Prospectus

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Child care, experts, and parents: historical trends

Course
2013-2014

NB Language spoken in course is Dutch unless English-speaking students participate

Admission requirements

Thematically, this course is linked to the Bachelor course Opvoedingsvoorlichting, preventie en interventie.

Description

In this course we highlight historical trends in advice to parents about child raising. Since a few centuries, parents are assisted by so-called experts who provide them with guidelines as to how to bring up their children. Clergymen, medical doctors, pedagogues, and, increasingly, psychologists have voiced strong opinions about mundane matters such as bedtime tantrums and toilet training. It was repeatedly suggested that bringing up a child is too difficult a task for ordinary parents. Meanwhile, the experts themselves differed in opinion and their counsel did not always rest upon solid scientific research. It will be shown that advice was influenced by such currents as psychoanalysis and behaviorism and that it changed when new concepts became fashionable or new technologies became available. Evidently, much allegedly scientific advice was based upon no more than contemporary culture-bound opinion.

Course objectives

Achievement levels: 1-12.

Timetable

Timetable

Mode of instruction

Lectures.

Assessment method

Written exam.

Blackboard

During this course Blackboard will be used.

Reading list

  • Christina Hardyment (2007). Dream babies: Childcare advice from John Locke to Gina Ford. London.

  • Daniel Beekman (1997). The mechanical baby: a popular history of the theory and practice of child raising. Westport.

Registration

Please note that separate uSis registration is mandatory for lectures, seminars, exam and re-exam.

  • Registration for the lectures of the course is possible as of two months through one week before the first lecture at the latest;

  • Registration for the seminars of the course is possible as of two months through one week before the first lecture at the latest;

  • Registration for the exam is possible as of two months through one week before the exam at the latest;

  • Registration for the re-exam is possible as of two months through one week before the re-exam at the latest.
    Students who don’t register cannot attend classes or take the (re)exam.

Contact information

During this course prof. dr. R. van der Veer holds offices on Monday (16.00 tot 17.00).