Childcare

The impact of social constructionism of childhood over time on education and schooling

There are several approaches available to study on children and childhood such as applied approach, scientific approach and the social constructionist approach. The purpose of the social construction is to understand the detailed construction pathway of children and the childhood and what purpose it would serve to the society. The approach of social constructionism provides alternative pathways to investigate about the child and childhood. The social construct of childhood depends on varying concepts contributed by different cultures of the society at different time periods of history (Norozi, et al, 2016).

The definition of Child:

Everybody has an understanding of what is meant to be a child as every individual has gone through this phase of life. Therefore, the concept of child and childhood cannot be considered to be an abstract idea. The author Roger stated that for most of the people child is related to a matter of physical size and its growth and development. A child is considered to be physically and psychologically immature when compared with the adult beings, so they are dependent on adults to fulfil their biological and psychological demands. They also need a long span of time to socialize with the community and they are also not considered to be responsible for their actions as they lack the maturity. The facts about the rights and demands of the child and childhood are illustrated by the United Nations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). The guidelines clearly stated that a person can be considered to be child if he/she is within the age of 18 years. It also highlighted about the children’s right to present their opinion, about their freedom expression and to share and gather information of relevance (Mouritsen, 2002; Grover, et al, 2015; James, et al, 2012).

The child development theories:

These theories explain the changes that children faces while growing and it includes the several aspects of social, cognitive and emotional development (Refer Fig: 1).

There were various theories linked with the perspectives of early childhood at different period of time such as the Philippe Aries Theory, the theory proposed by thinker Jean Rousseau on childhood, the theories proposed by Prof. Hugh Cunningham who provided a general idea of theories on childhood, over 500 years ago in the West, the contribution of John Locke on concept of childhood and the Piaget’s (1936) theory. The children acquire much of the knowledge from the direct experiences within the environment they stay than the teaching approach of delivering lectures. The Aries theory of childhood depicted the most important fact that the concept of childhood had changed time to time within the different periods of history. He argued that in the Middle Age, the concept of childhood did not exist and they were expected to work much harder at a very early age and the existing law at that period of time made no differentiation between the adults and children. The theory proposed by Jean Rousseau focused on the importance of free expression which helps to create a stable and free spirited thinking of the child. The child would show their highest potential if they are allowed to grow without any hindrance. As per the opinions of the Romantics, the children are considered as “innocent by birth”/ more than the innocent. Similarly, John Locke also proposed that every child is different and he had highlighted on effective fostering by the active parents and teachers to train the virtuous minds. He also mentioned that every child should have the capacity of enduring hardship so that they can face every struggles of their life. Piaget’s theory highlights on the cognitive development aspects that how a child can create a model of imagination of the world. He did not consider that intelligence is a predetermined trait and cognitive development is the maturation of the biological parts while interacting with the environment. Several literatures have also stated that family, neighbours and school helps in the development of the child (Brooks-Gunn et al., 1993a; Rosenbaum and Popkin, 1991). Among the several frameworks that contribute to the development of the early stages of childhood the family system approach, course of life, family and extra family ecology, risk and resilience are the notable ones. From this approaches it can be understood that socialization contributes to the development of the child in various ways. The interaction of the individual with the environment helps in the cognitive development of the child (Philippe Ariès, 1962; Guldberg, et al, 2009; Ulanowicz, et al, 2007; Evans, et al, 2009; Cunningham, et al, 2014; Cunningham, et al, 2006; McLeod, et al, 2018).

Ethnographic research in the field of sociology and education focused on the significance of listening approach towards the child which would help them to understand the complex behaviour of the child within the school environment (Pollard, 1985, 1996). Recent sociological studies on the childhood deal with the position and status of the children in comparison to the grownups within the society (Adler, 1991). Recently it has been observed that there are a lot of changes incorporated within the Irish education system in terms of its structure and the content to match the demands of the modern society. It had also led to the development and implementation of the Education Act on 1998. This was very much needed as there was no evidence or consultation available with the children or the young people on their experience about the education system and the future policies on this area. This act has included the guidelines of the UN conventions on the rights of children about the information and involvement in the school activities and also encourages the establishment of student council body for the second level students. The grievance by the students in absence of their parents were allowed at the age of 18 years and the age of the students for compulsory attendance to the school is at the age of 16 years. Therefore the absence of the right to voice the opinion of the children indicates about the discourse within the Irish society which framed the guidelines on the terms of the adults and restricted the access of children. They are also dependent on their parents for financial assistance and this particular phase of dependency described the concept of the childhood during that existing society (Devine, 1999; Lynch, 1999).

Construction of childhood in early childhood education policy debate:

There were three dominant constructions on childhood: the construction of children as a dependent within the family setting; a child considered as a learner within a community full of learners and the child in the role of a citizen within the society (Mandell, et al, 1991).

