The Discovery of Childhood

About This Event

This webinar is a part of the RIPE (Research Informed Practice in Education) Webinar series that explores the interconnectedness of educational theory, research, and practice.

The aim of this session is to explore the historical origins of the modern concept of childhood as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and to argue that the notion of childhood as a separate stage of development during which families and institutions should encourage the development of the child as a full, autonomous individual was largely an eighteenth-century phenomenon and one that is inherently connected to Enlightenment thought. We will outline the historiography of childhood while drawing on evidence from pedagogical and children’s literature of the period. Finally, we will consider potential connections between 21st-century child-centred pedagogy and the pedagogical literature of the eighteenth century.

About the Speakers

Dr. Ahmed Hussain

Chief Education Officer, AISL

Dr. Ahmed Hussain is the Chief Education Officer with AISL. This position involves leading on educational strategy and operations across the Harrow group of schools in Asia. He is also an Associate Professor at the school of education at Durham University, a member of the editorial board of Research Journal: International Education Theory and Practice, a member of the expert panel for Pudong Education Bureau, Shanghai, and a Fellow of the Charter College for Teaching, UK.

Karen Taylor

Director of Education and the Institute of Learning and Teaching, International School of Geneva

Karen Taylor serves as Director of Education and the Institute of Learning and Teaching at the International School of Geneva and Associate Professor in Practice at Durham University’s School of Education. Prior to moving to Switzerland in 2008, Dr. Taylor taught at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC and in the Liberal Studies Degree program at Georgetown University where she earned her PhD in history in 2000. Dr. Taylor’s research interests focus on eighteenth-century French pedagogical writings, Global Citizenship Education, Intercultural Learning, Inclusion and Plurilingual Education.