Rethinking Childhood: Attitudes in Contemporary Society

Description

Rethinking Childhood examines attitudes towards, and experiences of, childhood. Focus is placed on opposing the processes by which children are made to be 'other': the ways in which children are separated and segregated by adults. Phil Jones explores different aspects of childhood: from education to health, from national policies to home life. A wide range of thought, research and practice from different fields and countries is used to debate, challenge and re-appraise long held beliefs, attitudes and ways of working and living with children. Children's own perspectives on their lives and on adults' attitudes towards them are drawn on throughout the book. The result is a wide-ranging invitation to the reader to become aware of current perspectives on children and childhood, to develop a critical relationship with the content, and to develop their own 'reading' of childhood. Each chapter contains examples of research, reflections on research, activities, key points and guidance on further reading. Areas include: -How is childhood changing? -What is research revealing about attitudes towards children? -Do adults encourage the idea of children as incapable and incompetent? -How do adults fear for, and their fears of, children affect children's lives? -How does the media affect children's lives? -How does a child rights perspective challenge service provision? -In what ways are children's voices and opinions changing our world? Rethinking Childhood is essential for those studying childhood at undergraduate and graduate level and for those working with children in any field, from education to health, from play to law.

Phil Jones is Professor of Children's Rights and Wellbeing at the IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, University College London, UK. He has published a number of books and articles including Exploring Education and Childhood: From Current Certainties to New Visions (with Wyse, Davis and Rogers 2015) and Rethinking Childhood (2009). He has conducted research funded by the Children's Commissioner for England and by the LankellyChase Foundation. Phil Jones is Professor of Children's Rights and Wellbeing at the IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, University College London, UK. He has published a number of books and articles including Exploring Education and Childhood: From Current Certainties to New Visions (with Wyse, Davis and Rogers 2015) and Rethinking Childhood (2009). He has conducted research funded by the Children's Commissioner for England and by the LankellyChase Foundation.

'Phil Jones has produced a lucid and accessible account of the state of childhood today. Clearly explaining current theory and using contemporary examples, he traces how ideas about childhood have become so complex and contradictory and points to the ways that adults simultaneously fear and idealise children, conceptualising them as both innocent and dangerous. The book deserves to be well known, and well used, inside and outside academia... it is wonderful to have a text which is so clearly written and accessible'. Heather Montgomery, Open University, UK, Editor of Changing Childhoods 'A very welcome addition to the field of the 'new' sociology of childhood and critical childhood studies. It draws upon a range of recent research from around the globe, and is written in an accessible and highly engaging style. The questioning format throughout the text will help students, teachers and practitioners to interrogate their own attitudes in a challenging and constructive way'. Virginia Morrow, Institute of Education, University of London, UK, Co-Editor of Childhood: A Journal of Global Child Research 'Rethinking Childhood brilliantly illuminates the social construction of childhood. Phil Jones succeeds in synthesizing research and interviews with leading scholars along with his narrative, resulting in a thoughtful, fascinating account of the most important topics in childhood studies. Rethinking Childhood is a gem of an introduction to childhood studies, and will be a valuable text for undergraduate and graduate students. ' Dan Hart, Director of the Center for Children and Childhood Studies at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.