Time dimensions in children's perception of their own development

Authors

  • Pernille Hviid

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.19792

Keywords:

Development, Time, Timing, Children

Abstract

In children's understanding of their own developmental processes, socio-cultural dimensions of time have a significant importance. The study investigated, from the perspective of the child, the emergence of novelty in the interdependent system formed by the child and his/her surroundings, based on the perceptions of five 12-year-old children. This paper deals specifically with the relationship between the developing children and their meeting with and way of dealing with different dimensions of time in the spaces they lived in, the routes they followed in the landscape of childhood and the persons that in their view guided them along the way. The children moved back and forth in time, investigated their past, present and future expectations and their own developmental changes. These dimensions were introduced as 'cultural time' and 'social time'. Cultural time consisted of time built in the institutional landscape of childhood. These structures, it is argued, move children back and forth, transforming them from 'small' into 'big' and into 'small' again. Social time consisted of local discourses regarding age-appropriate engagements and actions, here investigated amongst peers. Although children are not determined by these interrelated time dimensions, it is evident that they reflect and deal with them, producing their own personal developmental time.

References

Valsiner J. Culture and the development of children’s actions: a theory of human development. New York (NY): John Wiley &Sons; 1997.

Bergson H. Det umiddelbare i bevidstheden. København: Gads Forlag; 1917.

Valsiner J. Developmental epistemology and implications for methodology. In: Lerner R, editor. Handbook of child psychology. NewYork (NY): John Wiley & Sons; 2005. v. 1.

Vygotsky L. Collected works. New York (NY): Plenum Press; 1987. v. 4.

Elder GH. The life course as developmentaltheory. Child Dev. 1998;69(1):1-12.

James A, Jenks C, Prout A. Den teoretiskebarndom. København: Gyldendals Forlag; 1999.

Schousboe I. Udviklingspsykologi og børn ivirkeligheden. In: Reimer L, Schousboe I, Thorborg P, reg. I nærheden. København: HansReitzels Forlag; 2000. p. 151-72.

Neugarten DA. The meanings of age. London: University of Chicago Press; 1996.

Valsiner J. Making the future: temporality and the constructive nature of human development. In: Turkewitz G, Darlynne AD, organizers. Developmental time and timing. Hillsdale (NJ): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1993. p. 13-41.

Downloads

Published

2006-08-01

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2006)

Section

Original Research

License

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR JOURNAL  PUBLISHERS

 

Publishers who are Committee on Publication Ethics members and who support COPE membership for journal editors should:

 

Publishers should:

 

  • Define the relationship between publisher, editor and other parties in a contract
  • Respect privacy (for example, for research participants, for authors, for peer reviewers)
  • Protect intellectual property and copyright
  • Foster editorial independence

 

Publishers should work with journal editors to:

 

  • Set journal policies appropriately and aim to meet those policies, particularly with respect to:

–         Editorial  independence

–         Research ethics, including confidentiality, consent, and the special requirements for human and animal research

–         Authorship

–         Transparency and integrity (for example, conflicts of interest, research funding, reporting standards

–         Peer review and the role of the editorial team beyond that of the journal editor

–         Appeals and complaints

  • Communicate journal policies (for example, to authors, readers, peer reviewers)
  • Review journal policies periodically, particularly with respect to new recommendations from the COPE
  • Code of Conduct for Editors and the COPE Best Practice Guidelines
  • Maintain the integrity of the academic record
  • Assist the parties (for example, institutions, grant funders, governing bodies) responsible for the investigation of suspected research and publication misconduct and, where possible, facilitate in the resolution of these cases
  • Publish corrections, clarifications, and retractions
  • Publish content on a timely basis