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Contemporary Childhood
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Contemporary Childhood

First Edition
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February 2017 | 256 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
Contemporary Childhood brings readers up-to-date with the latest developments and keys issues from around the globe and explains 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 variety of issues affecting children around the world. 
 
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

 

This important book attempts to place the developing child within the many worlds they exist, to give us a better understanding of both the most obvious influences on them, and also the more subtle. Never shying away from the controversial issues, this book is not about an ideal child development story, it is about how modern children are growing up in a world that is often very alien to the one practitioners grew up in, culminating in the final chapter that explores contemporary issues in our global society, such as poverty, obesity, sexualisation, mental health, media, materialism and more.

Neil Henty
Early Years Educator

This is an excellent book and provides exactly the perspective that our module on contemporary issues is taking. This thought-provoking read provides essential reading for students on Undergraduate and Postgrad programmes, in terms of what it means to grow up in different contexts both nationally and internationally. Showing childhood as a construct of societal influences and factors, and providing some good critique in terms of the impact this has on children and their experience during this stage of life.

Dr Marguerita Magennis
Early Years, Portobello College
September 30, 2021

Lovely clear accessible text for all students of Childhood.

Dr Chelle Davison
Education, Coventry University Scarborough Campus
February 19, 2018

This book presents clear and accessible discussion around a range of features and theories regarding childhood. It has a useful focus on the UK, with relevant international and global issues. It is encouraging to see resources highlighting the different experiences of children with regard to refugee status, adpotion and LGBT families. The sources referred to in the chapters are useful sources for students, and support greater independence in resource selection.

Ms Ruth Hunt
CASS School of Education & Communities, University of East London
March 13, 2019

Encourages critical consideration of key issues and changing discourses relating to childhood. Essential for keeping graduates ahead in their field.

Mrs Paula Hamilton
Division of Social Sciences and Education, Glyndwr University
July 26, 2017

A most valuable and comprehensive coverage of contemporary childhood that also presents as a very accessible read. I will be recommending this book to students across a number of modules within the Child and Family Studies Programme

Ms sue mills
The Lifelong Learning Institute, Leeds University
May 8, 2017

The text in this book form a great description of modern childhood and its influence on children and how they might see things differently to adults and some of the stressful situations that might entail. The topics make great reading for debate and problem based learning

Mrs Eileen Mc Partland
Vocational Education, The Liberties College of Further Education
June 15, 2017

This is a wide-ranging text which offers a number of different perspectives on current issues in early childhood education and care. The chapters on international perspectives and contemporary issues in a global society were particularly relevant to some of our modules. The broad remit means that the text is a useful and thought-provoking starting-point, but would need to be followed up by more in-depth reading.

Mrs Mary-Louise Maynes
Department of Education Studies, Bishop Grosseteste University
June 15, 2017

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1 - The Changing Nature of Childhood


Sean MacBlain

Sean MacBlain PhD is a distinguished author and academic  whose publications include: MacBlain (Sage, 2021) Children’s Learning in Early Childhood; MacBlain (Sage, 2020) Child Development for Teachers; MacBlain, Dunn and Luke (Sage, 2017) Contemporary Childhood;  Gray and MacBlain (Sage, 2015) Learning Theories in Childhood; MacBlain, Long and Dunn, (Sage, 2015) Dyslexia, Literacy and Inclusion: Child-centred Perspectives;  MacBlain (Sage, 2014) How Children Learn. Sean’s publications are used by students, practitioners and academics throughout the world and have been widely translated including into Chinese and Vietnamese.... More About Author

Jill Dunn

Jill Dunn is a senior lecturer in Stranmillis University College, Belfast.  She was a primary school teacher working in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One classrooms before moving into teacher education.   Jill teaches widely across the BEd and PGCE Early Years programmes.  However, her main interests lie in the teaching of literacy in the early years.  Jill has just completed her EdD in 2013 and her dissertation focused on children’s views on using popular culture to teach writing.  She has been involved in a number of funded research projects on literacy and is currently involved in an evaluation of iPads in... More About Author

Ian Luke