Intro to CHYS Week 3

Introduction to Child and Youth Studies Week 3 Review

Dominant paradigm

Grounded in psychological developmental theory and traditional socialization theory

New paradigm

Social study of childhood, social constructionist theory — new set of ideas and changing theory of children and people

Psychological approach to childhood

Human behaviour could be predicted and measured

Developmental psychologist

Jean Piaget — was interested in how children’s thinking developed with age, not until children neared adulthood that they thought like adults

Psychological approach to childhood

Development consists of progression and growth, children become adults by age based progression through developmental stages

Limitations on Psychological approach to childhood

Assumptions that children are not good is false — children are better than adults in being experts in their own lives and acquiring new language

Sociological childhood

Examines how the child becomes a functioning member of society — blank slate, have no knowledge, children learn through observation

Limitations of Sociological perspective

Children are not simply the product of universal biological and social processes, fails to consider how children construct their world by themselves

Bronfenbrenner Ecological Theory

Believed development is affected by everything in the surrounding environment

Microsystems

Closest to the person and the one in which they have direct contacts — school, work, family

Mesosystem

Interactions between different parents of a persons microsystems, have a direct impact — relationship between parents are teacher

Exosystem

Setting that does not involve the person as an active participant but still affects them indirectly — child affected by a parent getting a promotion at work

Macrosystem

Cultural environment where the person lives and all other systems that affects them directly — economy, cultural values

Chronosystem

Dimension of time in relation to a persons development — death of a person would affect individuals different on age

New view of childhood: Social constructionism

Children are seen as active and intrinsically motivated to learn

Paradigm shift in views of childhood

Childhood is socially constructed, children are active agents, competent and subjects of their lives, and childhood varies over time cross culturally, and historically

Scientific approach to childhood studies

Quantitative, research on children, children as objects, passive, incompetent, becomings

New approach to childhood studies

Qualitative, research with or by children, children as subjects, active, competent, beings, social actors