Childhood is the theme of the inaugural Seamus Heaney lecture series which has just begun at St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin. Over coming months, academics from the US and Ireland will look at childhood in a historic context and question some of the current contradictions between the theories and the reality for many children.
For instance in education, there is a stronger emphasis placed on child-centred learning, yet a greater pressure on children to achieve to meet the needs of the workplace.
In society, there are calls for children "to live their lives fully", yet fewer spaces for them to do so safely. Some theories are even suggesting that childhood, as we imagine it, is in fact disappearing.
Future lectures include "Education and happiness: what all parents want for their children?" by Professor Nel Noddings from Stanford University, California (December 14th) and "Birth of the virtual child: the origins of our contradictory images of children" by Professor John Gillis of Rutgers University (March 1st 2001).
The free public lectures take place on Thursdays at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of St Patrick's College. Tel: 01 8842006 for more details.
