Health Sciences 2700A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Dualism, Social Capital, Neoliberalism
6 Nov 2018
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LECTURE 2 – CHILDHOOD PART I: THE NORMATIVE MODEL Haflon et. al, 2010, & Waller, 2014
WALLER AND DAVIS
• Our chapter is taken from the recent book published by these authors
o Looks at different theories about childhood from an international perspective
• Includes contextual information regarding the changes in how we understand the study of childhood as well as the experience of
childhood
o Very important for us given our interest in the construction of knowledge over time
o Knowledge is socially constructed – changes over time
o The way people think about children and childhood changes over time
INTRODUCTION
• CHILDHOOD – the life period during which a human being is regarded as a child, and the cultural, social, and economic
characteristics of that period
o We can’t understand “childhood” (a stage, process of development) without first knowing what a “child” (the central figure
in that stage and development process) is
• There has been much debate about these key issues and traditionally our understanding of childhood and children comes from
psychology
o The study of the mind and behaviour
o A rather insular approach that leaves little room for considerations of culture, environment, class, gender, race, and the
impact of socio-economic and political change
• More contemporary, alternative perspectives focus on issues of:
o Equity
o The active role that children take in constructing their own worlds
o The importance of “difference” in shaping the lived experience of childhood
o Contests the concept of “normal” childhood development
KEY TENETS OF MODERN THEORY
1) There are multiple and diverse childhoods
2) There are multiple perspectives on childhood
3) Children are involved in co-constructing their own childhoods
o Children are involved in the construction of their childhood along with their parents and other social factors
o Constructed by more than 1 force or person
4) Children’s participation in family, community, and culture makes a particular contribution to their lives
5) We are still learning about childhood
THERE ARE MULTIPLE AND DIVERSE CHILDHOODS
• Childhood is not experienced the same all over the world
o It is a process characterized by a series of events, experiences, and ideas about the world that are both shared among
some groups of kids BUT also unique to each individual
o Through this lens, childhood is considered “mobile and shifting”, it’s not always fixed or stable
▪ Culturally dependent
• These are radical ideas considering that universality, “normalcy”, and linear development of childhood – adulthood was standard
until the mid-1980s-90s
o The role and function of the “normal” child
o Where these standard ideas about childhood were produced
o We don’t all experience things the same way – universal models are a problem
o Normative models have some value, but they shouldn’t be the only thing that determines other things
• These two points highlight the politics of knowledge in relation to childhood
o What about the 80% of children who live in other parts of the world?
o Why don’t their experiences and needs relative to the experience of childhood matter?
Document Summary
Lecture 2 childhood part i: the normative model haflon et. al, 2010, & waller, 2014. Waller and davis: our chapter is taken from the recent book published by these authors. Looks at different theories about childhood from an international perspective. There are multiple and diverse childhoods: childhood is not experienced the same all over the world. Ideas about development: piaget"s stages of cognitive development, challenged the dominant linear approach to childhood. It"s relationship to: pre-existing cultural imagery and cultural meanings; of expectations; of positions; of the marketplace. In some ways, these debates reflect and reproduce the deeper tensions that run through theories and social ideas about development more generally: nature/nurture, biology/social or environmental factors, children/parents. These dualisms are rarely helpful in explaining things in their real diversity. They can set up unhelpful divides between groups. It is meaningless to study the child apart from other people . This includes parents or family, teachers, community folks, authority figures also peer socialization.
