Children's social–emotional learning as emotional labor: Recognizing children's contributions

Abstract

In the United States, the dominant contemporary understanding of childhood is one that is cultivated through children's role as dependents, served by adults who are their providers. This framework obscures how children contribute to society through their learning and practice. This paper proposes a reconsideration of children's learning to advance the theoretical conceptualization of emotional labor so that children's contributions can be recognized. To advance an expansion of how adults understand what children's contributions to society are, I frame their social–emotional learning as the practice of emotional labor, not as them simply obtaining the skills of emotional intelligence. In doing so, I advocate for seeing children as more than learners, but also as contributors and producers.