Contemporary Childhood

Sean MacBlain PhD is a distinguished author and academic  whose publications include: MacBlain (Sage, 2021) Children’s Learning in Early Childhood; MacBlain (Sage, 2020) Child Development for Teachers; MacBlain, Dunn and Luke (Sage, 2017) Contemporary Childhood;  Gray and MacBlain (Sage, 2015) Learning Theories in Childhood; MacBlain, Long and Dunn, (Sage, 2015) Dyslexia, Literacy and Inclusion: Child-centred Perspectives;  MacBlain (Sage, 2014) How Children Learn. Sean’s publications are used by students, practitioners and academics throughout the world and have been widely translated including into Chinese and Vietnamese. Sean was previously a senior academic at the University of St Mark & St John, Plymouth, England where he held the positions of Research lead for the Centre for Education and Applied Research, Research Lead for the Centre for Professional and Educational Research, Research Coordinator for the School of Education and Deputy Chair of the Ethics Committee. Sean has also worked as a Senior Lecturer in Education and Developmental Psychology at Stranmillis University College, Queen’s University Belfast. In addition to this, Sean has  worked for over twenty years as an educational psychologist and continues in this field as an independent practitioner.  Jill Dunn is a senior lecturer in Stranmillis University College, Belfast.  She was a primary school teacher working in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One classrooms before moving into teacher education.   Jill teaches widely across the BEd and PGCE Early Years programmes.  However, her main interests lie in the teaching of literacy in the early years.  Jill has just completed her EdD in 2013 and her dissertation focused on children’s views on using popular culture to teach writing.  She has been involved in a number of funded research projects on literacy and is currently involved in an evaluation of iPads in the Early Years.  Jill lives in Lisburn, Northern Ireland with her husband Ian and two daughters Holly and Katy.

This important book attempts to place the developing child within the many worlds they exist, to give us a better understanding of both the most obvious influences on them, and also the more subtle. Never shying away from the controversial issues, this book is not about an ideal child development story, it is about how modern children are growing up in a world that is often very alien to the one practitioners grew up in, culminating in the final chapter that explores contemporary issues in our global society, such as poverty, obesity, sexualisation, mental health, media, materialism and more.

• SECTION 1THE CHILD1 The Changing Nature of ChildhoodShifting landscapes: children’s securityMulticulturalismInclusion and children with additional needsAusterity and povertyChildren as carersState of play in the UKEmerging curricula and proposed initiatives2 The Child’s PerspectiveCurrent views on children’s perspectiveChildhood studies and children’s perspectivesUnited Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and children’s perspectivesChallenges and tensions in listening to young children’s perspectivesMethods for seeking children’s perspectives in researchInnovative methods for eliciting the views of young childrenChildren’s involvement in the research process3 Social and Emotional Functioning in the Learning EnvironmentLearning, happiness and well-beingAttachment and the learning environmentLoss in childhood: its impact on learningFear and love in the lives of childrenSupporting children’s social and emotional functioning outside of the home4 Creating Optimum Learning Environments for the ChildToday’s challengesIdentification and assessment: reflections on practiceEthical issues in the identification and assessment of childrenLow achievement and underachievementChildren whose first language is not EnglishMonitoring and evaluating practiceSECTION 2THE CHILD AND THE FAMILY5 The Changing Nature of FamiliesDivorce, separation and step-familiesThe importance of fathers in familiesGrandparents and familiesWorking with refugee and asylum-seeking familiesWorking with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families6 The Parent’s VoiceListening to parentsWorking with parentsParents’ working patterns7 Multi Professional PerspectivesEvolving perspectivesSafeguardingChallenges of multi-agency workingProfessionals and parents: working togetherRecent initiativesSECTION 3MODERN AND EMERGING CHILDHOODS8 Policy, Discourse and IdentityPolicy and practiceContemporary political ideology and philosophyRegulation, control and accountabilityProfessionalism and professional identity9 The Digital ChildWhat is a ‘digital child’?Digital mediaThe affordances of digital mediaStarting where children are: the importance of children’s learning experiences at homeChildren’s digital lives in the new millenniumE-safety for children in a digital world10 International PerspectivesInternational variations in practiceChildren and conflictGrowth of technologyGenderProvision for children throughout the worldEconomic costs of childhoodThe readying culture11 Contemporary Issues in a Global SocietyPoverty and life chancesObesitySexualisation of childrenSocial fearsMental healthMedia and materialismThe emergence of neuroscienceReflections on professionalismChild-centredness in a changing world