The History of Childhood

1
The History of Childhood

• Paradigm Shifts in Western Childhood

Adapted from http//faculty.csusb.edu/alafaye
2
Children in the Middle Ages 500-1450 (Europe)

• Infancy is the only period of childhood.
• Once a child is able to eat, sleep, dress, and
  act independently, they are expected to enter
  adult society.
• Lower class children worked on the family
  property. Upper class children were
  apprentices/courtiers.

3
Children in the Middle Ages 500-1450 (Europe)

• Young people take on the work of an
  adult as they are able.
• Children are acculturated, not educated.
• Children dressed and acted as adults.

4
Children in the Renaissance 1400-1550 (Europe)

• Infancy is childhood.
• More and more noble children are tutored before
  they become courtiers.
• Childrens games are preparation for adulthood
  with serious consequences.
• Children are workers in all classes.

5
Children in the Renaissance 1400-1550 (Europe)

• Lower classes work at home. Upper class children
  are sent away.
• Children dressed and acted as adults with few
  exceptions.
• Apprenticeship Leagues begin.

6
Children in the Reformation1500-1650 (Europe)

• Infancy is childhood.
• Age of Reason is established.
• Religious education is essential.
• Children are still seen as workers. Their role
  depends on their class.

7
Children in the Reformation1500-1650 (Europe)

• The work ethic is established.
• Children are still seen as little adults.
• Grammar schools begin.

Catherine of Aragon
Martin Luther
8
Children in the Enlightenment 1650- 1790
(Europe)

• Children are seen as a blank slate (Locke
  1690s).
• Children learn through experience.
• Proper experience equals education.
• Children still seen as
  workers in the lower
  class.
  Upper class
  children can still be
  apprenticed/courtiers.

9
Children in the Enlightenment 1650- 1790
(Europe)

• Noble children are pretty toys.
• Children dressed and acted as adults.
• Beginning of childrens literature for
  entertainment (1740s Newbery).

10
Children in the Industrial Revolution 1790-1850
( US)

• Children are seen as a blank slate.
• Upper class children stay with their families.
• Children learn through experience.
• Massive urbanization and colonization.

11
Children in the Industrial Revolution 1790-1850
( US)

• Children as laborers is essential to lower class
  families in farming and industry.
• National school systems begin.
• Growth of childrens literature occurs.

12
Children in the Gilded Age 1850 -1918 (United
States)

• Education is mandatory.
• First childrens room appears in a library
  (1890).
• New laws protect children.
• This is the Golden Era of childrens literature
  (1860s-1930s).

13
Children in the Gilded Age 1850 -1918 (United
States)

• The middle class grows.
• Child services grow.
• Children are seen as innocent.
• Massive immigration/assimilation occurs.
• Adolescence is a separate stage.

14
(No Transcript)