Childhood, Community and Citizenship

This area is led by Georgina Glenny and Dr Helena Mitchell. This theme explores conceptions of childhood and the role of adults in relationship to children across a range of settings. This includes historical perspectives on childhood; the child as citizen with rights and obligations; children’s voice; children’s geographies; intercultural competencies and explorations of ‘otherness’; notions of global citizenship; religion in the public sphere as a context for dialogue and conflict; conceptions of quality in provision for children; the nature of children’s interaction with new technology; transitions and their implications for children; the nature of communication systems for effective multiprofessional work with children.

Current projects include ‘Building the future’a research and development project aimed at identifying and nurturing children’s and young people’s aptitude for occupations in the Built Environment and Urban Design for the Stephen Lawrence Trust. We are currently evaluating a number of multiprofessional projects exploring the communication systems that underpin effective multiprofessional practice. We are also involved in international collaborative research projects on religion in educational institutions, and on intercultural encounters, funded by the European Commission and the Council of Europe respectively.

We work alongside a number of organisations within the community and have strong links with other University departments working in the area of childhood including psychology, health, social welfare and social policy. We also work closely with a number of external organisations including the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) based at Blackbird Leys in Oxford, and local authority partners in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Staff researching in this area are:
Simon Catling
Visiting Professor Julie Fisher
Annie Haight
Nick Swarbrick
Peter Vass
Bob Waugh
Mary Wild
Maggie Wilson
Susannah Wright