It has been said that ‘childhood’ is in itself a recent invention. Philippe Aries (1962) is given special credit to stress on the socially constructed character of childhood. He studied the history of literature and paintings and concluded that childhood didn’t exist in mediaeval times. There were younger members of the species but they were neglected and not granted any special or distinctive status. Once weaned, they were forcibly driven into adult society. Aries claimed that the awareness of children’s distinctive nature did not emerge until the end of the fifteenth century. This can de illustrated in the emergence of new image of children which stressed their special needs and nature. Aries has been criticized for making general conclusions and relaying heavily on limited sources. The largest group of children would have been the poor, and they would not have been painted or written about. However the broad framework of his argument (the socially constructed nature of childhood) is the foundation of succeeding studies.
There are four main perspectives of child development. These theories come from three opposing philosophies which attempt to define the essential nature of humanity as embodied in the newborn child. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) believed children to be inherently sinful. He believed that development should be shaped by control and discipline. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) believed children to be inherently innocent. His supporters advocate that development is shaped by following children’s natural stages. The theories of Hobbes and Rousseau are classified as nativist theories, that childhood is a natural process. John Locke (1632-1704) didn’t view children as either inherently sinful or innocent, but rather a ‘tabula rasa’ (blank slate) to be written on by experience, those influenced by him maintain the chief factor of development is experience. Locke’s Theory is classified as empiricist, arguing that childhood is a social and cultural process. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) believed children to be born with mental structures specifically designed to interpret information from the environment, the most important element of development being interaction. Kant views childhood as exclusively a natural or exclusively a social process, but a combination of the two called ‘transactional models’.
Thomas Hobbes believed that all human beings were born with original sin, therefore all children were born evil and had to be ‘saved’. The most important factors of development were control and discipline. He was an important influence to the formation of the Methodist church. The theory that children were inherently sinful was very desirable and easily identifiable. People believed that children learned obedience to God through obedience to their parents. Childhood was a time of strict parenting and harsh discipline:
This harsh and unsentimental view of children was not just religiously, but also demographically and economically motivated. Infant mortalities were extremely high, between twenty and fifty percent of babies died within their first year. Many parents referred to their child as “it” until they reached an age when survival was probable.
Although it is problematic to reflect, it seems acceptable that parents were consciously detached from their children as a coping mechanism, should they not survive into adulthood.
Although Hobbes advocated a nativist perspective on the essential nature of children, the religious attitudes which he and his contemporaries would have taken for granted as truth are now inactive in the majority of Western societies (apart from some remaining puritan cultures). Anyone who did share the popular religious view would not have been recorded. This validates James and Prouts assertion that childhood is “constructed and reconstructed”. Hobbesian views of childhood did not unfold naturally, but were constructed through social discourse.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed the exact opposite to Hobbes, that children are not inherently sinful, but are inherently innocent, and would develop naturally in positive ways if allowed to do so. He referred to children as ‘noble savages’, this romantic notion supposes that all humanity is born pure and good until corrupted by civilization. The environment does not have a positive, but has a negative effect on development:
“Everything is good in leaving the hands of the Creator of Things; everything degenerates at the hands of man”. (Rousseau, 1762)
During the eighteenth century, views of childhood began to change; children were seen as innocent and in need of protection, as a result, though, they were also viewed as weak and susceptible to temptation. Along with the notion of protection came the notion of discipline, as parents taught their children to avoid the attractive hope or desires of their social world. Until the late 1800s, child labor was commonly practiced and accepted. It is reported that up to half of all workers in northern factories were children under the age of eleven. Children worked as long and as hard as adults. Because of their small size, they were sometimes given difficult and hazardous jobs, like cleaning out the insides of narrow factory chimneys. In poor urban families, parents often forced their children to engage in scavenging and street peddling. Rousseau’s observations were not surprising, given that the desire to protect children. Rousseau’s theory of Romanticism did have practical psychological applications. He is attributed with presenting the first truly developmental account of childhood, through his emphasis on maturation and stages of development. His book; “Emile” (On Education)(1762) suggests children should be allowed an ‘Age of Nature’ covering the period from birth to twelve years. This should be a time in which children be allowed to play and have their natural innocence respected. It is Rousseau’s emphasis in allowing the child to indulge their natural stages of development which is his legacy to child development
The idea of natural stages of development sets the tone for contemporary teaching, by setting guidelines for what is considered ‘developmentally appropriate’ practice, especially the balance of play and teaching within early years education.
Although Rousseau’s legacy can be illustrated in modern day views of childhood, it is his practical advice about nurturing the Childs natural development, and not his nativist perspective which persists.
John Locke’s theory contrasts both Hobbes and Rousseau’s. He didn’t believe that children were born inherently evil or innocent, but rather a blank slate. John Locke believed that a child's mind develops largely on the environment accordance with his/her experience of the world, and through learning. He brings forth the concept of tabula rasa, or blank slate; this blank slate is a child's mind that eventually fills up with learning and experience. Locke was the pioneer of the Educationalist movement. His essay, “Some thoughts concerning education” (1693) asserts that; “a Childs mind must be educated before he is instructed”. Although some of his critics accused Locke of “despiritulising” childhood, his theory had spread throughout society:
Immanuel Kant viewed the key influence on development to be interaction. He agreed with Locke that experience plays a crucial role in learning but argued that knowledge could not arise from what is taken in by the senses alone. Kant acknowledges the child as an active agent in their own development. He considers it unreasonable to assume that children are just passive receivers of external actions or blind followers of a pre-determined biological pattern. Both nature and the environment are equally significant.
Kant creates the framework for the transactional models of development which assume the child to be an active independent agent in their own development and attempt to explain this relationship of cause and effect that they have with their environment. This is the most popular start point for modern child development theories, such as social constructivist theories.
The religiously dictated views of Hobbes and Romanticism motivated views of Rousseau are unconvincing to a modern audience. Their contributions are reflection of their child rearing advice and not their fixed perspectives. James and Prout’s assertion that “childhood is constructed and reconstructed is convincing enough to dispel these solely nativist theories. Locke’s emphasis on education is echoed by today’s politicians. It seems reasonable to assume that the real character of childhood is an interactive process between the two as proposed by Kant. In the civilized world, the burden of social responsibility to our children has always been great and is growing. Emphasizing the socially constructed character of childhood has had a great influence on our attitudes; therefore childhood has probably been viewed to a greater extent as a social and cultural process.
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References:
1. James and Prout (1997), pg. 15, ‘Children and Childhood’ in ‘Childhood and Development’ by Oates J., Wood C. and Grayson A., Psychological Development and Early Childhood. The Open University.
2. Woodhead (2005), ‘Children and Development’ in Oates J., Wood C. and Grayson A., Psychological Development and Early childhood. The Open University.
3. Philippe Aries (1962), pg. 18, ‘Children and Development’ in Oates J., Wood C. and Grayson A., Psychological Development and Early childhood. The Open University.
4. Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679), ‘Children and Development’ in Oates J., Wood C. and Grayson A., Psychological Development and Early childhood. The Open University.
5. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), ‘Children and Development’ in Oates J., Wood C. and Grayson A., Psychological Development and Early childhood. The Open University.
6. John Locke (1632-1704), ‘Children and Development’ in Oates J., Wood C. and Grayson A., Psychological Development and Early childhood. The Open University.
7. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), ‘Children and Development’ in Oates J., Wood C. and Grayson A., Psychological Development and Early childhood. The Open University.
