confronting adultcentrism: childist and decolonial interventions in educational philosophies and institutions

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12957/childphilo.2024.88634

Keywords:

childism, adultcentrism, decoloniality, intergenerational justice, education, pedagogy

Abstract

'Confronting Adultcentrism: Childist and Decolonial Interventions in Educational Philosophies and Institutions' explores the transformative potential of childism as an orientation to critique and transform adultism and coloniality within education. Edited by Tanu Biswas and Toby Rollo, the special dossier builds on the Childism Institute’s discussions to center children as epistemic agents and challenge the structural marginalization of childhood in socio-political and philosophical spheres. Childism deconstructs and critiques adult-centric biases, proposing a profound shift toward recognizing the interdependence of childhood and adulthood, and unique relational perspectives as vital to intergenerational justice. The articles examine how traditional (euro-centric) educational systems reinforce adultist hierarchies, viewing children as incomplete beings in a preparatory phase called 'childhood'.  They advocate for reimagining educational systems with age-inclusive pedagogical relationships where children participate as active contributors. Key themes include democratic education and liberation as an intergenerational project,, decolonial critiques of childhood philosophies underlying educational practices, and the role of children as epistemic agents and activists. Some contributions argue for dismantling adultist structures and integrating children and childhood into democratic and liberatory frameworks. Others explicitly link adultism to coloniality, showing how Eurocentric colonial projects infantilized colonized peoples. The articles extend childism’s reach to address historical legacies of racialized and epistemic oppression including explorations of racialized imageries of childhood. Collectively the dossier advances childism as a timely intervention for reshaping education, philosophy, and policy, embracing children’s present contributions and fostering intergenerational equity.

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Author Biography

tanu biswas, University of Stavanger

Tanu Biswas is an interdisciplinary philosopher of education. Her theoretical and geographical journey with children and childhood in India, Italy, Norway and Germany has led to a hybrid nomadic sensibility in her contribution to childism research. The objective of her doctoral work was suggesting a childist perspective for the pedagogy of philosophy in response to an overheated era of Anthropocene neoliberalism. Previously, she has worked with monastic childhoods, collective living with infants and voluntary simplicity. Tanu is particularly interested in exploring the philosophical richness that children and childhood have to offer adults.  In this vein her post doctoral project considers contemporary children's civil disobedience (Thunberg's School Strikes) as a call for rethinking the adult-child asymmetry in educational contexts.

References

Biswas, T., Wall, J., Warming, H., Zehavi, O., Kennedy, D., Murris, K., Saal, B., & Rollo, T. (2023). Childism and philosophy: A conceptual co-exploration. Policy Futures in Education, 22(5), 741-759.

Josefsson, J., & Wall, J. (2020). Empowered inclusion: theorizing global justice for children and youth. Globalizations, 17(6), 1043–1060. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2020.1736853

Rollo, T. (2016). Feral children: settler colonialism, progress, and the figure of the child. Settler Colonial Studies, 8(1), 60–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2016.1199826

Rollo, T (2023, February 9) “The Child” and Coloniality. Contribution to The Transnational Childism Colloquiuim on Childism and Decoloniality [Video]. The Childism Institute. https://vimeo.com/797460403?share=copy [accessed on 16.11.2024]

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Published

2024-12-31

How to Cite

BISWAS, Tanu; ROLLO, Toby. confronting adultcentrism: childist and decolonial interventions in educational philosophies and institutions. childhood & philosophy, Rio de Janeiro, v. 20, p. 01–11, 2024. DOI: 10.12957/childphilo.2024.88634. Disponível em: https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/childhood/article/view/88634. Acesso em: 15 feb. 2025.

Issue

Section

dossier: "confronting adultcentrism in educational philosophies and institutions"