Representations of the Child/Childhood in the Romanian Context.

Implications in the Training of Future Educators

Lecturer PhD. Stan Angela, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiești

Assistant PhD. Ghiţă Iulia Adelina, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiești

The chapter "Representations of the Child/Childhood in the Romanian Context:

Implications for the Training of Future Educators" commences from the premise that within
the pedagogical trajectory, a comprehensive viewpoint regarding the child and childhood—
one that assimilates constructive and relevant concepts and convictions, a nuanced conception
encompassing the child's essence, childhood dynamics, child-adult/educator relationships—
can substantiate the distinction in terms of pupil development/learning, the comprehension of
and affective-emotional companionship with the paramount educational accomplice, the
pupil, and the actualization of child comprehension activities. Why, you might inquire? This
is due to the fact that attitudes and motivational, engaging, interactive dispositions (for
instance, the constructive representations held by preschool educators about the
child/childhood) are acknowledged as conduits of support, as posited by scholars such as E.
Păun, R. B. Iucu, et al. These are pivotal inasmuch as they constitute a resource that
interfaces with the didactic strategy—components of the didactic strategy deemed to
encompass both procedural resources (methods, classroom management, learning modalities,
assessment, material resources) and human resources (teacher-pupil relationships, pupil
attributes, learning experiences, learning pace, the background of actors—values, attitudes,
aspirations, convictions, representations).
Developmental psychology is the scientific discipline concerned with comprehending
an individual's behaviour contingent upon the developmental stage the subject is situated
within, each of these stages following a well-defined temporal axis. Pertaining to the
child/childhood continuum (from birth to 10/11 years), the authors (see Verza, Crețu, etc.)
demarcate several periods. Early childhood or infancy initiates at birth and concludes when
the child manages to grasp articulated language. Robert Ewen (2012) noted that the self
begins to unfold around the midpoint of early childhood, and this owes itself to "bodily
explorations such as finger-sucking and the transition of the maternal figure from
unconditional affection to rewards and punishments, engendering the development of
personalizations of the self-good and self-bad." Middle childhood is a period peppered with
numerous challenges for parents. Amid the child's enduring need for affection at this
juncture, as long as the parent strikes a balance between sanctioning behaviour and bolstering
the self-good through the administration of rewards and the provision of affective support, a
substantial peril does not arise. Late childhood commences "with the onset of schooling,
marked by the emergence of the need for playmates," and according to Sullivan, the
educational system can contribute to rectifying disruptive behaviours stemming from the
adoption of an ineffective parental style. At school, the child learns to adapt to the novel
demands and rules imposed by the authority of the teacher. Consequently, the child imbibes
the principle of cause and effect, understanding that every behaviour begets change. Late
childhood marks the juncture wherein the child must accustom oneself to peers, forge
positive relationships, and the spirit of competition emerges.
However, within this chapter, the child/childhood are conceived as social constructs,
elucidated through the application of the theory of social representations (see Moscovici, J.
Cl. Abric, Moliner, Flament, Jodelet, Curelaru, etc.). In the preliminary section of this
chapter, the question is posed: Why is the child/childhood the object of social representation,
and why is it worthwhile for us, as future educators, to direct our attention towards these
types of representations? The ensuing response thrusts to the forefront the notion that
teachers' representations of the child are, in fact, representations of the other person (the
scholastic counterpart—namely, the pupil in this instance). Consequently, they constitute a
distinct category of social representations. Communication, in its totality, including within
the educational context (cf. Abric, 2002), must be explored and comprehended through the
prism of the interaction of three categories of factors: psychological, cognitive, and social.
Hence, as determining factors of communication intertwined with the roles of social actors,
the aforementioned author identifies cognitive variables. Among these, the author highlights
the representation systems of both actors (self-representation, representations of the other,
task, or context). The author regards knowledge of the representations wielded by
communication participants as an "indispensable" element for comprehending the
communicative act and enhancing it—a notion of augmented validity, particularly in the
pedagogical communicative sphere. Progressing methodically through the explication of
elements pertaining to the definition, general characteristics, functions, and structure of social
representations, all tailored to the type of representations of interest here, this initial segment
of the chapter accentuates the notion that social representations signify "a manifestation of
social thought, in the sense that they express how a facet of the world is perceived—a
perspective subsequently translated into judgment and action" (Rouquette, 2010).
The chapter proceeds with a succinct overview of how the child and childhood have
been perceived over time, striving to outline a historical perspective on the evolution of these
concepts. Simultaneously, it delves into a cultural perspective, offering considerations
regarding certain cultural disparities in how children are perceived and educated across
various societies. Consequently, the chapter pivots to accentuate specific aspects linked to
representations of the child/childhood within the Romanian context. This phase synthesizes
and comments upon the outcomes of pertinent studies conducted within the Romanian space,
executed under the aegis of institutions such as Save the Children Romania, UNICEF
Romania, World Vision Romania, the Institute of Educational Sciences, and the relevant
ministry, among others.
In the final section of the chapter, the significance and potential implications of
exploring representations of the child and childhood in the training of future educators are
catalogued. The intention is to draw attention to the necessity/importance for educational
professionals, as primary custodians of beneficiary contentment, to be conscious of the role
their representations of the child/childhood play (in the efficiency and quality of the
instructional-educational act). These variables, unjustly overlooked, hold the potential to
propose certain strategies that could ameliorate this reality, especially in the case of
prospective educators.
In this vein, concerns for the existence/formation of positive representations of
child/childhood among future teachers directly correspond to the objective and continuous
need to sensitize educational partners and develop/refine/enhance their interpersonal
competencies. These competencies are necessary to avert/minimize various negative effects
within the educational process. All of this is imperative from the perspective of the functions
(which, of course, educational professionals should be aware of) fulfilled by social
representations: as a function guiding the behaviours and practices of subjects (teachers'
representations of the child/childhood being prescriptive for their behaviours and stances);
the prescriptive function (prescribing obligatory behaviours and practices, what is
permissible, tolerable, or unacceptable in the scholastic context), with social representations
engendering a system of expectations and anticipations (thus, the same behaviour from a
partner can be interpreted differently based on the nature of the subject's elaborated
representation).
 Consequently, a target in working with future educators is the cultivation of
appropriate, fitting, and positive representations, as social representations such as teachers'
representations of the child/childhood can wield a significant impact (positive or negative) on
students' learning behaviours, persuasive effects, and their adherence to ideas provided by the
teacher. The acquisitions from specialized literature play their role here; however, every
prospective educator must recognize that no matter how extensive and meaningful the
psycho-pedagogical culture about the child and childhood may be, no theory encompasses all
answers or the best answers to the current challenges of nurturing, developing, and educating
a child.