Emulations. Childhoods at school

An issueof Émulations. Revue de sciences sociales, to be published in early 2019 by Presses universitaires de Louvain, will be devoted to the theme "Childhood at School,"edited by Frédérique Giraud (Centre Max Weber, ENS Lyon).

Sales pitch

Childhood is undoubtedly a social biological stage, constructed culturally and historically, rather than a fact of nature (Court, 2017). Childhood is a period of specific inculcation and socialization at the intersection of the family and school spheres. It is marked by various interventions that make it a strategic time for the acquisition and incorporation of cultural and social norms and values (linguistic, physical, behavioral, etc.) that children learn to master. Educational institutions play a leading role in this shaping process, which varies according to local contexts, the composition of the audience, the expectations of families, and the backgrounds of the actors involved. As a place where children and staff live and socialize on a weekly basis, educational institutions contribute to the construction of children's ways of seeing and thinking. Understanding educational institutions as "cultural phenomena in their own right" (Riesman, 1991), this dossier aims to study the ways in which these institutions, through the actors who embody them, think about children and childhood, by closely examining their characteristics and the concrete practices of educational actors. Above all, the aim is to document the geographical and cultural variability of schooling principles in Europe by focusing on studies that show the diversity of actors' expectations of schools, as well as the varied contours of practices and representations concerning pedagogy and childhood.

These questions overlap with, but do not cover, the issues that have preoccupied educational sociologists for many years. The focus we propose, which is resolutely open to the intersection of disciplinary perspectives, aims not only to (re)document social inequalities in learning, but also to reveal, by studying school environments from within, how educational institutions and actors contribute to shaping the plural worlds of childhood. Comparative studies are therefore welcome. The aim of this dossier is to examine and compare the plural and non-concordant socialization work (Delay, Frauenfelder, 2013) of all actors involved with children in educational institutions: teachers, healthcare staff, doctors, peers, and parents. From one school to another, children of the same biological age are not the same and do not experience childhood under the same conditions. The aim is to shed light on how schooling conditions contribute to this differentiated construction of children and to the coexistence of plural worlds of childhood.

We propose the following areas of focus, while remaining open to other suggestions that do not fall within these areas:

1. Children in school classes: expectations, representations, and practices

Because school is a space for socialization that complements, competes with, or sometimes contradicts the family environment, where children spend long hours each week and develop ways of thinking and acting, it is interesting to know how they talk about their school and what they experience there. Contributions that reveal children's perspectives on school, their educators, and their peers will allow us to explore ways of experiencing childhood at school, paying attention to both the objective social affiliations of children, their families, and their educators, as well as the residential and symbolic logics that differentiate their living spaces.

Taking an interest in childhood at school also involves analyzing the conditions surrounding the choice of school type (Joannin, Salaméro, Mennesson, 2013) (local public school, private school, school with a new teaching approach – Montessori, Freinet, Steiner) as well as the choice not to send children to school made by family members, some of whom have been shown to act as school consumers (Ballion, 1982), with varying degrees of information and unequal capital and resources. Articles may focus on the effects of differentiated socialization, both upstream and within schools, which interact with school mobility (Dauphin, Verhoeven, 2002), the choice of activities practiced, the choice of advice to be followed (teacher, facilitator, school psychologist, medical professionals), etc. Taking into account the educational diversity available to parents and the choices associated with it will reveal schools and childhoods that do not take place in the same "worlds" (Lahire, 2012). We welcome contributions that show how, in the French-speaking world, educational issues are experienced and thought about differently (Delay, 2011).

2. Childhood and knowledge: pluralistic teaching methods in action

Focusing on the plurality of prescribed and implemented teaching methods will reveal how these methods convey contrasting visions of childhood. The growing interest among parents with cultural capital in new teaching methods inspired by Steiner, Freinet, or Montessori, and the emergence of teaching methods that meet this demand, must be studied in order to highlight the plurality of educational styles (Kellerhals, Montandon, 1991), the variability of their implementation, and, more profoundly, the way in which they contribute to making children the focal points and actors of educational worlds. Contributions focusing on the teaching methods and approaches of teachers and other actors responsible for children's learning will be particularly appreciated. As far as possible, the articles submitted should document the social drivers behind the differentiated arrangement of teaching practices.

3. Childhood and games

Between their playful "vocation" and educational constraints (Vincent, 2001), games are designed as tools for organizing children's experiences, contributing to their development and enabling them to learn about the world. Thus, we can speak of "play pedagogy" (Chamboredon, Prévost, 1973) or "playful education" (Brougère, 1997). Between these two poles, articles may question the place, functions, and different forms of play according to different pedagogies, while taking into account their greater or lesser distance from family play, without forgetting social relations of age and gender. Articles written from a child's perspective may question their uses of games, whether diverted or invented, and their representations of them.

This dossier entitled "Childhoods at School" will provide a cross-sectional view of different education systems, highlighting the variation in knowledge and skills relating to childhoods at school and the plurality of ways of being a child by analyzing socially differentiated childhood practices and relationships within the social space of school and outside school.

Calendar

March 20, 2018: deadline for submitting article proposals

March 30, 2018: notification of decisions to authors

June 15, 2018: submission of V1 manuscripts (25,000–30,000 characters)

July 30, 2018: feedback sent to authors

September 30, 2018: submission of V2 manuscripts

October 30: Feedback sent to authors

November 30, 2018: submission of the final version of the manuscripts to the journal

February 2019: publication of the print edition and online release

Submission requirements

– Contributions for this issue should be based on a detailed and thorough presentation of field survey data, while also offering methodological and theoretical reflections on the questions raised here.

– Send a 1,000-word article proposal including the title, a summary of the argument, the nature of the corpus and methodological information, as well as a biographical note including the author's discipline and professional status.
– To be sent by March 20 to frederique.giraud@ens-lyon.fr and redac(at)revue-emulations.net

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