What is childhood today?

I find this a particularly challenging question. Over the last few weeks I have been studying Froebel's theories and teachings, which emphasis the importance of childhood, the role of the family, nature and play. Unsurprisingly Froebel does not mention new age technology in his teachings (obviously, given that he lived 230 years ago, but given how many of his teachings are actually now relevant I feel it is important to reiterate this). His emphasis is on the family, nature and learning through play, but it must be noted that his ideas are not recognised as the absolute but an approach that can be adopted as suited.

This made me ponder about Froebel and how he would feel about childhood, and indeed society today. What would he recommend in terms of provision in Nurseries and schools, using the outdoor environment, and support for families? What would his advice be for parents who, due to the recession, found the,selves having to both work full time jobs in order to provide for their children? Would he advocate that there should be a balance between technology and natures...is it even possible to achieve this? Would he sacrifice time in the garden with time in a computer?

I reflect back to one of my first blogs, where I felt that my generation was in the middle of a technology revolution, unlike Froebel who was influenced by the revolution and democracy. Looking back over the last 20 years it is incredible to see how far technology has advance, would it be naive to think that the next 20 years should be any different?

And yet I find myself wondering, is childhood meant to be about preparing the child for the future, or is childhood about the child discovering who they are and what they can do at that stage in their life? Do they need to know how to use an iPad at age 3? Would that out them leaps and bounds ahead of those who can't?

I don't think there is a right answer. I believe that there is a place for imaginative, exploration, investigation, communication in childhood that is completely separate from the adult world...in simple terms you wouldn't see adults pretending to play hospitals using make believe equipment , and creating new characters and illnesses - this is part of childhood.

Yet, I look around at the world in which I live. Full of email, computers, mobile phones, Internet...some people would even suggest that they could not live their life without these....I would imagine the adults, not the children! But there is a need to adapt aspects of childhood, to allow children the opportunity to also investigate technology, as they would other aspects of the world, to develop their understanding. Children look around at what they see, and it would be daft to deny that technology is part of their life. I still think it is difficult to understand how much time and emphasis should be put on this new aspect of childhood but I do believe that fundamentally childhood should not be lost, but adapted to fit with the child. If the world changes then so too will the child.

I would like to think that Froebel wold agree with this. That the child should be at the centre of all that we do, helping them on their journey of discovery, supporting them in their learning through all aspects of life, whatever that may be.