NEWSLETTER

Society for the History of Children and Youth

Teaching the History of Childhood in Greece
with Syllabus

Vassiliki Theodorou, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece

The introduction of a course on the history of childhood to the curriculum of the Department of Primary Education at Democritus University of Thrace (Greece) in 2002 was expected to answer a double need; first, to grant students the opportunity to acquaint themselves with contemporary theoretical approaches in the field of the history of childhood and the questions they raise, examining in depth certain issues pertinent to childhood as they are tackled with in recent Greek and international literature; and second, to familiarize students with research tools used by historians in order to understand how children’s lives and feelings in the past are constantly being negotiated and subjected to various interpretations. My intention is to enable students to come to grips with the notion of childhood in the past; the changes it underwent across time; how assumptions about childhood are historically and culturally constructed; and how the multiplicity of past childhood experiences can be interpreted and what circumstances allowed for a shift in adult attitudes towards children.

My venture was facilitated by an ever-growing interest in the history of childhood as Greek historians and anthropologists attempted to explore the aforementioned issues. During the last two decades the publication of a series which was funded by the General Secretariat for Youth and included around 60 studies contributed immensely to the enrichment of the debate on the historicity of childhood and youth. In addition, two international congresses organized respectively in 1987 and in 1997 by the Association for the Study of Neo-hellenism (Etaireia Meletis Neou Ellinismou-Mnimon), an association comprising of historians, allowed Greek and foreign historians to exchange views on issues central to Childhood Studies. Moreover, the translation of certain classic studies and articles from the fields of history and sociology of childhood enabled Greek historians proceed to comparative studies.  However, it should not elude us that the growing interest in the history of childhood in Greece coincided with the rise of women’s studies. Hence, when the course began, a number of studies dealing with major issues of the history of childhood in Greece were already available to students. These studies explored issues such as the concept of childhood in the past; the shifting boundaries of age stages during the Middle Ages and the modern era; the demographic changes; children’s role in the family and economy of traditional society; children in pre-revolutionary society;[1] children’s work in rural and industrial settings; apprenticeship in guilds; the use of children and youth in politics; attitudes to delinquent, abandoned or orphaned children in the context of neo-hellenic society; representations of children in art and literature; the different patterns children’s fortunes followed according to sex and class; and finally the social and political inclusion of children in the Interwar years, the Greek Civil War and the 1950’s.

The History of Childhood was introduced to the Department syllabus for another reason as well. It is my firm belief that this subject lends itself to the understanding of the processes through which historicization takes place as it explores issues which are familiar to students of a Primary Education Department and present an interest to them. As I am not lecturing in a History department, in practice the initiation of students to historical methodology and raising their historical awareness meet with grave difficulties; that is, limited time, small number of history courses on offer, different backgrounds-students entering this university department studied either Science or Humanities at high school-and students’ diverse interests hinder the methodological approach to history. High school graduates join this course with preconceptions, already shaped through the lens of ideology and nationalistic or progressive discourse. Students’ preconceptions restrain them from understanding the otherness of the past and make it difficult for them to employ historical methodology; as such, their historical knowledge in terms of methodology is quite poor. Let us also note at this point that the content of history textbooks used either in primary or secondary education can partly account for students’ stereotypical ideas. These textbooks lay emphasis on political and military history and as far as modern history is concerned weight is given to the emergence of the national state.

This field of studies, new to Greek university education, introduces students to a history version, quite different from what they are already familiar with. The themes look interesting to them as they open up new fields of knowledge and the sources analyzed in class or in individually researched and written essays bring to the fore different aspects of the past relating to everyday life, social relationships and adult feelings towards children in the past. Children’s place in past societies, we assume, presents an interest to future primary school teachers. Students are asked to think about the factors that led to changes in adult attitudes towards children and become aware of the cultural and historical conditions that contributed to the construction of the notion of childhood as well as the circumstances that affected the ways childhood was invested with diverse meanings in different contexts. They are also asked to think about the ways sexual identity was constructed in the past and how children’s lives varied by social background; in other words to raise questions on the concepts of class and gender. While studying children’s work or changes in demography during the 19th century, they are given the opportunity to realize for themselves how 19th and 20th century political and economical history is closely connected with social and demographic history. Exploring issues related to adult attitudes they gradually familiarize themselves with questions tackled by the history of mentalities and emotions. By critically approaching  primary sources and interpreting them, students become accustomed with the methods and the analytical tools used by historians to de/re-construct past experience more efficiently than they do in courses of political history.

History of childhood, a new interdisciplinary field within Childhood Studies, where historical, anthropological, sociological and literary approaches converge, constitutes a privileged area of practice in social and cultural history. Furthermore, the history of childhood offers itself to approach different ways historians employ to interpret children’s place within a perspective of continuity and change. Weight is given to the history of ideas on children and the shifting boundaries of childhood during the 19th and 20th centuries. Students are encouraged to lead a seminar and submit a written assignment investigating questions such as how education, work, traditional culture and ideas on life stages contributed to the construction of childhood; how class and sex differences shaped ideas about childhood; what were the age boundaries of childhood and what was the place of children in society during the middle ages and the modern era; how was children’s work shaped in rural and urban settings; what attitudes the neo-hellenic society held towards children living in the fringes of society and what policies were adopted to deal with these children during the 19th century; how the debate on children was shaped on the basis of racial and class differences or within the framework of medicine, pedagogy and politics; what was the image of the child put forward by children’s magazines; collecting oral testimonies from their families or from their birthplaces and working on diverse sources enables students to understand the historicisation of the concepts about childhood.  Finally, students are prompted to collect oral testimonies from adults who come from Thrace (the very region where our University is located) and during their childhood, which coincided with the Greek Civil War, spent a considerable part of their lives in the Childtowns.[2] These testimonies, part of a research project launched in our Department, allows us to further link the course with research on a topic which also bears relations to local history.

