NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ728687
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 10
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-7187
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Early Childhood Culture and Education for Children's Rights
Qvarsell, Birgitta
International Journal of Early Childhood, v37 n3 p99-108 2005
Young children below school-age, especially those under three, have gotten more and more attention paid to them during the last years. Is it for good or for bad? Extreme and consequential views and actions towards (especially) the youngest children may result in problems--for the children. This essay presents a discussion about different ways to let children perceive and act in their environments, for instance preschool, related to some of the articles in The United Nations' Convention on the rights of the child. Two important questions raised by this convention are: What is best for the child? and What is best for children and childhood? Schooling, caring and play are actions that involve adults and children in various ways. In research as well as practice which involve young children, it is of importance to consider what may be best for them, from their views and as members of society at present, not just for the future. A theory of affordance is sketched, using thoughts from James and Eleanor Gibson, as well as others, together with earlier works by Jerome Bruner and Janusz Korczak, who both would underline the importance of taking children's own motives as a departure for communication and socialization. The essay ends with some questions which point to the importance of taking young children's perspectives seriously, as a source of knowledge about their cultural conditions and life-world.
OMEP: Organisation Mondiale pour l'Education Prescolaire, Goteborg University, Department of Education, Box 300, Goteborg, Sweden SE-40530. Tel: +46 317 732461; Fax: +46 317 732391; Web site: http://www.omep-usnc.org.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A