Category: Ageism Towards Children
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References
References Allen, A. (2014). Michel Foucault. In: Phillips, D.C., (ed.) Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy. (333-336). SAGE Publications, Inc. APA. (2019). GCSE History (8145): Specification. Retrieved from https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/history/specifications/AQA-8145-SP-2016.PDF Apple, M. (1980). Curricular form and the logic of technical control. In Barton, L., Meighan, R., Walker, S. (Eds.), Schooling, Ideology and the Curriculum. Lewes: Falmer.…
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VI. Discussion and conclusion
In 2020, the British government outlawed anti-capitalist resources within schools despite recent studies such as Hansen (2016) suggesting that capitalism will likely cause the extinction of all humans and animals within a century. By teaching children that anti-capitalism is an “extreme political stance” (DfE, 2020), the government has removed all doubt about the liberty of…
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V. Punishment
Rewards and punishments are effective ways of controlling an individual to produce a desired behaviour. Rewards are a form of positive reinforcement as the individual is given something to encourage them to repeat the same behaviour through conditioning. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of something undesirable (i.e. homework) to encourage the repetition of a behaviour…
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IV. Ageism
Mandatory education imposed on children by law deprives them of the ability to consent to or remove consent of educational labour and competition. The idea that children must complete unpaid labour for a minimum of eleven years would be viewed as obscene if this law was imposed on any other group of people such as…
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III. Control
Over time, structures and institutions become so familiar that they escape criticism – longevity is disguised as nature: ‘Discipline must be made national,’ said Guibert. ‘The state that I depict will have a simple, reliable, easily controlled administration. It will resemble those huge machines, which by quite uncomplicated means produce great effects; the strength of…
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II. Normalisation
The process of normalisation (in the Foucauldian context meaning ‘to refine and make everything the same’) within the school separates children from their individuality and binds them to collective standards. Examination is designed to reward children who have come to the same conclusion as each other or the same conclusion of adults and to view…
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I. The Curriculum
Childhood is experienced by every individual, therefore so is the curriculum. Illich (1971) questions the rhetoric that young people require “full time attendance at an obligatory curriculum” (p. 26); this societal rule has the potential to dictate the thoughts and actions of an entire population. Novel ideas are not recognised by exam boards; Murphy (2013,…
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Introduction to Ageism
Children make up over a quarter of the world’s population and childhood is the most “intensely governed sector of personal existence” (Rose, 1985, p. 121). This research will assess how much autonomy is given to a child in regards to the information they are legally obligated to consume, the weight of the incentive to recall…
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