Who are Ideal Children? The Changes of Perceptions on Ideal Children

Abstract:

The changes of the perception of ideal children from different generations can reflect the changes of the conception of childhood, which can also reflect the shaping of different times, social structure and culture. This study is part of a larger research project, using theoretical sampling and semi-structured interviews, a total of 125 people born in 1930s-1990s in Shanghai were interviewed.

The main findings are as follows:

1. From the 1930s to the 1990s, the trend of the transformation of the perception of ideal children was from focusing on the norms of social role to focusing on their individuality.

2. The interweaving of traditional and new social roles shaped 1930s and 1940s’ perception of ideal children; the 1980s and 1990s regard children as the existence of individuals, who began to pay attention to the natural state and rich inner world of children; the 1950s-1970s’ conception of ideal children was in the continuum of "social role-individual".

3. In essence, the transformation trend of the common people's perception of ideal children reflects the transformation of Chinese society from traditional society to modern society, that is, the influence of the process of individualization.

4. The transformation of urban people's perception of ideal children is related to the input of modern childhood conception. It is influenced by the images of ideal children under the official ideology and academic theoretical form (children's pedagogy, children's literature, etc.), but it does not keep synchronized. It will be transformed and integrated, showing complex and mixed characteristics.