This worksheet aims to provide trainee teachers with a historically informed and socially critical understanding of the life stage known as ‘childhood’. Learners are to be made aware that childhood is not a rigid, biological state, but is subject to constant social change. They will learn to analyse historical patterns of upbringing and living environments, to contextualise the contemporary view of the child (including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), and to draw conclusions for their own professional approach by comparing the past and the present.
Content and methods:
This worksheet combines historical text analysis, the development of empathy, analysis of contemporary issues and research into international law. Following a personal reflection and an analysis of a historical period, the pupils write a fictional diary entry from a child’s perspective and contrast this with the reaction of a child today. They then map out the cornerstones of modern childhood in a practical matrix and compare historical and contemporary living conditions. The activity concludes with research into the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including its historical context, and a reflection on their own pedagogical approach.
Competencies:
Learners can...
- Explain the concept of childhood as a socially shaped and historically changeable construct.
- Analyse children’s historical living environments in terms of educational objectives, work requirements and legal status, guided by specific criteria.
- Develop historical empathy through methods of shifting perspectives and reflect on different living conditions from multiple perspectives.
- Identify the dimensions of modern childhood (including subject status, institutionalisation and mediatisation) and illustrate them using concrete examples from practice.
- Independently research articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, place them in their historical context and relate them to today’s image of the child.
- Use historical insights to critically examine current patterns of upbringing and apply them to one’s own professional approach.
Target group and level:
Adult students or trainees in the field of social pedagogy, particularly aspiring educators.
Note: Internet access is required for the research task