Childism and philosophy: A conceptual co-exploration

Biswas, Tanushree; Wall, John; Warming, Hanne; Zehavi, Ohad; Kennedy, David; Murris, Karin; Kohan, Walter Omar; Saal, Britta; Rollo, Toby

doi:10.1177/14782103231185178

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(46 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Additionally, the difference-centered theorizing of children's citizenship has called for a citizenship debate instead of despising children's citizenship (Larkins 2014;Lister 2007;Warming 2012). The reconstruction of social relationships between children and adults difference-responsively has also been argued about in the discussion concerning "childism" (Biswas et al 2023;Wall 2022). Instead of seeing citizenship as the (adult) capacity for autonomous decisions, difference-centered approaches emphasize (children's) agency as relational, i.e., in relation to others (Moosa-Mitha 2005;Warming 2012).…”

Section: Children's Participation and Lived Citizenship In Ececmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dilemmas Related to Young Children’s Participation and Rights: A Discourse Analysis Study of Present and Future Professionals Working with Children

Sevón,

Mustola,

Alasuutari

2023

Social Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), every child has the right to be heard and express their views in matters that concern them. Yet, participation is one of the most debated aspects of the UNCRC. Although children’s participation is a statutory requirement of Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) and schools, educators are often unfamiliar with how to meet the demands of participation. In this study, we examined what kinds of counter discourses about the realization of children’s participation could be differentiated in interviews with present and future education professionals who took part in a study program focusing on knowledge and skills regarding young children’s rights and participation. The data, which consisted of individual and group interviews with 31 participants, were analyzed with discourse analysis. Three counter discourses were identified: unrealized, adult-defined, and elusive participation. The discourses illuminated various dilemmas in children’s participation. Awareness of such dilemmas enables the development of pedagogical practices that enhance children’s wellbeing and rights.

show abstract

Section: Children's Participation and Lived Citizenship In Ececmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dilemmas Related to Young Children’s Participation and Rights: A Discourse Analysis Study of Present and Future Professionals Working with Children

Sevón,

Mustola,

Alasuutari

2023

Social Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The child can be a 'knower'. According to Warming (in Biswas, Wall, et al, 2023) this can potentially shed light on human life and society more broadly and thereby potentially help to revise existing theories.…”

Section: If We Understand the Child In A Non-adultist Way We Will Und...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Childism offers a critical lens for deconstructing the ingrained adultism that still largely dominates the social scientific and humanistic disciplines (Wall, 2019). Childism has the potential to shed light on human life and society more broadly and thereby potentially help to revise existing theories (Warming in Biswas, Wall, et al, 2023), and it can reconstruct more ageinclusive scholarly and social imaginations (Wall, 2019).…”

Section: Choosing a Research Approach And A Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a childist theory of democratic dannelse: An argument for the radical potential of more age-inclusive scholarly imagination

Hedegaard

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This dissertation uses the case of the Danish state school to study the democratic aspect of education – in Danish referred to as ‘demokratisk dannelse’. Drawing on a poststructuralist framework and the concept of childism, the dissertation draws attention to how a historically ingrained deficit-perception of the child underlies democratic dannelse in both theory and practice. This is fundamentally a marginalizing and colonizing starting point in that it involves the claim that the child cannot speak as a political subject before it has learned to speak in the ‘right’ (presumed democratic) way. The dissertation draws together two different types of analysis (one focused on discourse, the other on practices in schools) through multiple conceptual lenses and discusses how the lens of childism can potentially widen the epistemological space through which the democratic aspect of education can be understood. Rather than focusing on ‘preparing’ children and young people for (future) democratic life, childism allows for concepts like ‘voice’, ‘participation’, ‘rights’, ‘politics’ and ‘democracy’ etc. to be reimagined in more age-inclusive ways. From a childist perspective, the democratic task of education becomes that of supporting and responding to the student as the political subject it already is. This, the dissertation argues, has a radical and far more democratic potential.

show abstract

Children as ‘becomings’—Mapping parental adultcentrism in Hungary

Németh,

Sulyok,

Szabó

et al. 2024

Children & Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Adultcentrism is the tendency of adults to view children from a biased perspective, hindering the recognition of children's competence and agency. It presents a challenge for parents, potentially influencing parenting practices and children's participation in decision‐making. Adultcentrism has received increasing attention in the literature, and with its recent operationalization, a new focus has emerged. However, adultcentrism has remained unexplored in Hungary. Using the Adultcentrism Scale, we aimed to conceptualize adultcentrism in this sociocultural context and validate the instrument in a different language, both for the first time. A cross‐sectional sample of 422 parents was surveyed online to analyse adultcentrism in Hungary and identify whether adult‐centric thinking is associated with less‐positive parenting behaviour. Our findings showed that extreme adult‐centric biases are rare among Hungarian parents and indicated that adult‐centric thinking has two major dimensions in our context. Firstly—and dominantly—adults tend to think about children as ‘becoming’ rather than ‘being’. Secondly, they tend to underestimate children's agency. The present conceptualization challenged the role of seeing children as incompetent in the construct. Adultcentrism indicated a weak positive association with parental perceptions of children's participation in decision‐making and positive parenting behaviours. However, it was not associated with negative behaviours, except for physical control. Our findings support the latest research that emphasizes that a certain level of adultcentrism is natural and presents thought‐provoking dilemmas regarding the understanding and measurement of adultcentrism in the Hungarian context. The study has implications for researchers analysing and theorizing this evolving construct and practitioners who want to improve the adult–child relationship.

show abstract

Childism and philosophy: A conceptual co-exploration

Cited by 7 publications

References 52 publications

Dilemmas Related to Young Children’s Participation and Rights: A Discourse Analysis Study of Present and Future Professionals Working with Children

Dilemmas Related to Young Children’s Participation and Rights: A Discourse Analysis Study of Present and Future Professionals Working with Children

Towards a childist theory of democratic dannelse: An argument for the radical potential of more age-inclusive scholarly imagination

Children as ‘becomings’—Mapping parental adultcentrism in Hungary

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About