These are unprecedented times. The world is grappling with a pandemic, huge environmental challenges, racial, social and economic inequalities, democratic deficit and a profound transformation of the way we live and interact with each other. As educators our two main points of foci are children and childhood; and education or learning – both of which have been undergoing fundamental changes, exacerbated by the effects of Covid-19.
Accordingly, this webinar explores the relationship between:
- Childhood and technology
- Childhood and formal and informal pedagogy
- Childhood and nature
- Childhood and families
The relational aspects of childhood have been influenced by issues of mental and physical well-being, parental engagement in the home learning environment, increasing use of technology, and changing pedagogic practices in the various spheres of a child’s life.
So, can the experiences that we share today as researchers, practitioners and students help us to interrogate changes and continuities in understandings of childhood?
How do they impact upon the spaces, places, relations and practices of education?
How can shared understandings of these transformations contribute to a more socially just future for all?
The Children and Childhoods SIG presents an interactive virtual conference where participants who have a passion for exploring the changing ‘relational child’ will present image-based snapshots of their research. This conceptual collage of research on the theme of relational children and childhoods will encourage an exploration of connections across a broad spectrum. Through these connections, we hope to develop understandings about the complexity and diversity of children’s relationships at present.