2026 Theses Doctoral

Fandom, Peer Culture, and Participation in the Early Childhood Classroom

Llerena, Carmen Isabel

Young children’s engagements with popular culture are often guided by meaningful connections to their favorite media universe. They convey their affection for the beloved characters that inhabit these magical worlds through the clothes they wear, the toys and merchandise they collect, the written narratives and artwork they produce, and their imaginative play. Frequently, these profound interests lead to playful interactions and meaningful connections. However, educators may not understand the value of children’s passion for popular media texts. At best, they may minimize and describe them as cute or fleeting. At worst, they may characterize them as obsessive, abnormal, or pathological. In official school spaces, fandom practices are commonly interpreted as unwanted distractions rather than serious and intellectual work facilitated and circulated by young children.

Bringing critical childhood into conversation with fandom studies, this eight-month case study positions young children as active participants in the social production of fandom. Guided by an upside-down ethnographic stance and using methods such as participant observation and informal and semi-structured interviews, this study sought to understand how young children’s fandoms surfaced in the Purple Room, a pre-kindergarten classroom in New York City. In what ways did their affinities enable children to cultivate relationships and foster a sense of belonging? How did they inform equitable and inclusive pedagogical practices?

In the Purple Room, children’s fandoms emerged as shared multimodal cultural practices. These practices supported connection and inclusion, while privileging expertise and structured participation in disparate ways. Fandom became something enacted, negotiated, and woven into the social life of the classroom. This work underscores the importance of teacher noticing, calls for broader definitions of literacy, and highlights the value of participatory classroom design.