Understanding children: Babies being heard
Here you will find out some of the things very young babies can do. You will also discover how babies can contribute to family life and relationships from birth. You will look at what they need from other adults and children, and what they can learn. First published on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 as Author(s): Creator not set

Infants’ understanding of their social world
Here we draw on a wide range of psychological research to address the question of whether infants have a rich understanding of their social world. You will have the opportunity to read journal papers and newspaper articles as well as to engage with audio clips, and to explore your assumptions about infants' social understanding. First publi
Author(s): Creator not set

4.2 Equity issues

The research findings of Farver and Shin (1987) suggested that there are discernible differences between Korean-American and Anglo-American children's pretend play themes. Korean-American play themes seemed to involve minimal social conflict, while Anglo-American children's play themes seemed to involve an emphasis on the individual and could include a degree of aggression. Farver and Shin suggested that these differences were traceable to the different cultural values the children were exper
Author(s): The Open University

4.1 The international perspective

Earlier in this unit (Section 1) you looked briefly at cross-cultural approaches towards children's play and children's work. In many societies throughout the world it is expected that children, even very young children, will help with the family's work or contribute to the family income. In some societies the separation betwe
Author(s): The Open University

2.3 Why we value play

Play is notoriously difficult to define, but this in itself is not problematic. What is important is that practitioners, parents and children within a setting share their ideas about what constitutes play and that we, as adults, are clear about why we value play. In order to do this, you need to take a step back and think about what you think play does and, from there, consider why it is valuable.

In Author(s): The Open University

Introduction

This material is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Devel
Author(s): The Open University

2.1 Introduction

Some of you will know children who live in settings that are not their original family home. You may have lived away from your family of origin yourself. It is remarkably common in children's fiction to find characters who have become separated from their parents and families, for example, Harry Potter, the children in the Narnia Chronicles, Tracy Beaker and many more.

The fictional Tracy Beaker tells us a lot about what it feels like to be separated from family and familiar places. She
Author(s): The Open University

3.1 Young people's mental health: diversity and inequality

We will now focus on young people's mental and emotional wellbeing, as a way of exploring how social divisions create diverse and unequal health experiences for young people.

Earlier in the unit we cited claims that young people today are experiencing an increase in mental health problems. What is certainly clear is that there has been an increasing concern in the media and elsewhere about young people's mental health, resulting in a range of reports and initiatives.

But ho
Author(s): The Open University

2.3 Towards a critical framework

Is it possible to construct an alternative framework for understanding young people's health, and if so, what resources might we need to draw on to do so?

A cultural perspective can help us to see constructions of adolescent mental health as interwoven with histories of ‘youth concern’. Recent debates about young people's wellbeing can be seen as an extension of more general anxieties about the state of contemporary childhood (James and Prout, 1997). A Foucauldian analysis wo
Author(s): The Open University