Changing Conceptions of Childhood (1750 to Present Time)

This is the age of the child. He is the most important member of society. This belief in the importance of the child is not a new one. Educational theorists have been insisting on the idea for several centuries. The self evident truth that the child of today is the man of tomorrow has long-influenced the popular estimate of the child’s importance but never has the idea so permeated education and public sentiment as it does today. Interest in child study is not confined to pedagogical circles alone» Psychologists and physiologists as well as educators are studying the child and conducting all sorts of scientific investigations and experiments. Parents and social workers as well as teachers are eagerly seizing upon the results of their findings and putting into practice the principles evolved, very often without much thought as to their validity. Physiological and psychological clinics are being founded to which perplexed parents and teachers are bringing the children under their care. Thousands of books on child study are being written and read