Historical perspectives on childhood and parenting

Children, Childhood and parenting in Historical ContextChildhood and Education: Sociological PerspectiveEDTHP 597Renata Horvatek

04/12/2023Historical perspectives on childhood and parenting

LAYOUT

Childhood as social construct

Historical perspectives on childhood

Social constructs of a child and parenting Sociological and historical changes

Discussion:Images, documents, questions


Childhood - social construct

Childhood is socially constructed it is not only a biological or natural state!

The idea of childhood varies across time, culture and place

“The idea of childhood is not to be confused with affection for children: it corresponds to an awareness of the particular nature of childhood […] that distinguishes the child from the adult.” (Philippe Ariès, 1962)


Dominant social constructs of a

childhoodThe Miniature Adult

Evil/immoral child

Innocent child

Diego Velasquez (1633)Prince Baltasar Carlos in Silver


Philippe Ariès (1914 – 1984)

Annales School

Resources and methods:Secondary sources; paintings and work of art

The emergence of childhood as a social category

Changes in social institutions shaped the idea of childhood – from lack of awareness to separation of children from adults 13th century Madonna and child


3 historical approaches to childhood

“Idea of childhood as social construction made historians to adopt children’s perspectives and voices in their studies of children and childhood”. (Corsaro, 2011)

Affects of institutional changes in pre-modern world on the social construction of childhood (Aries)

Social construction of childhood within the family and its historical shifts (deMause, Pollock)

Childhood influencing the world of adults (Mintz, Hanawalt, Alston, Wiggins, West, Nasaw)


Historical approaches to parenting

“[…] ideas about childrearing, like all ideas, bear a systematic and intelligible connection to the culture and organization of the society in which they are found.” (Hays, 1996)

• Child rearing and Mothering – socially constructed and changed meanings during the history

• Strict gender roles in child rearing during pre-modern times – moral vs. emotional

• Turning point – 18th/19th century (Industrial Revolution) • IDEOLOGY OF INTENSIVE MOTHERING• Construct of the middle class in the U.S.• Social stratification

URL: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/welcome/crimj441/print.html


Historical approaches to parenting, cont.

Scientifically trained mothers during the Progressive Era

Emotional, behavioral, cognitive development of children

Intensive mothering - working class and immigrant mothers

The Permissive Era (1930s – )

Child-centered family

Family as oppressive institution (1960s)

URL: http://vintageboomer.blogspot.com/2012/07/spock-babies.html

04/12/2023 Historical perspectives on childhood and parenting

Discussion


Social constructs of child (Sorin, 2005)

URL: http://www.nowpublic.com/world/child-soldiers-photo-16


Convention on the Rights of the Child

(UNICEF, 1990)Article 13

“1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.”

• What construct(s) of the child we could read from this Article of the Convention?


Questions for discussion1. When Hays paraphrases contemporary theorists

about child-rearing of children in the 19th century: “The children of the middle classes are trained in independence, while children of the working class are trained in obedience”, how would you apply this notion in the contemporary society in the U.S., or Western world, or even in other parts of the world that you are familiar with?

Could we discuss about education system’s role in constructing the images of children and mothers of different SES?

2. What role does history have in shaping the images of childhood and parenting in the 21st century, and whose history is it?

3. Are you aware of policies in your countries that affect the shift of gender based roles in child-rearing?