Session Information
Contribution
Paper to be considered for a joint paper session between networks Histories of Education and Research on Children's Rights. Papers P367, 350, 142 and 949 to be scheduled in this session, with Bruno Vanobbergen (R875) to be session Chair. Up until the late 1970´s, child research within social and behavioural sciences was dominated by developmental psychology and its concepts, models and standards for children´s normal growth and development. In line with this tradition, a prime interest among researchers was focused on studies of developmental processes and conditions, studies which aimed at generating knowledge about how parents, teachers and authorities best could facilitate children´s growing and development. This research tradition was established in the Western countries as a supporter of modernity and its emphasis on rationality and economical development. Methodological considerations typically focused on reliable ways of assessing and monitoring developmental steps and stages. Although there were some methodological diversity, the dominating techniques were of a metric kind.In the beginning of the 1980:s, critical voices were raised towards this tradition in the social and educational sciences (James & James, 2004; Qvortrup, 2006). The main objections concerned primarily two issues, both with bearing on children´s rights. One was about ways of viewing the child, the other brought a structural perspective to the child research agenda. It was argued that within the developmental psychology paradigm, the child was viewed as not being a full worthy human being, but someone on her way to become a grown-up. The other kind of critique concerned the idea that childhood was to be seen as an individual characteristic. Rather, it was argued, childhood should be understood as a social category with particular relationships with other social categories.Drawing on some recent empirical studies (Löfdahl & Hägglund, 2006) I will discuss and comment this "sociological turn" in child studies. More specifically, the focus will be on what the changing paradigm implied in terms of methodological and theoretical approaches in studies of children´s perspectives and children´s rights. Ambiguities and tensions between, on one hand, research focusing children´s life as collective experiences ("far away perspective") and on the other, research aiming at revealing life experiences from the perspective of the individual child ("near perspective") will be discussed. It will be argued that when doing research on children´s rights in education, one main challenge is to balance structural ("far away") and individual ("near") perspectives.James A & James AL. (2004) Constructing Childhood. Theory, Policy and Social Practice. New York:Palgrave MacMillan Löfdahl, A. & Hägglund, S. (2006) Power and Participation: Social Representations among Children in Pre-school. Social Psychology of Education, 9:179-194. Qvortrup, J. (2005). Studies in Modern Childhood. Society, Agency, Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
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