Answering the Child's Why

Archive film time again... Below is <i>Answering the Child's Why</i>, a 1951 film from the <i>Encyclopedia Britannica</i> offering parents advice on how to give a satisfactory response to most young children's favourite question: "Why?" Get past the dated voiceover and fashions, and what do you think of the advice given during the clip? Is it still relevant today, or have we changed our ideas about how best to engage with children?<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7oL3Xux4FJI" width="420"></iframe>

Answering the Child's Why

Archive film time again... Below is Answering the Child's Why , a 1951 film from the Encyclopedia Britannica offering parents advice on...

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Historical Childhoods

<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Today's post is a little different to usual - it's quite lengthy and is in response to a specific request for freely available information on different historical aspects of childhood. So if this is a topic that interests you, then read on...<br /><br />Perceptions of childhood have changed over time, and a brilliant starting point is Philippe Aries' book <span style="font-style: italic;">Centuries of Childhood</span> (yes we have a copy in our library!). On the Web, the <a href="http://www.representingchildhood.pitt.edu/index.htm" style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Representing Childhood</a> site from the University of Pittsburgh summarises some of the different historical approaches to childhood, and provides suggestions for further reading. You can also read an essay entitled <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/childhood/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">'The Philosophy of Childhood'</a>which forms part of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</span>, and a short essay called<a href="http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/re-inventing-childhood" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Re-Inventing Childhood</span></a> by Professor Hugh Cunningham. More recent ideas are explored in an article by Martin Woodhead entitled <a href="http://core.kmi.open.ac.uk/display/799" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Changing Perspectives on Early Childhood: Theory, Research and Policy</span></a>, while if you've got a whole day to devote to this area, then the <a href="http://www.museumofchildhood.org.uk/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">V&A Museum of Childhood</a> could be worth a visit!<br /><br />Closely linked to the above topic is the different attitudes over time that have governed children's education. To begin investigating these ideas you could visit the International Bureau of Education's <a href="http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en/services/online-materials/publications/thinkers-on-education.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Thinkers on Education</span></a> page, which contains full text articles about some of the people whose ideas have influenced educational delivery, including Montessori, Piaget, Vygotsky and many more. Closer to home, Derek Gillard's <a href="http://www.educationengland.org.uk/" style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The History of Education in England</a> provides very detailed information, including the full text of many landmark reports and relevant Acts of Parliament. Or for a more gentle introduction, try this 2002 journal article: <a href="http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n2/kwon.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Changing Curriculum for Early Childhood in England</span></a>.<br /><br />It isn't just attitudes to children themselves that have altered though - the nature of the family has also been subject to change. In 2009 the Family and Parenting Institute published <span style="font-style: italic;">Family Trends</span> (yes the library has copies...) which examined changing family structures in the UK since the 1950s - a <a href="http://www.familyandparenting.org/our_work/future-families/Family-Trends/Quick-Facts-from-Family-Trends" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">summary of the main points</a> is freely available. The Institute was also responsible for <a href="http://familyandparenting.web-platform.net/Filestore/Documents/publications/10_Years_of_Family_Policy_WEB_FINAL.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ten Years of Family Policy 1999-2009</span></a>, which examines more recent developments. And only recently a new report entitled <a href="http://www.centreformodernfamily.com/Portals/0/Images/pdfs/SW_Report_Family_SP.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Helping to Understand the Modern British Family</span></a> explores contemporary attitudes towards the changing shape of the family unit.<br /><br />Another area that has seen huge changes has been the issue of children's rights; as far back as 1796, the English radical Thomas Spence had penned an essay entitled <a href="http://thomas-spence-society.co.uk/4.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Rights of Infants</span></a>. However, any recent discussion of the issue must mention the 1989<a href="http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publication-pdfs/UNCRC_PRESS200910web.pdf" style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> UN Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, which is the most universally accepted human rights instrument in history (a summary is <a href="http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">available here</a>). Other related conventions dating back to the 1920s can be viewed in full in the <a href="http://childrensrightsportal.org/" style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Children's Rights Portal</a>, and a history of child protection measures in the UK can be found in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2005/may/18/childrensservices2" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">this article</a>. For contemporary information, try the websites of the <a href="http://www.crae.org.uk/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Children's Rights Alliance for England</a>, and the <a href="http://www.crin.org/index.asp" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Child Rights International Network</a>.<br /><br />Something that has seen a huge shift (in the UK at least) is the use of child labour. The National Archives' website provides information about <a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/struggle_democracy/childlabour.htm" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">child labour during the 19th Century</a>, and the topic is given much more 'academic' attention in <a href="http://www.galbithink.org/child.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">this 1994 paper</a>. Though of course it's not purely an issue that's confined to the past - this <a href="http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126685.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">brief ILO factsheet</a> lists some key dates in the history of child labour, and also provides a snapshot of the global situation today.<br /><br />And a final area that I've been asked to cover... children's television hasn't been around as long as the issues covered above, but it's still been with us long enough to have built up a rich history. Serious analysis is provided by Sonia Livingstone's article<a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/36987/1/Half_a_century_of_television_in_the_lives_of_our_children_%28LSERO%29.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-style: italic;">Half a Century of Television in the Lives of our Children</span></a>, while information about and clips from UK programmes are provided by the BFI's ScreenOnline website - you can either take an <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tours/childrens/tourchildrens1.html#" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">interactive tour</a> or simply read through <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/445547/index.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">this collection of articles</a>.<br /><br />I'm bound to have missed some good links - if you're aware of something that would go well in here, post the link as a comment below...</span><br /><div class="post-footer" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; margin: 20px -2px 0px; padding: 5px 10px;"></div>

