Rethinking Childhood
Pufall, Peter B. and Unsworth, Richard P. (2004).
New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press; 292 pages. $23.95. ISBN 0813533651.
Editors Peter B. Pufall and Richard P. Unsworth, together with 18 colleagues trained in a variety of social science and humanities fields, compiled Rethinking Childhood in an attempt to sharpen our perspective on who children really are as human beings and how best to work and learn with them. They make the case for a new paradigm—one based on a foundation of practice, active listening and true interdisciplinary discussion grounded in an understanding of children as fully human now; human beings, not human “becomings.” The book emerged from a collaborative process during which contributors discussed and critiqued each others’ work, made connections between the ideas in each section and chapter, and cut through academic jargon to keep the writing accessible and relevant. In both process and product, Rethinking Childhood models ways for us to do just that.
At the heart of Rethinking Childhood, write the editors in their introduction, is an effort to “put the experiencing person at the center of our inquiry” (14). The contributors focus on children’s voice and agency from a variety of perspectives, engaging not only children’s experiences but also insights offered by colleagues in different disciplines. The result is a groundbreaking book that contributes to a new model of “applied developmental science”—a pragmatic perspective that takes its research questions from real-world situations, working from practice to theory and back again. While action research and programs that emphasize children’s participation have helped to bring awareness to the ways in which children solve problems and exercise their agency, applied developmental science goes further. It transcends the specific problem at hand and allows for a broader understanding of who children are and how their responses to and actions within different situations indicate programs can best serve their needs and interests. Working from an applied developmental science perspective requires humility of adults, and a willingness to let children lead the way.
The book offers several concrete examples of how to go about rethinking childhood. In his chapter on “Children as Philosophers,” Gareth Matthews recounts his profound philosophical conversations with groups of primary school students, based on dialogues he adapted from classic philosophy texts. Not only do the children understand the essential nature of these long-standing human quandaries, but they also come up with connections Matthews himself didn’t expect. Instead of filtering out their unexpected insights as incorrect or ignoring them altogether, Matthews describes his excitement about the children’s ideas and humbly admits when they see through his oversimplified rendition of one dialogue. He discusses the many rewards of having philosophical conversations with children and points out why we so often fail to engage them in such meaningful dialogues. “We don’t think of our children as being capable of having philosophical thoughts or as being interested in pursuing them,” he writes, but that is to our detriment, as well as theirs (53).
We also do not tend to think of children as being aware of or capable of expressing spiritual needs. In the chapter, “Children as Theologians,” Eileen W. Lindner provides much evidence to the contrary, including results of research with pastors and children that illustrate the disconnect between the two groups’ perspectives on when children need pastoral care. Both chapters emphasize the importance of respecting children’s voice and agency in general—the focus of the first part of the book. The chapters in part two discuss children’s voice and agency in education; part three turns the theme to situations within families; part four includes two less cohesive chapters on voice and agency in neighborhoods and in sports; and part five tackles the legal rights of children.
The most inspiring chapters of the book are those, like Matthews’, that let children’s voices come through clearly. The best chapters also connect prominent research themes with specific examples from practice, concretizing the new approach advocated by the editors. Susan Etheredge’s ethnographic account of a “community of learners” in a multicultural public school classroom, for example, describes in detail how one innovative teacher has created an inquiry-based learning environment that meets the ideals expressed in the science education standards promoted in the United States, thereby illustrating why most teachers and classrooms do not. In “Listening to Children’s Voices in the Classroom,” Etheredge uses an inspiring example from practice to inform theories of teacher education—the new paradigm in action.
Justine Cassell’s chapter on “The Effects of Exercising Voice in a Children’s Online Forum” also exemplifies the intentions of Rethinking Childhood. Cassell recounts the process behind the Junior Summit, “an Internet-based, democratic, global learning community,” focusing on how technology can facilitate children’s voice and agency around the world (122). An insightful process of program design and facilitation gave the young people who participated in the Junior Summit a platform from which to “come up with and bring to fruition radical ideas to change the world for children” (132). As well as discussing the youths’ achievements, Cassell describes how the adults involved sometimes impeded the youths’ process and how they learned to get out of the way. The chapter, like several others in Rethinking Childhood, paints a new image of youth and their capabilities, and allows for the reorientation of research questions and program structures based on what youth really know, care about and can do.
A few chapters in the book do less to advance the mission, vision and potential of rethinking childhood. A. Wade Boykin and Brenda A. Allen’s chapter on “Cultural Integrity and Schooling Outcomes of African American Children from Low-Income Backgrounds,” for example, presents a review of research on culturally relevant classroom practices, keeping the authors at a safe, academic distance from the topic. The concepts presented in the chapter are valuable, but because they are decontextualized from practice, they do not offer clear direction for further progress in helping African American children succeed in school. Children’s voices and experiences are hidden behind the research.
Another chapter, by James C. Spilsbury and Jill E. Korbin, includes children’s voices regarding collective efficacy and social capital in a neighborhood, but the implications of the research are unclear. The final two chapters on children’s rights are also less effective than they could be. They provide interesting histories of children’s legal status and rights in the United States—one from a human rights perspective and the other from an “identity rights” perspective—but neither discusses how children’s rights are being interpreted around the world or what that looks like today. There are many excellent examples from other countries about how the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child is being implemented, and a concrete discussion of that process would have given readers in the United States a better idea of what the CRC might imply for the U.S., were that government to ratify the Convention.
At the end of the book, Raymond A. Ducharme provides “A Road Map for Surfing the Internet,” with which readers can find resources for further research. Such a map is bound to be outdated quickly, but Ducharme’s comprehensive list provides a good starting place for readers who want to investigate key topics presented in the book, as well as sources for funding programs that address those themes.
Rethinking Childhood cuts through standard academic and practical approaches to children—based on preconceived notions of who they are, what they need, and how they ought to develop—and presents an outline for a radical new paradigm and methodology for studying and working with young people. In chapter three, Eileen W. Lindner writes, “Childhood is surely socially constructed, yet across these constructions childhood must be perceived as an epoch of special significance for humanity with unique requirements for the unfolding, as opposed to the formation, of what it means to be human” (66). With this book, Pufall, Unsworth and their colleagues bring to the public table their ongoing discussion about how to do just that.
Reviewer Information
University of Colorado
Darcy Varney is a student in the Ph.D. Program in Design and Planning at the University of Colorado, and is director of special projects for the Children, Youth and Environments Center for Research and Design.