This chapter shows how very young children’s intentions in interaction are made visible in sequences of action through a very common sort of child-initiated exchange, one that is founded on their emerging joint attention capacities: object presentations. These exchanges, which consist at minimum of two turns – an initiating action by the child and a response by the adult – can be oriented to by adults and extended in ways that facilitate child learning.

Epistemics in EMCA involves the examination of what people know, how they demonstrate their knowledge, and how they design their contributions to take into account asymmetries of knowledge. In this chapter, we investigate epistemic practices in a classroom in the children’s first year of schooling to illustrate the ways in which an EMCA approach can unpack real time trajectories of knowledge management, even in very busy classrooms.

In this chapter, we advocate for a neurodiversity approach as a way to eschew deficit perspectives on disability and to articulate fully inclusive educational practices. With a specific focus on autism, we show the value of conversation analysis (CA) as a method for (1) discerning dimensions of communicative competence in children who communicate through unconventional or non-verbal means; and (2) identifying interactional processes that afford or constrain children’s participation in communication exchanges. The chapter offers illustrations of how early childhood educators might use insights and strategies from CA to identify autistic children’s social-communicative competencies within everyday settings, and to understand how interactions can be mediated to support neurodiversity and inclusion.

Responsive and respectful relationships are principal elements of early childhood curricula in many countries. Children seek to interact with peers, be included as part of a group, and make friends. Successful relationships in the early years lead to better communication skills, increased general knowledge, and feelings of wellbeing, all necessary for successful life and work outcomes. Making friends is often viewed as a ‘natural’ state of childhood, and consequently, assumes an individual’s social skills are the sole reason for a child’s ability to make friends or not. This chapter takes an interactional view to show that friendships are linked to ongoing and inter-dependent actions of the peer group. Seven examples of peer interactions highlight the ways in which children actively seek to participate and build friendships. It is these ‘implications for practice’ that demonstrate how early childhood educators might support children’s play and participation so as to develop responsive and respectful relationships. The chapter argues that when an interactional process approach, based on conversation analysis is adopted, educators can identify the criticality of the social context, and best support children’s opportunities to be included and make friends.

Child-focused conversation analysis research on children’s storytelling practices has drawn attention to family, pre- and early school storytelling practices in a variety of contexts and at different ages. The research has been conducted on storybook reading, and on storytelling during family mealtimes, in bilingual settings and during play. It has shed light on displays of children’s interaction skills, and has also shown how storytelling changes across time.

In this chapter we explore the moral interactional work that preschool teachers and children accomplish in everyday preschool practices. We explore how teachers solicit accounts in assisting the children to remedy a problematic conduct of excluding a child from play. It will be shown how the children justify their actions to avoid being blamed for faulty conduct. In their response the preschool teachers use hypothetical scenarios to avoid blaming and instead modeling the children’s actions and feelings to experience the hurt feeling by a peer. The study shows how an EMCA approach can provide insights into how childhood educators socialize children into accountability and compassion while maintaining a democratic ethos.

Belonging is a concept with positive meaning that relates to togetherness and social fellowship. Belonging can be understood at different levels: most immediately it relates to close relationships and attachment, i.e. belonging to a family or a group of peers. In a wider perspective, belonging deals with being a part of society and its culture and language(s). For a child who enters the preschool, belonging is essential for the child’s wellbeing, development and learning. Hence, many preschool curricula emphasize the importance of belonging. In the Swedish preschool curriculum belonging is foremost related to the child’s development of responsibility and solidarity as a part of its socialization in civics and democracy. The accomplishment of belonging can be challenging, because the conditions for children’s affiliation at preschool differ as they often enter with diverse experiences – linguistically, culturally and socially. A crucial point is the educators’ attitude and view of the child and her/his abilities. This chapter aims to highlight and discuss how belonging can be accomplished in everyday practice at preschool. The data details how teachers and peers contribute to a child’s sense of belonging in various activities or situations; for example, welcoming as a joint accomplishment, embodied greetings, making each child visible and respecting children’s play framework.

The role of embodiment in social interactions has attracted increasing attention in the last decade, both in the area of conversation analysis and that of cognitive science. Embodiment refers to all aspects of nonverbal, bodily behaviour, such as body posture and orientation, hand movements and gaze. This chapter will explain the concept of embodiment in both cognitive science and conversation-analytically informed research on social interaction, will present a state-of-the art review of research on embodiment in childhood interaction and will make clear the implications of this research for embodied practices in interactions with children, especially for childhood educators.