‘Eyes on where children play’: a retrospective study of active free play

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influenced childhood active free play. Participants were 13 young adults who resided in one western Canadian city. They took part in semi-structured and walk-along interviews during which they were asked about their memories and experiences of play. Analysis showed that, whereas parental restrictions and safety concerns were limiting factors, a sense of community and safety in numbers facilitated their involvement in active free play. However, the young adults thought these factors had since become eroded from modern society. We concluded a reduced sense of perceived safety exists because there are fewer eyes on where children play.     

Encouraging play in the natural environment: a child-focused case study of Forest School

There is concern that children are becoming disengaged from the natural environment and are not being afforded the opportunities to play in such environments. To examine children's perceptions, knowledge and experiences of play in the natural environment, 17 children from one school participated in small focus groups before and after a 12-week Forest School that took place within a school woodland area. Using two qualitative approaches, we found that Forest School had a positive influence on children's natural play and their knowledge of the natural world around them.     

Children's Perceptions of the Use of Public Open Spaces for Active Free-play

Activity performed by children in their free-time may have a significant impact on overall physical activity levels, however, very little is known about the influences on children's active free-play. To examine the role and use of public open spaces, 132 children (6–12 years) from a selection of primary schools participated in small focus group interviews. Children reported that their use of public open spaces was influenced by a combination of intrapersonal, social and environmental factors including; the play equipment and facilities at local parks, lack of independent mobility, urban design features, presence of friends, and personal motivation.     

Childhood in the shadow of war: filled with work and play

This study was focused on war-time childhood. The target period covers the war years 1939–1945 and the years of post-war reconstruction. The research was based on memories of 13 participants who lived in the countryside in northern Finland during the Second World War. The purpose of the study was to find out what children's everyday life was like during the war. According to the results, children did play regardless of the war situation. Children also participated in household work actively. By highlighting children's experiences and perspectives, this study provided important information about children's survival during war time. The study also helps understanding the effects of wars from children's point of view.     

Young children’s use of an augmented reality sandbox to enhance spatial thinking

ABSTRACT

Augmented reality (AR) technology is being introduced in educational settings for its ability to overlay virtual information onto physical environments. The AR Sandbox is a conventional sandbox with depth coloured representations projected onto the sand’s surface. This research investigates how 4- and 5-year-old Australian children use an AR Sandbox to enhance their spatial thinking through play. Participants were four children, their two educators and the first author as a participant-observer researcher. Data were collected over an 8-week period during 2015 and included observation, child conferencing, photography, educators’ perspectives, and the researcher’s perspectives. Vignettes are presented to demonstrate how children’s spatial thinking was enhanced through exploration and representation in the AR Sandbox. Children’s active and dynamic manipulation of the space of the AR Sandbox, along with a range of socio-cultural contexts and tools, assisted in enhancing their spatial abilities.     

加强新社会阶层中的统一战线工作

统一战线作为中国共产党执政兴国的重要法宝,在新世纪新阶段具有空前的广泛性、巨大的包容性、鲜明的多样性和显著的社会性等新特点。加强新社会阶层中的统一战线工作,充分发挥统战工作“团结凝聚、协调服务、教育引导、推动促进”的基本功能,以为构建社会主义和谐社会做出积极的贡献。     

"近五百年来中国社会结构变迁"国际学术讨论会综述

近500年特别是19世纪以来,中国社会结构处于急遽的历史变动进程之中,探寻转型与变动中的中国社会结构及其内在奥秘自然成为社会史学研究的重要课题与方向。由南开大学中国社会史研究中心暨历史学院共同主办的“近五百年来中国社会结构变迁”国际学术讨论会即围绕近500年来中国社会结构的历史变动主题,在社会结构的特征及其变迁、经济发展与社会结构变动、社会阶级阶层结构、社会流动与社会分层、城市社会结构、国家与社会结构变动等方面进行了深入研讨,力图再现500年来中国社会结构变迁的历史图景,并为当代中国社会结构转型提供历史借鉴。     

Children's neighbourhoods,social centres to ‘terra incognita’

Neighbourhoods are changing as people lead more spatially dispersed lives diminishing their local social connections. This paper explores the way children interact with their neighbourhoods to see whether they are still socially connected to their neighbourhoods or leading more spatially dispersed social lives. It reports findings from a study of 92 children aged 9–11 in Dunedin, New Zealand. The study found that while many children did have minimal social contact with their neighbourhood, other children retained strong social connections. Key factors determining children's levels of social connectivity include attendance at the local school, levels of independence, neighbourhood urban form, road density and locally accessible classmates.     

