Consent in the Childhood Classroom challenges typical premises of social and emotional learning, self-regulation, and putative misbehavior by centering the theme of consent in the experiences of young children and their teachers. Early childhood and elementary teachers often face disruptions and acts of dissent from young students, without a helpful conceptual framework for understanding how these expressions may stem from social injustices, developmental nuances, and problematic assumptions about the nature of children's agency. By posing complex yet relatable questions about the presumptions of authority, positivity, and routines in learning environments, and drawing on classroom anecdotes along with interviews with children and teachers, this book offers an accessible approach to cultivating expansive relationships in the classroom, a vision for a richer and more mutual education, and a clearer understanding of what school means from the perspective of the child.

About the Author

Clio Stearns is Assistant Professor of Education at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, USA.

Reviews

"Clio Stearns gives us a rich picture of children's real lives in school. She treats them as whole human beings whose inner lives are as meaningful and complex as any adults'. Through sensitive and respectful observations and interviews of both children and teachers, she takes us beyond the learning and emotions of the classroom to the often-neglected moral context."

-John Hornstein, Faculty in the Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship Program at the University of California-Davis, USA

"Consent in the Childhood Classroom is a powerful investigation of what it means to take children's desires and needs seriously in the context of school-to honor their capacity and right to consent, even as we acknowledge the limitations of consent in a democratic society. In its rich descriptions of the interactions that make up teaching and learning, the book pushes us to see, challenge, and reimagine what it might look like for educators and students to partner in the critical task of understanding each other's agency. Then, it helps us reimagine how to move through moments when our agency is limited, centering transparency, trust, and authentic intergenerational partnership."

-Gretchen Brion-Meisels, Lecturer on Education in the Prevention Science & Practice Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA

"Clio Stearns gives us a rich picture of children's real lives in school. She treats them as whole human beings whose inner lives are as meaningful and complex as any adults'. Through sensitive and respectful observations and interviews of both children and teachers, she takes us beyond the learning and emotions of the classroom to the often-neglected moral context."
John Hornstein, Faculty in the Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship Program at the University of California-Davis, USA

"Consent in the Childhood Classroom is a powerful investigation of what it means to take children's desires and needs seriously in the context of school - to honor their capacity and right to consent, even as we acknowledge the limitations of consent in a democratic society. In its rich descriptions of the interactions that make up teaching and learning, the book pushes us to see, challenge, and reimagine what it might look like for educators and students to partner in the critical task of understanding each other's agency. Then, it helps us reimagine how to move through moments when our agency is limited, centering transparency, trust, and authentic intergenerational partnership."
Gretchen Brion-Meisels, Lecturer on Education in the Prevention Science & Practice Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA

Book Information
ISBN 9780367567620
Author Clio Stearns
Format Paperback
Page Count 210
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g