Overview
A critical examination of the ways in which political, cultural and educational contexts shape the institutions of childhood for young children.
What is childhood? How does culture influence what we mean by child, childhood, and its institutions? Are children citizens, do they have rights? How would we know? How has modernity been implicated in constructing childhood and children? And what educational, human, political and ethical issues arise?
In this paper you will explore the production of childhood and children as thoroughly modern constructions, asking questions of how we produce our youngest citizens and police their lives. Using tools key to childhood studies, we will examine the phenomenon of childhood and consider the people implicated with it and their well-being. This paper will appeal if you are interested in issues related to childhood and children in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally.
About this paper
| Paper title | The Institutions of Childhood |
|---|---|
| Subject | Education |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1
(On campus)
Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $937.50 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- (EDUC 101 or EDUC 102) or 108 points
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Notes
- With approval, students who have passed EDUC105 prior to 2017 may be admitted without the normal prerequisite.
- Contact
Paper Co-ordinator: Prof. Alex Gunn (2023)
- Teaching staff
Prof. Alex Gunn (Dunedin)
Meredith Kelly (Invercargill)
- Teaching Arrangements
In 2024 the lectures will be delivered online via Blackboard and workshops each week will be held face-to-face. Lectures are to be watched by students prior to workshops. Workshop participation is cooperative and collaborative, a learning environment that reflects a Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership approach will be promoted. The enactment of values of whakamana, manaakitanga, pono and whanaungatanga, in keeping with lecturers’ status as members of the teaching profession, will be observed. Lecturers in this paper are te reo Māori language learners and committed to using and hearing te reo Māori in teaching. This does not mean you must be a te reo Māori speaker to participate, but you are welcome to use the reo you have to lead and learn with us all.
- Textbooks
Textbooks are not required for this paper.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Information literacy, Research, Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will be able to:
- Understand the changing context of rearing, caring and educating young children in New Zealand and international settings
- Appraise the politics of ideology in shaping and transforming the institutions of childhood both within and outside of the family
- Investigate current theories of learning and development and controversial issues impacting on the experience of children within the institutions of childhood