Childhood Studies and Sociology of Education

Without overloooking differences of class, gender, ethnicity, childhood research since 1980 has focused on the social formation of children in the context of generational order and begun seeing children as socially competent actors. Complementary political initiatives emphasize the importance of participatory experience, whilst at the same time educational research highlights the reality and instruments of class-based social selectivity in education. Social inequality is reinforced in educational structures that fail to promote democratic competencies and thus undermine the ability of citizens to participate actively and consciously in society. Genuinely democratic educational policies in line with the UN-Convention on the Rights of the Child aim to remedy this situation by promoting the education of all. This would fight the reproduction cycle and empower children to be really competent actors.