Week 4 Flashcards
Who was St. Augustine? (354-430)
- A Christian philosopher who believed in original sin ( was already a principle BEFORE Augustine)
- Said no one was free from sin, not even children
- Anyone not baptized will go to hell
- In Medieval Times, children were treated as mini adults
Who were the Puritans? (1640s)
- They bought into the principle of original sin
- Called children ‘vipers, filthy’
- Puritans were interested in recruiting children into their religion; therefore used education as a vehicle for indoctrination
Who was John Locke? (1632-1704)
- Famous for promoting principle of ‘tabula rasa’ – meaning “blank slate”
- Locke described children as white paper meant to be molded to one’s satisfaction
- Very strong on education
- His favourite literature for children was Aesop’s Fables (the embryonic start of children’s literature which taught morality)
Who was Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
- He was a radical who argues in favour of children
- Children are not bad, society molds them
- Let nature run its course instead of indoctrination
What were the developmental stages of children that Rousseau theorized?
- Age of Instinct (1-3 years)
- Age of Sensation (4-12 years)
- Age of Ideas (puberty)
Who were the Romantics (1780-1850)
- They depicted children as having wisdom
- The beginning of “sacrelizing – making childhood sacred”
Explain the “emotionally priceless” and “economically worthless” childhood (1870s-1930s)
- “EW” = families had lots of children as a means of creating a familial labour source
- A radical movement to protect children (Children’s Labour Laws) rise at the beginning of the 20th Century
- Children are now economically worthless because childhood is precious and they can’t work
Who was G. Stanley Hall?
- He was a sociologist who coined the term “adolescence”
- He focused on the transition from infancy to adulthood
What were G. Stanley Hall’s features of adolescence?
- Conflict with parents
- Mood disruptions
- Risky behaviour
Who was Sigmund Freud? (1856-1936)
- He was a psychologist who was interested in the biological process of humans
What were Freud’s stages?
- Oral Stage (birth to 18 months)
- complaint and gratification come orally - Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years)
- control of their actions - Phallic Stage (3-6 years)
- began talking about childhood sexuality and penis envy - Latency (6 years to puberty)
- dormant - Genital Stage (puberty)
What are some of the prejudices against children?
- Deviations from serious work are frivolous
- Play is useless
- Work, not play, is the objective of life
- Children have nothing to teach adults
- The child in a person should be expunged
Define “play”
The pleasurable exploitation of available resources
What is a play frame?
The difference between what is said and what is meant
Explain “playing the dozens”
Games played predominantly by African-American men in Philadelphia (ex: Yo Momma jokes)
