Learning from childhood: children tell us who they are through online dialogical interaction

Abstract

Abstract Philosophy of childhood is a field of inquiry in which the protagonists are adults, who are trying to understand children, and children, who are trying to be understood by adults. These two operating agents must find a common ground that renders their communication possible. This piece develops and illustrates the notion that no theorisation can exist if the authors of the theories do not know the subjects of their study, and thus that philosophers of childhood cannot contribute to knowledge about childhood unless they create occasions for the voices of children to be heard. Therefore, when activities are devised for the free expression of childhood, they cannot meaningfully be categorised as separate from philosophy of childhood. The latter cannot exist without the former. Philosophy of childhood and philosophy for children are interlaced in their work with children. Once the nature of childhood is understood through what children tell about themselves, instead of narrated through the interpretive frameworks of adults, the rights of the children can be effectively protected.