Child experiences as street traders in Peru: contributing to a reappraisal for working children

By exploring the experiences of over a hundred child traders in Cusco, this research provides an insight into the more everyday circumstances of children's work in developing countries. The working conditions of child traders raise serious concerns, including: dangers of accidents, theft and abuse; shortage of time for play; and some disruption to education. Nevertheless, the positives of trading work are substantial. Although the children feel that they have to work, they gain enjoyment and economic empowerment. Moreover, they display a certain self esteem and confidence in the knowledge of their trading skills, and a spatial awareness of the best trading sites, demonstrating agency in their choice of trading locations. The findings suggest that international policy, which emphasises universal condemnation and prohibition of child work, requires revision. Such policy should be replaced by a more flexible approach, which recognises the benefits of children's work and embraces supportive protection for children engaged in the lighter forms of work such as trading.     

一部展现当代中国社会历史全貌的著作--读《当代中国社会史》

中国社会史研究自20世纪80年代全面复兴以来,逐步从历史学的边缘领域走向舞台中心。1996年,为进一步确立社会史学科的性质、任务和地位,加强对社会史研究的“宏观把握、整体架构工作”,由龚书铎任总主编,曹文柱和朱汉国任副总主编的8卷本《中国社会通史》出版面世,描摹了先秦至民国数千年间中国社会发展变迁的历史图景。     

Rethinking ‘trafficking’ in children's migratory processes: the role of social networks in child labour migration in Bangladesh

Although the academic and policy literature on children's migration is growing, an in-depth look of the operationalisation of networks in child labour migration is missing. The focus of policy-makers on human trafficking draws attention to children's vulnerability and their exploitation at the hands of traffickers. In the absence of research focusing on children's migration more broadly, this emphasis on trafficking risks misreading children's migratory processes. Ethnographic research undertaken in Bangladesh shows that while some exploitation may occur, it co-exists alongside gendered relations of protection. This draws attention to the need for more in-depth examination of children's networks in migration.     

宗教对社会工作的启示——基于中国民间社会的观察与思考

宗教与社会工作都具有“助人”的功能。从中国社会的实际来看,无论是制度化宗教还是分散性宗教,都具有许多值得社会工作学习和借鉴的地方。其主要体现在以行善和奉献为特点的价值观、本土化的助人方法、教内互助和社会慈善相结合的制度以及宗教场所接近社区的空间分布形式等方面。宗教在中国民间社会长期而有效的“助人”经验,是中国社会工作本土化值得利用的资源。     

Children’s agency in accessing for spaces of play in an urban high-rise community in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This research explores children’s agency in negotiating for play spaces in Malaysia within the context of an urban high-rise community. Fieldwork was conducted with 31 children between the ages of four to 12 years old. A qualitative, child-centered approach to data collection was employed using participatory research methods. The study reveals how children gain access to play spaces and details their innovative strategies in maximizing play opportunities in a community with limited infrastructural and social support. It highlights how children claim the use of communal spaces within the housing compound, reinvent designated play spaces, resist adult rules around restricted spaces and embrace elements of global culture for meaningful play opportunities. The paper argues that children exercise agency in accessing play spaces, and by so doing, extend and expand their lived geographies which are not just spatial, temporal and social but also invented and imagined.     

First year on the faculty: the quality of their teaching

Abstract

This article considers the arguments being advanced in the USA for an expansion of academic programmes incorporating service‐learning, in which students undertake, as part of their studies, community service, and engage in academic activities designed to provide a context for reflection on their experience in doing so. Three arguments are usually advanced for this: the merits of experiential education, the value of service‐learning in education for citizenship, and its significance in promoting a sense of ‘community’. Some examples are given and the issues raised by these programmes are explored briefly. It is suggested that geography could profit from incorporating elements of service‐learning in order to enhance its treatment of moral and political issues.     

The history of ‘Social Technology’, 1898–1930

Since the term was first coined, in the late nineteenth century, ‘social technology’ has had a mixed fate. Whereas ‘technology’ has become one of the keywords of the twentieth century, ‘social technology’ never quite seemed to settle in the vocabulary of social theory. In this article, we focus on the early history of ‘social technology’, tracing its spread from its origin in the sociology department at the University of Chicago, and describing the increasing competition from the term ‘social engineering’ starting in the 1920s. We argue that this shift in terminology is significant, because it is an index of changing ideas about the demarcation of sociology, about the application of science in the betterment of society and about the nature of technology.