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Philippa is an early childhood teacher currently studying her PhD at QUT and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child.
Philippa’s PhD seeks to understand first-time mothers’ everyday digital practices, with a particular focus on mother-infant interactions when mobile devices (e.g., smart phones, tablets) are present. Data consist of ethnographic observational data methods, including naturalistic video data of mother-infant interaction, and mothers’ accounts. A feminist ethnomethodological lens that draws on the tools of Conversation Analysis, Multi-Modal Analysis and Membership Categorization Analysis, will analyse the ways mothers and infants connect and communicate when digital devices are used. How mothers’ account for their everyday digital practices will also be analysed.
A central aim of Philippa’s study is to understand what constitutes first-time mothers’ everyday digital practices to provide more nuanced accounts of mother-infant interaction and technology use. Furthermore, Philippa hopes her PhD will contribute empirical knowledge that assists in starting strengths bases conversations that consider the participatory possibilities of devices and ameliorate some of the shame, guilt and panic that often accompanies mothers’ digital technology use.