Proper supervision and quality control are therefore effective for managing proper standards of safeguarding the vulnerable adults and children. The managers in the health and social care institutions also aim to arrange proper training programs through which the service workers can improve their knowledge and skills to serve better treatment and quality care as well as proper support to the victims. Improving support, proper cooperation, multi disciplinary team actions as well as communication are helpful for the social service providers to deliver quality care to the individuals who are sexually exploited so that they can overcome the situation and lead normal lives. Through building relationships with the victims, the social care workers try to identify their requirements and understand the past situation they have gone through. Through acknowledging the needs of the adults and children, the social service providers aim at providing proper support and treatment to them so that they can maximise welfare and live normal lives by resolving the mental and physical health issues.

The concept of social constructionism changed the approach to teaching:

This particular theory of sociology had a huge impact concerning the improvement of the education prevailing in our modern society. The concept of the social constructionism or constructivism had evolved from the ideas of the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky who had contributed in this particular field at the end of 19th century and early of the 20th century. His contribution became famous after his death but it highly influenced the formulation of the approach of classroom teaching in the 21st century. The most famous work of Vygotsky named “Mind and Society” got published in 1930 which stated that -

“Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people, and then, inside the child … All the higher [mental] functions originate as actual relations between human individuals.”

Therefore, in the latter half of the 20th century the educators had started applying this concept to teach at schools. Prior to that point of time the usual approach used for the teaching at schools followed by the teachers were they used to deliver lectures standing in front of the students and they were accustomed to take notes meticulously, memorize them and produce the information on the worksheet for evaluation. This approach was followed from the school level to the grad schools and the teachers were considered to be the only knowledgeable person to guide on the subject and it is the duty of the students to pay attention to teachers, memorize the concept and just repeat the content that was being taught to them (Lloyd, et al, 1999).

But the concept of Vygotsky highlighted on the fact that learning concept can be defined as a process of social interaction due to which the children are able to develop notion about the world and also about them. The teachers also started to understand the concept that it is very essential to read the minds of the students and the knowledge can be developed only by a collaborative approach. The teachers should change the concept about the children as “empty vessels” to “active participants” in the learning process. When this approach was adopted by the teachers the concept of the student directed learning initiated to materialize. The present concept of learning includes several aspects based on interactive lessons such as the assignments based on interaction with each other, project oriented approach, conducting research as a team and the learning based on the concept of real world .

The differentiation between the “student centred classroom” and “teacher as expert classroom”:

In the student centred classroom approach the teachers considers the knowledge and the experience of the students while teaching rather than referencing them as passive learners. The teachers direct the students to learn and discover new things and interpret the knowledge that they are going to deliver in the class via an interactive session. Another difference is observed with respect to the “role of assessment or testing”. The frequency of tests in the student centred classroom is low and it is replaced by the constructionist model which includes group presentations, individual presentations, debates, journal related assignments, group assignments and personal portfolios (Devine, 2000; Coupland, et al, 2014; Lloyd, et al, 1999).

The positive effects of social constructionism on education:

The constructionist model based classroom allows the students to acquire the knowledge and provides them with the ownership in that particular arena. When they get positive response from their teachers concerning their opinion and ideas then the management of any tasks becomes easy for them as they show much more enthusiasm on the subject that they are dealing with. A classroom based on this approach should not ignore or disregard any questions that crops up in the mind of the students rather they should address the queries by directly asking the students about the topic, in what way the topic might impact their real life, what is their feeling concerning the issue and does it have any relevance in their life.

This approach shatters the old concept of just listening, memorizing and producing the knowledge on the answer sheet to obtain good grades and replaces them with a constructionist/constructivist model which applies a broad variety of learning styles. If the expression power of the students is much better in comparison to their listening power then the teacher may advice the student to present the earned knowledge. Similarly if in case the student posses good writing skills in comparison to their speaking skills in front of the public then the teacher may ask for a journal presentation. Therefore there are several approaches to earn knowledge and also many existing ways to assess the knowledge. The success gained on the work depends upon the combined effort of the student and teacher. When the classroom is full of that kind of positive responses of mutual understanding, creativity and sharing of knowledge it creates the urge and love for knowledge. It guides the students to become a lifelong learner who gives importance to education system rather than becoming a robot that just memorize and produce the knowledge and then forgets the whole concept (Devine, 2000; Coupland, et al, 2014; Lloyd, et al, 1999).

Conclusion:

In this essay the concept of child and the several theoretical perspectives on the childhood have been discussed in details. The significance of the social constructionist in the development of the child in the early phases had been mentioned. How the intervention of the social constructionism has changed the approach of teaching in the modern society and what is the positive impact observed on the education system. The differences between the student centred classroom and the teacher as expert classroom have also been highlighted in the present report.

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