Date: November 2nd 2009

Ken Jacobson (denjay@bu.edu) is putting together a panel for the SCCR meetings on child-adult relationships and is looking for presenters. Contact Ken at the above. Following is a summary of Ken's theme to give you an idea.

Dispelling the Myth that Disruptive, Inattentive Students Cause Poor Educational Outcomes

This paper is based on 16 months fieldwork working with over 80 10 and 11 year-old children in classrooms in a market town in Oxfordshire, England called Riverton, and a New England town with similar demographics called Farmdale. The vast majority of literature dealing with children and childhood, whether historical or instructive, portrays adults as primary in the socialization process. The prevailing wisdom argues that children act on their own volition only in obedience or disobedience to adult wishes. This paper portrays classrooms from the children’s perspective and tells a completely different story. It shows children as active interlocutors and foils to adult power. It shows children exhibiting “default behaviors,” varying by context, but universal in their goal of redistributing adult power to the children.