Understanding the Discourse of Early Childhood Education in "Coming of Age in Samoa"

Autor/in	Krek, Janez
Titel	Understanding the Discourse of Early Childhood Education in "Coming of Age in Samoa"
Quelle	In: SAGE Open, 10 (2020) 1, (10 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Krek, Janez)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2158-2440
DOI	10.1177/2158244020902083
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Early Childhood Education; Ethnography; Pacific Islanders; Culture; Differences; Females; Anthropology; Maturity (Individuals); Samoa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Ethnografie; Pacific Rim; Inhabitant; People; Pazifischer Raum; Bewohner; Kultur; Unterscheiden; Weibliches Geschlecht; Anthropologie; Reifung
Abstract	The apparently readily comprehensible descriptive discourse in Margaret Mead's famous ethnographic study "Coming of Age in Samoa" (1928) (CAS) presents a discursive challenge that is greater than one might expect from a book that has gained a wide readership. Through theoretical analysis, and in relation to the notorious Mead/Freeman controversy, we seek to contribute to understanding CAS as discourse, and even more specifically as "educational discourse." Three research questions are addressed: How can the account of Samoan culture presented by Mead in CAS be understood as discourse? How can her account of "early childhood education" be understood in relation to Freeman's account? Is Mead describing "permissive education" when describing patterns of early childhood education in Samoa? We argue that Mead produced an overlapping research discourse that has appealed to the wider public because of its cultural suppressed message aimed at the unconscious in culture. Mead's and Freeman's contradictory accounts of Samoan cultural patterns in relation to "early childhood education" can be explained by differences in the perspectives of the social and hierarchical positions of respectable elders and chiefs (Freeman) and of young girls who were caregivers of even younger children (Mead). Finally, we argue that "early childhood education" in Samoa at that time was clearly not permissive. Young Samoan girls internalized the symbolic Law (Lacan) and were therefore able to act in an authoritative way as caregivers. In the field of education nearly a century later, Mead's descriptions of "early childhood education" in Samoa still provide an intricate case study. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01