Introduction to Childhood Studies

Aims of the course

This online course explores what childhood is, what it has meant in the past, and what we think it should be like today. We will learn about the history of childhood, different ideas and theories about what it means to be a child, and how society sees and treats children. We will also looks at children’s rights and why they might matter. Childhood is explored from birth to age 18, and we’ll see how these ideas help us better understand children whether you are a parent, someone who works with children, or just interested in what it really means to be a child or conversely an adult.

Course content overview

As a result of the course, within the constraints of the time available, participants should be able to:

• develop a broad and reflective understanding of how childhood has been conceptualized by scholars across disciplines such as sociology, philosophy, and history.
• gain an appreciation of what childhood and children’s rights may signify and mean in different contexts and to different people.

Target audience

This course is for parents, teachers, social workers, carers, lawyers and anyone who works with or looks after children in different ways. It is also for people who are simply curious about what childhood means in the world today.

Welcome week (Week 0)

Purpose:

• personal introductions
• introducing the course
• useful reading
• personal objectives

Teaching Week 1: Children as Learners

Purpose:

This week explores how children learn across a range of contexts, from structured classroom settings to informal play and peer interaction. Using early language acquisition as a starting point, participants will examine how language learning can help us understand other aspects of children’s learning. Content encourages reflection on the ways children make sense of the world.

Learning outcome:

• Understand ways in which children acquire knowledge and understanding including through play and social interaction.

Teaching Week 2: Childhood in the Past and Today

Purpose:

This week examines how childhood has been understood across historical periods, tracing the emergence of modern concepts such as childhood and teenagers. We will explore the development of schooling, the role of children as workers in the past and currently, and the social and cultural forces that have shaped these ideas. Content encourages reflection on how contemporary understandings of childhood influence the lives of children, parents, and professionals working with them.

Learning outcomes:

• analyse historical and cultural shifts in the concept of childhood, including the emergence of adolescence
• examine the development of schooling and discuss changes in attitudes towards child labour

Teaching Weeks 3 & 4: The Rights and Lives of Children

Purpose:

This week examines the concept of children’s rights and their impact on children’s lives and our understanding of childhood, with a particular focus on Janusz Korczak and his influence on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We will explore these rights from the perspectives of children, parents, and professionals working with children, considering a broad understanding of childhood from birth to 18.

Learning outcomes:

• understand the concept of children’s rights and how it shapes our perception of childhood.
• analyse the influence of Janusz Korczak and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• explore children’s rights from multiple perspectives, including those of children, parents, and professionals, across different stages of childhood (0–18).

Teaching Week 5: Working and Being with Children

Purpose:

This final teaching week links the concepts studied throughout the course to real-world practice, examining how teachers, social workers, legal professionals, and parents develop and apply their understanding of childhood. It also explores how practical strategies in these contexts implicitly reflect the conceptual ideas about childhood introduced earlier in the course

Learning outcomes:

• analyse how practices in education, social work, law, and parenting reflect ideas about childhood
• critically evaluate the implicit assumptions about childhood embedded in practical strategies.

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.  

Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences. 

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language to get the maximum benefit from the course. 

Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours of self-study time, for example, reading materials, although this will vary from person to person.

While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).

Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the VLE so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (using discussion boards etc).

Fees

The course fee includes access to the course on our VLE, personal feedback on your work from an expert tutor, a certificate of participation (if you complete work and take part in discussions), and access to the class resources for two years after your course finishes. 

Concessions

For more information, please see our concessions information page. 

Alison Fordham Bursary

University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education is proud to offer the Alison Fordham bursary, which is awarded to students who wish to study on one of our short online courses via our VLE, reducing the fee paid by 50%. The bursary is limited to a single award for each set of online courses. 

Application criteria: 

• applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study
• applicants who can demonstrate financial need 

For more information, please see our bursaries information page. 

A certificate of participation and a digital credential will be awarded to those who contribute constructively to weekly discussions, exercises and assignments for the duration of the course.