Rotherham through Research. Policy Press,

  AC. Hackett (2018). Barn, sted, tid, bevegelse: på sporet av litteratur om romlig teori og dens relevans for små barn (Children, place, time, movement: tracing the literature on spatial theories and their relevance for young children). A. Myrstad, T. Sverdrup, MB. Helgesen. In: Barn skaper sted – sted skaper barn (Children create place – place creates children). Fagbokforlaget,

  AC. Hackett (2016). Children’s embodied entanglement and production of space in a museum. In: Children's Spatialities Embodiment, Emotion and Agency. Springer,

  AC. Hackett, D. Yamada-Rice (2014). Producing visual records of movement: making meaning of young children’s interactions with place. In: Visual Methods with Children and Young People. Academics and Visual Industries in Dialogue.

  AC. Hackett (2014). Multimodality and Sensory Ethnography. In: Routledge Handbook of Literacy Studies.

• Reports

  A. Hackett, L. Procter, B. Macrae (2017). How do families with under fives experience museums? A reserach report for Humber Museums Partnership. Manchester Metropolitan University, Humber Museums Partnership.

Invited papers

Hackett. A. Thinking about a museum as a place. Invited keynote at Lines of Inquiry conference, Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge (2019).

Hackett, A. Inchoate literacies; leaking, entwining, messy ways of parents and children being in the world, Invited Plenary, part of a panel entitled ‘Mattering, knowing, ethics and care: Post-human approaches to parenting in neoliberal times’. (with Trafi-Prats and Schulte) Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education Conference, Copenhagen. (2018). 

Hackett, A. Early childhood literacy, place and sustainability. Invited paper, University of Tromso (2018).

Hackett, A. Young children moving in time, place and more-than-human worlds, Invited Keynote for the launch of the international KINDKNOW research centre, Western Norway University, Bergen (2018).

Hackett, A. Collective, excessive, political; more-than-human literacies in early childhood, invited seminar at Oslo Met University (2018).

Hackett, A. Children make place, place makes children. Invited paper, University of Tromso (2017).

Hackett, A. Exploring the temporal and spatial nature of movement as methodological challenge. Invited speaker at Summer Institute of the Antipodes, University of Western Sydney, Australia. (2016)

Hackett, A. Walking as a route to ethnographic knowing: movement, perception and wayfaring. Invited lecture at Place as agent in kindergarten practices University of Tromso, the Arctic University of Norway. (2016)

Hackett, A. Making the ephemeral concrete: children’s embodied meaning making and the role of data transcription in recognising the fleeting and the tacit. Invited lecture at Place as agent in kindergarten practices University of Tromso, the Arctic University of Norway. (2016)

Hackett, A. Making the ephemeral concrete? The role of data collection and transcription in recognising the fleeting and the tacit. Invited seminar at Sheffield Hallam University. (2016)

Hackett, A. Publishing in the digital age. Invited panel participant, The Qualitatives 2016, Brock University, Canada. (2016)

Hackett, A. What parents know: collaborative ethnography with families in communities. Paper as partof  the international conference Collaborative Ethnography in Practice, Sheffield. (2015)

Hackett, A. Zigging and Zooming all over the place: young children and their families in museums. Keynote speaker at Kids in Museums Family Fortunes conference, hosted at the People’s Museum, Manchester. (2014)

Hackett, A. and Novitsky, J. Evaluating Adult Learning. Presented at European MuMae conference (museums and adult learners together) on behalf of NIACE, Copenhagen. (2010)

Expert reviewer for journals and publishers

I review papers for numerous journals including:

• Journal of Early Childhood Literacy;
• Language and Education;
• Museums and Society;
• Early Education (New Zealand);
• Children's Geographies;
• Gender and Education.

I have reviewed academic book proposals for:

• Bloomsbury;
• Routledge.

Grants

Exploring Translanguaging through Posthumanism: English as an Additional Language (EAL) Children’s Transition from Home to Nursery
White Rose DTC Collaborative studentship funding ) (2019), with Christina MacRae.

Materiality, place, sustainability and young children’s emergent literacies
MMU Research Development Fund (2019-2020) 

KINDKNOW The Centre for Systemic Research on Diversity and Sustainable Future
Norwegian Research Council, (Sept 2018 – August 2023), PI is Elin Eriksen Odegaard.

The emergence of literacy in very young children: place and materiality in a more-than-human world. British Academy Postdoctoral FellowshIp (2017-2020)

Affecting Space
White Rose DTC Collaborative studentship funding (2018), with Rachel Holmes and Christina MacRae.

2-Curious: more than words
White Rose DTC Collaborative studentship funding (2017), with Rachel Holmes and Christina MacRae

How do families with young children experience our museums? Humber Museums Partnership / Arts Council (2015-2017)

Sounds of Childhood. University of Sheffield Knowledge Exchange Fund. PI Lisa Procter. (2015)

How do children take health messages from an exhibition about the body? University of Sheffield Knowledge Exchange Fund. PI Hannah Fairbrother. (2014-2015)

Kindergarten Safari: investigating children’s movement in a playgroup. University of Sheffield / EPSRC. (2014-2015)

Teaching Collaborative Ethnography. University of Sheffield Methodological Innovations Fund. (2014)

Projects and initiatives

I'm interested in how the theories I work with can support museum practitioners working with very young children.

Read more about this work here: www.underfivesinmuseums.com

Including my recent collaboration with Humber Museums Partnership, in their major Arts Council project on Under Fives in Museums: https://northlincslearning.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/researching-children-under-5-in-museums-part-1/

And the event we ran in May 2017 for museum practitioners to explore new theories and methodologies for thinking about children in museums: https://underfivesinmuseums.com/2017/06/05/summary-of-our-children-in-museums-event-may-23rd-in-manchester/

Consultancy and advisory roles

I have extensive experience of consultancy in the cultural and educational sector. Over the last ten years, I have carried out over £100K worth of consultancy work. Clients have included English Heritage, Museums Sheffield, Hadrian’s Wall Trust, National Museums Liverpool, BBC Learning, Tyne and Wear Museums and Yorkshire Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. I am frequently called upon to provide expert consultancy advice on learning and audience development initiatives for families and communities. Indicative examples include:

• Cape UK: Expert advisor on supporting Yorkshire museums sector to work with early years audiences. Producing and piloting a research led resource for art engagement for young children in museums, 2015-2016.
• Derbyshire County Council: Evaluation of the Read on Write Away programme of family literacy interventions, 2011.
• Barnsley Council: Evaluation of learning programmes at Cannon Hall Museum and recommendations for future learning provision, 2011.
• Museums, Libraries and Archives Council: Inspiring Learning for All Pilot Programme. Intensive organisational development programme with three local authorities in order to develop an ethos of learning at the heart of their provision for communities.
• Museums, Libraries and Archives Council: Open Doors. A three year pioneering project to map the potential of museums, libraries and archives to address adult functional literacy agenda, through pilot projects, advocacy materials and development of staff training and resources.

Media appearances or involvement

Hackett, A. 2014 “Don’t stop toddlers running around museums; it could help them learn” published on theconversation.com

I wrote this article drawing on my doctoral research. It resulted in a large international impact via social media; currently over 100 retweets, and read over 2500 times in range of different countries. The story was covered by UoS press office, and internationally in an article by BBC Culture. Read the story here.