Activity 1.1 | Personal and Societal Values and Beliefs in Early Years Settings

If we consider the view that children are constantly interacting with inherited ways of being in this world and that they are both “of the world” and in the world, how can we think differently about childhood and children? 

Reconfiguring the Natures of Childhood (Taylor, 2013) explores the complex relationship between children and nature, reflecting on how cultural perceptions shape childhood experiences. 

Step One: Read 

Read an excerpt from Reconfiguring the Natures of Childhood (Taylor, 2013), shared on the Early Childhood Pedagogies Collaboratory website by Kim Atkinson, reflecting on innocence and non-innocence in early learning spaces.

Step Two: Reflect 

Reflect on your own values and beliefs to be curious about the story you just read (Taylor, 2013) by considering the following questions and documenting your thoughts in your journal: 

• Where does the idea that childhood is a time of “innocence” come from? 
• How does this interact with your image of children and childhood? 

Be curious throughout the rest of this first module. As you engage, ask yourself, How do society, theory, and Educators' personal beliefs and values intersect with social and theoretical underpinnings? 

References

Atkinson, K. (2021). Pedagogies of non-innocence. Early Childhood Pedagogies Collaboratory. https://www.earlychildhoodcollaboratory.net/pedagogies-of-non

Taylor, A. (2013). Reconfiguring the Natures of Childhood (1st ed.). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203582046/reconfiguring-natures-childhood-affrica-taylor