THE SOCIOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD AND THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN

Abstract

This article presents the Sociology of Childhood and discusses its repercussions for children’s education. To achieve these objectives, a bibliographic review was carried out that gave an overview of the evolution of representations of childhood, the perspectives of empirical investigations of children, and the identifi cation of the model of socialization that is prevalent today. As a result of the social transformations, representations, and new modes of socialization, the “transnational childhood” characterized by mobility, communication in networks and the use of artifacts is captured. This is because childhood is active, it has its own identity, and it is, at the same time, both social actor and subject. As a result, the relationship between educator and educated should be characterized by protection of freedom and encouragement of dialog, which is only possible when authority is exercised in a “horizontal” form.