Reference no: EM132312687 , Length: word count:1500

Contemporary Childhoods Assignment -

Learning Outcomes -

1. Explore the social meaning of childhood including the historical, social and political factors and how they have influenced changing views of children and childhood.

2. Examine how different theoretical perspectives position children and childhood as a social construction.

3. Critically examine a postmodern view of children and childhood and the new sociological approaches that influence their relations within families and the social structure of societies.

4. Discuss the ways in which children and childhood are politicised and positioned as a social problem and the way in which this supports the regulation of children through social policy.

5. Examine the discourses of protection, rights and welfare related to childhood.

6. Describe the role of social institutions, particularly schools, in constructing children's lives.

7. Analyse the ways children engage in popular culture, consumerism, new technologies and the significance of play.

8. Critique research on and with children.

Assessment 1 - Critical Review: Critique of readings with analysis

Description: This assignment requires you to write a critical review of four literature sources focused on two topics covered within Module 2: Children's rights, schooling and social policy. Selecting TWO of the essential readings from those set for Module 2 (Topics 4, 5 and 6) and identifying TWO additional literature sources (on the same two topics) from your own literature search, you will critique the literature and analyse what the discussions mean for children in contemporary society. The critical review of literature MUST utilise the new sociological framework of childhood that has been introduced and discussed throughout the first two modules of the unit to show your understanding of key themes.

Process: In order to complete this assignment, you need to:

Select TWO essential readings on two topics from Module 2. A list of Module 2 essential readings can be found on vUWS in the Topic 4 (child welfare), Topic 5 (children's rights) and Topic 6 (schooled children) folders. These two readings cannot be selected from the Recommended Reading List.

Identify TWO additional academic/scholarly sources, from your own literature search, focused on the same two topics as the essential readings that you have chosen. For example, if you choose a children's rights (Topic 5) and a schooling (Topic 6) essential reading, then you must find another source that is focused on children and schooling and one more on children's rights. In total you will critically review FOUR literature sources.

Note: The two self-selected literature sources also cannot be selected from the Recommended Reading List, MUST be published within 10 years and MUST be either a journal article or book chapter specifically focused on the topics. Entire books or sources generally discussing childhood are not appropriate.

Conduct a critical review with analysis of each of the four literature sources. Your assignment should be structured with an introduction, 4 x critical review entry and a conclusion. Each critical review entry should be about 300 words. You will include a reference list at the end of the discussion.

Critical review- What is a critical review? The critical review of each literature source comprises a short summary of the key points and a critique or analysis of the ideas and discussion presented in each source. Reviewing critically means thinking carefully about what is discussed in the literature source and, through a new sociological framework of childhood lens, making a judgement about or evaluating the strengths and limitations of the literature discussion under review. It does NOT mean criticising the literature or commenting on the structure of the content. The critique or analysis of each literature discussion should also include consideration of the implications of the key points for children's experience of childhood drawing on sociology of childhood themes e.g. agency, voice, public vs private realms of childhood, welfare and power negotiations.

Assessment 2 - Essay: Children in Contemporary Society

Description: This assignment requires you to write an essay discussing in-depth ONE of the childhood topics explored in Module 2 or 3. As part of this, you will analyse ONE specific research paper related to the topic. You will be provided with potential research topics on vUWS and you must choose one of these topics. You will then choose one research paper from those made available to you in the folders. Your essay discussion will involve a literature review on the topic, followed by a critical analysis of the research project outlined in the paper chosen. In examining the topic and research project, you MUST utilise a new sociology of childhood perspective to make links to a range of theory and childhood sociological themes that have been addressed across the three modules.

Process: In order to complete this assignment, you need to:

Select a childhood topic of interest from the four available in the Assessment 3 folder on vUWS, choose ONE research paper from the selection provided in the respective topic folder. The topics to choose from include Children and nature/animals, children and popular culture/consumerism; children and rights, and children and schooling.

Conduct a review of academic/scholarly literature on the topic, mapping the expert views or debates on the key social issue/topic, identify relevant social policies and give examples illustrating the social issue. You must critically discuss the literature using a childhood sociological lens to make links to key themes and concepts addressed in unit content.

Summarise the research paradigm, methodological design, method and tools, how children are constructed and their role in the research evident in the research paper chosen from the folder. A Critical Analysis Template is provided for making a planning summary of the key analytic elements that need to be addressed in this component of the essay. You will use this summary information as the foundation for a more in-depth critical analysis of the key elements (outlined in the template) in your essay discussion. You MUST include the template as an appendix to your essay (it does not contribute to the word count).

Critically analyse the approach that is taken in the research paper to examine the childhood topic and address issues of agency in children's voice, positioning of children and power relationships, structural influences and research on and with children.

Structuring your essay discussion - headings should be used and MUST include the following: Title (highlighting your chosen topic), Introduction, Literature Review, Critical Analysis (see tip sheet for more detail), overall Conclusion, Reference List and Appendix (Critical Analysis Template).

The literature review involves:

Carefully reading through the literature sources that you have found and identifying the main points of the discussion on your chosen topic.

Drawing on these main points to write an integrated discussion that synthesises (or brings together) what you have learnt from the literature source to garnish a picture of the debates around the topic. This integrated discussion should also draw on some relevant social policies that have been developed to address the topic and include real examples that illustrate the topic and its relevance to contemporary childhood. Your literature review discussion should not be a general discussion of the topic, but rather a discussion written through a new sociology of childhood lens.

Note: The literature review for this assignment is NOT the same exercise as the critical review conducted for assignment 2 and SHOULD NOT be a series of independent reviews of the literature sources.

The critical analysis of the research paper involves:

Carefully considering or critiquing the evidence (presented in the paper) that supports the decisions made by the researcher to conduct the research in a certain way, based on their own philosophical position.

Then being able to explain or justify your interpretation/decisions of the key analytic element. What are its strengths and limitations of the approach taken to examine the topic? It helps if you ask yourself a series of questions about the research you are reading.

Try using these questions to help you think critically:

What is the author's viewpoint or bias on children /childhood - do they approach the research from a dominant perspective or new sociology of childhood perspective? How was the research conducted? Using what method-ological tools?

How are children represented or participating, and how does that influence the way the research is presented?

What is the main outcome of the research?

Was the outcome influenced by the theoretical paradigm of the research and the methodological approach used?

Underlying this critique is an assumption that children have a right to be agential (social agents) and therefore adults should not always speak on behalf of children. Ensure the notion of children and childhood is central to your discussions. Questions you might use to frame this discussion might include: How is the research project in the paper selected theorised in terms of the position of children in society? Are the children in the study, whether they are research participants or the way they are written about, seen as agential (to have agency)? How are relationships between children and adults, children and culture constructed? Are children seen as co-constructors of their worlds and their own realities? Is the view of childhood based on an individualized developmental model or a collective common worlds model? Is there evidence of a concern for the ways children are represented both from an ethical and substantive content perspective? Use the template provided to ensure you cover each of the aspects of comparison (see workshop materials for Topic 9 in Module 3).

Note - Need assessment 2 paper based on your chosen topic. Word limit - 1500 words.

Attachment:- Assignment Files.rar