Ann Mooney

Playground games and playtime: the children's view

Summary Playtime is a neglected but important part of the school day. In previous work at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, primary teachers’ views on playtime were described. Teachers felt that aggressive and desultory behaviour were common, and that traditional playground games were in decline. But children are the experts on, and main witnesses of, playground life, and this paper reports on interviews with 11‐year‐old children in ILEA junior schools. Playtime was very popular with children, particularly the long dinner break, and suggestions for improvements need to build on this positive view. But there were worries, for example, because of: the cold, not knowing what to do and disruptive behaviour. Just under one‐half of the children would have liked to stay in at playtime. It is argued that we take unacceptable playground behaviour too much for granted, and that children themselves would be responsive to constructive improvements. Childrens own suggested improvements are considered. The most common p...

Finding the right man: recruiting fathers in inter-generational families across ethnic groups

Accessing research participants is often presented as unproblematic. However, the authors’ experiences of recruiting 30 chains of grandfathers, fathers and grandsons, spanning three different ethnic groups, Polish, Irish and white British, highlighted the realities of research practice. This article draws on a study of fathers across three generations in three ethnic groups to explore the sampling challenges and complexities. The recruitment methods used raised particular issues for each of the three groups and had to be adapted accordingly. Key methodological issues for inter-generational research with specific ethnic groups include gender and ethnicity of the researchers, modes of access to potential participants, gaining trust, and flexibility in approach. The authors conclude that the amount of time, resources and ‘emotional labour’ called for when recruiting a sample in this type of research should not be under-estimated.

How similar are day-care groups before the start of day care?

Abstract The question of whether there are initial differences between women and children who will vary in their use of day care has received little attention. However, an understanding of such differences is important in evaluating evidence on later differences that may emerge. The study reported here describes initial differences and similarities using data on the attitudes and well-being of the women, and the childrens development, temperament, and daily experience, and mother-infant interaction. All these data were collected before the return to employment and the start of day care. Although there are more similarities than differences, there are unexpected differences in the use of nonparental care and the differentiation by gender in interaction between day-care users and nonusers. A previous finding of temperament differences was not replicated.

Quality in group and family day care provision: Evaluating self-assessment as an agent of change

SUMMARY This paper describes a study to examine the effectiveness of self-assessment as a method of monitoring, evaluating and enhancing quality of service provision in day care settings. One hundred and nineteen providers of group (centre based) day care and 120 providers of family day care took part. Self-assessment materials, designed to help providers evaluate, monitor and enhance the quality of their provision, were produced. These materials combined the views of stakeholders concerning the nature of quality day care with an extensive review of the day care research literature. Presentation of the material was determined by a social learning theory interpretation of an experiential learning paradigm. Results of the evaluation study suggest that to implement self-assessment procedures effectively, some day care providers may require support from an experienced facilitator or mentor. The implications for developing self-assessment procedures for use by day care providers are discussed.

Timetabling, Talk and Transmission: Fatherhood across the Generations

This chapter turns its gaze from motherhood to fatherhood. It focuses upon fatherhood as practised by different historical generations and how practices change or are transmitted from fathers to sons in particular families. In keeping with the methodology we have sought to balance a concern with the life course and the significance of historical context with the interpretations interviewees bring to the recounting of their lives in work and care. This is a difficult task not least in presenting the analysis, given the wealth and depth of the material provided by members of the multi-generation families interviewed.

Mothers’ and Fathers’ Work and Care Practices over the Generations

This chapter begins to explore the relationship between employment and care across the three adult generations in our study. It does so by focusing upon the practices and life course careers of men and women in paid work and parenthood — their ‘lived lives’ as mothers and fathers of young children, a critical phase in the life course when British mothers have typically worked less and fathers worked more. Our vantage point is to look at the great-grandparents, the grandparents and the parents as historical cohorts.

Towards a Typology of Intergenerational Relations: Processes of Reproduction and Innovation

The aim of this chapter is to examine intergenerational relations within each family and to look at each family holistically in relation to the social forces which push family members to carry on family patterns and those which pull them apart and lead them to strike out on their own. It poses the following questions: How far do multi-generation families pool resources across generations to support one another? How far does each generational unit differentiate itself from other generational units by being self-reliant or reliant on formal services? Further questions are framed in terms of ambivalences between generational members and household units which operate at different levels: at the structural level and in terms of social interaction, feelings and values.

Intergenerational Transfers and Cultures of Transmission

In this chapter we examine transmission between family members at different life course phases, for example between great-grandparents and their children and grandchildren and between parents and adult children. We look at different kinds of resources which are transmitted between individuals from different family generations — both material resources and care, up and down the generations and the processes of reciprocity.

Motherhood: Intergenerational Transmission and Negotiation

In the last chapter we described the employment patterns of women, and showed how these patterns varied across successive historical cohorts. This comparative approach emphasises broad patterns of change. It can also give an impression of lives mainly determined by structural forces - demographic, economic, social, technological and so on. Neither broad patterns of change nor structural forces, however, tell the complete story.

Changing Childhoods across Three Generations of Women

Childhood is a social institution, and a cultural invention (Aries, 1962; Kessen, 1979). In effect, what it means to be a child and what a child experiences in one era is rarely the same in another era. In this chapter we focus on women’s childhoods in three historical generations. We have made the assumption that childhood is a gendered experience and of necessity we have chosen to focus upon the experiences of women. There were very few living great-grandfathers in our study (as in the general population) and thus we have few accounts of their childhood. Moreover, changes in women’s lives have greatly affected childhood. Over time, women’s educational qualifications and employment have increased significantly, trends also associated in present times with the postponement of childbearing and increasing risk of divorce (Elder et al., 1993). We focus here upon the three adult generations of women: great-grandmothers (born 1911–21); 1940s grandmothers (born 1940–48); and 1960s/70s current mothers of young children (born 1965–75).