Historical Childhoods

Today's post is a little different to usual - it's quite lengthy and is in response to a specific request for freely available infor...

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More Great Childcare: a Guide

A short post today: take a look at <i>Nursery World</i>'s  <a href="http://offlinehbpl.hbpl.co.uk/newsattachments/WRN/More%20great%20childcare.pdf" target="_blank">'More Great Childcare' - A Guide to the Government's Childcare Reform Proposals</a>, which does exactly what its title promises in a short, clear and concise manner - very useful! For more detailed info on the proposals, have a look at my <a href="http://bcftcschildhoodeducation.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/more-great-childcare.html" target="_blank">'More Great Childcare' post</a> from a couple of weeks back.

More Great Childcare: a Guide

A short post today: take a look at Nursery World 's  'More Great Childcare' - A Guide to the Government's Childcare Reform P...

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Early Years Surveys

The end of last week saw the latest release of two annual DfE publications with direct relevance to users of this site. The <a href="http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/m/osr18-2012v2.pdf" target="_blank"><i>Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey 2011</i></a> provides a detailed snapshot of childcare and early years provision across England, while the related <a href="http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/s/sfr08-2013.pdf" target="_blank"><i>Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents 2011</i></a> investigates exactly how parents are making use of the sector, and their views about the service they have received. Both documents are full of detailed statistics if numbers are your thing!

Early Years Surveys

The end of last week saw the latest release of two annual DfE publications with direct relevance to users of this site. The Childcare and Ea...

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Children and Families Bill

Today sees the publication of the long-awaited <i>Children and Families Bill</i>. Like most legislation it's a long, complex document, but the main areas it covers include adoption, family justice, special educational needs and childminders.<br /><br />You can read the full text of the Bill by <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2012-2013/0131/2013131.pdf" target="_blank">clicking here</a>. An overview of some of the proposed changes are included in <a href="http://www.communitycare.co.uk/articles/05/02/2013/118887/government-announces-major-reforms-in-children-and-families-bill.htm" target="_blank">this <i>Community Care</i> article</a>.

Children and Families Bill

Today sees the publication of the long-awaited Children and Families Bill . Like most legislation it's a long, complex document, but the...

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Ways to Settle Disputes / Teaching Your Child to Share

As it's Friday and it's been quite a fraught week for the childcare sector, how about some light relief? Below is a 1950 USA educational film entitled <i>Ways to Settle Disputes</i>. The clip emphasises the importance of sharing and rules at school and also features a rather hilarious 'fight' over a tricycle.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rsCgT0TfwYg?rel=0" width="420"></iframe> <br /><br />After posting an old film, I usually ask what site users think a modern equivalent might contain, but in this case there's no need. The <a href="http://www.parentchannel.tv/" target="_blank">ParentChannel</a> website has a short video entitled <i>Teaching Your Child to Share</i> (see below) which covers similar issues, albeit with a less formal approach. Which methods do you think are most effective?<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="286" id="flashObj" width="380"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/56142273001?isVid=1&publisherID=28920547001" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=619483546001&linkBaseURL=http://www.parentchannel.tv/video/teaching-your-child-share&playerID=72319835001&domain=embed&" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/56142273001?isVid=1&publisherID=28920547001" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=619483546001&linkBaseURL=http://www.parentchannel.tv/video/teaching-your-child-share&playerID=72319835001&domain=embed&" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="380" height="286" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" swLiveConnect="true" allowScriptAccess="always" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>

Ways to Settle Disputes / Teaching Your Child to Share

As it's Friday and it's been quite a fraught week for the childcare sector, how about some light relief? Below is a 1950 USA educati...

Read more »