This brand new textbook brings you up to date with all the latest developments and keys issues from around the globe, and helps you understand how these changes are impacting on practice in early years and primary classrooms.
Key issues in contemporary childhood are explored through three sections on The Child, The Family, and Emerging Trends, with topics including:
the 'Digital Child' and the rise of new technologies
children's security and the impact of poverty, austerity and conflict
children's happiness, mental-health and wellbeing
the changing nature of families including LGBT homes, refugees, and asylum seekers
the challenges of multi-agency working
The pace of change in early childhood can be daunting, but this book helps students and practitioners understand the huge variety of issues affecting children in the UK and all over the world.
Sean MacBlain will be discussing key ideas from Contemporary Childhood in the SAGE Early Years Masterclass, a free professional development experience hosted by Kathy Brodie.
SECTION 1 THE CHILD
1 The Changing Nature of Childhood
Shifting landscapes: children's security
Multiculturalism
Inclusion and children with additional needs
Austerity and poverty
Children as carers
State of play in the UK
Emerging curricula and proposed initiatives
2 The Child's Perspective
Current views on children's perspective
Childhood studies and children's perspectives
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and children's perspectives
Challenges and tensions in listening to young children's perspectives
Methods for seeking children's perspectives in research
Innovative methods for eliciting the views of young children
Children's involvement in the research process
3 Social and Emotional Functioning in the Learning Environment
Learning, happiness and well-being
Attachment and the learning environment
Loss in childhood: its impact on learning
Fear and love in the lives of children
Supporting children's social and emotional functioning outside of the home
4 Creating Optimum Learning Environments for the Child
Today's challenges
Identification and assessment: reflections on practice
Ethical issues in the identification and assessment of children
Low achievement and underachievement
Children whose first language is not English
Monitoring and evaluating practice
SECTION 2 THE CHILD AND THE FAMILY
5 The Changing Nature of Families
Divorce, separation and step-families
The importance of fathers in families
Grandparents and families
Working with refugee and asylum-seeking families
Working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families
6 The Parent's Voice
Listening to parents
Working with parents
Parents' working patterns
7 Multi Professional Perspectives
Evolving perspectives
Safeguarding
Challenges of multi-agency working
Professionals and parents: working together
Recent initiatives
SECTION 3 MODERN AND EMERGING CHILDHOODS
8 Policy, Discourse and Identity
Policy and practice
Contemporary political ideology and philosophy
Regulation, control and accountability
Professionalism and professional identity
9 The Digital Child
What is a 'digital child'?
Digital media
The affordances of digital media
Starting where children are: the importance of children's learning experiences at home
Children's digital lives in the new millennium
E-safety for children in a digital world
10 International Perspectives
International variations in practice
Children and conflict
Growth of technology
Gender
Provision for children throughout the world
Economic costs of childhood
The readying culture
11 Contemporary Issues in a Global Society
Poverty and life chances
Obesity
Sexualisation of children
Social fears
Mental health
Media and materialism
The emergence of neuroscience
Reflections on professionalism
Child-centredness in a changing world
