The neighbourhood of children beyond playing: A social-pedagogical perspective

Workshop 3. Session 3.2: Caring and playing Introduction: Many studies and policy practices relating to the neighbourhood of children1 construe the neighbourhood mainly as a play environment. As a result, the neighbourhood of children is predominantly if not exclusively assessed on the opportunities it offers to children for playing and interacting with other children (Ackermans, 1970; Jansen, 1996; Valentine & McKendrick, 1997, Blinkert, 2004; Vanderstede, 2004; Burke, 2005). However, such a construction hampers a more comprehensive view of the role of the neighbourhood as a context for socialisation. Moreover, this type of research fails to reveal the meaning children themselves give to their neighbourhood. Through its intermediate position between the private and the public spheres, the neighbourhood creates a specific context enabling children to explore society and to develop their identity vis-à-vis this society. From a social-pedagogical viewpoint, the focus is mainly on the various learning processes that are encouraged or impeded by a given neighbourhood and on the diversity of social relationships which this environment helps to create. This paper addresses three questions. The first relates to the way in which the construction of the neighbourhood influences the learning opportunities offered to children. This issue covers both the physical setup of the neighbourhood and its mental aspects, such as implicit and explicit rules and norms relating to its use by children. A second question concerns the way in which children define their neighbourhood and how they influence the construction of this environment. The assumption is that children are not only passively influenced by their environment but that they actively impact upon their own position and their environment. The third question relates to the way in which developments in the neighbourhood help to shape the meaning of childhood. What does the dominant construction of the neighbourhood of children reveal about the significance that is given to \u93being young\u94