The course is conducted in the form of a seminar. Each meeting, held weekly, is devoted to a theme elaborated on by the course conveyor in collaboration, when possible, with professors invited from other universities. Supporting material such as historical testimonies, archival material, photographs, artwork as well as studies, many of which are part of the series published by the Historical Archive of Greek Youth, is handed out during the class and critically discussed. I encourage students to get involved in the course either by participating in the discussion or commenting on the primary sources. Students play a key role in this course; I go to great lengths to prompt them to participate in class actively instead of being just mere listeners. For this reason, a number of seminars have been scheduled to be led by them. Having chosen the topic they are going to deal with from a list of topics compiled by the course conveyor, they present their essay and lead the discussion while being engaged in dialogue with their fellow students who pose questions relating to the issue explored. Where possible, students conduct research on the net or on databases with relevant material in order to become familiar with electronic literature as well.

When the course comes to a close, students are requested to fill in an anonymous questionnaire.  According to their responses, they see in a positive light the fact that the lectures are delivered by two teachers [3] presenting different thematic units; the diversity of primary sources approached and commented upon during each class; and their personal involvement in the class. Astonishment, interest and the joy of personal discovery replace boredom, a common feeling experienced by students attending history classes. While investigating a question in depth, they get the chance to take initiatives, look for primary sources and pose questions as to the meanings of past discourse on children; in other words, to deal more efficiently with questions raised by historical methodology. Presenting the outcome of their work in class enables them to become competent as far as argumentation skills are concerned. As a result, they acquire history teaching competency, which is of indispensable value to future primary school teachers.

However, lack of technical aid such as digitalized series of 19th century magazines and a corpus of films hinder the enrichment of the course. Moreover, the fact that our students face difficulties in abandoning a naturalistic view of childhood points out that Childhood Studies are far from firmly being established in Greece yet.

Course requirements-Assessment
Students are eligible to choose between two forms of assessment:
a.  Students are engaged actively in the seminar; that is, in consultation with their instructor, they prepare, write and present in class a paper on one of the issues this course tackles (60% of the final grade). This assignment, ranging from 8 to 10 pages long (approximately 8.000 words) is based on primary and secondary sources. Students’ attendance in the seminar counts for 20% of the final grade; only students present in 6 out of 11 lectures are eligible to these points. At the end of the term students sit a brief written exam (20% of the final grade).
b.  Students participate in the seminar (20%) and sit a written exam based on the readings prescribed by the instructor (part of a collection of essays and a course pack available at the local bookstore which includes photocopied articles and book chapters) (80% of the final grade)

Schedule of lectures
Lectures 1-3: Defining and researching childhood
During these lectures students are introduced to Childhood Studies; contemporary theories of childhood are covered and historical works that gained the status of a classic in the field, on a European scale, are presented. Furthermore, the issues of primary sources and methodology with regard to history of childhood are discussed. A list of possible topics together with a concise bibliography is handed out to students. Students are instructed how to research their paper.

Bibliography
Aries Ph., Centuries of Childhood (translated into Greek) Athens: Glaros, 1990.

De Mause L. History of childhood (in translation) Athens: Thimari, 1986.

Egle Becchi-Dominique Julia, Histoire de l’enfance en Occident, Παρ?σι, Seuil, 1998.

Cunningham H., The children of the poor: Representations of childhood since the seventeenth century, Oxford, Blackwell, 1992.

Cunningham H., Children and childhood in Western society since 1500, London, Longman, 1995.

Pollock L., Forgotten children: parent-child relations from 1500-1900. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1983.

Hendrick H., Child Welfare 1872-1989, London, Routledge, 1994. 

Cooter, Roger (ed.), In the name of the child: health and welfare 1880-1940, London and New York, Routledge, 1996.

Lectures 4-6: History of Childhood: the Greek paradigm
In this unit we present the historical and anthropological approaches to childhood in Greece which deal with the place of children in traditional society over a span of four centuries (15th to 19th century) when Greece was still part of the Ottoman Empire. Issues explored include age demarcation, relationships between children and family and society, children’s work, apprenticeship in guilds, education and games. Supporting material has been derived from a research program conducted the Historical Archive of Greek Youth and is available in CD format which includes 38 studies and the proceedings of two international congresses.

Bibliography
(All the following studies are written in Greek but I have translated the titles into English so as to give you a rough idea about their content)

Historicity of Childhood and Youth, Proceedings of the International Congress, vol. 2, Athens, 1986.

History’s times. Towards a history of childhood and youth. Proceedings of the International Congress, Historical Archive of Greek Youth, Athens, 1998.

Children in neo-hellenic 19th and 20th century society. Values, representations and impressions. Proceedings of a two day conference (Theodorou V. & Kondogianni V., eds.), Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive-Democritus University of Thrace, Athens, 1999.

Audikos E., Children in traditional and modern society, Athens, Hellinika Grammata, 1996.

Material available on the Net and in Cds.

Lectures 7-11: Growing up in Greece (19th and 20th centuries).
In this unit the place of children in neo-hellenic society after the rise of the national state (1830) is elaborated on. Emphasis is placed upon the new concepts emerging with regard to the role and importance attributed to children by the bourgeoisie, rising at the beginning of Enlightenment; the organization of education; gender roles, leisure and children’s magazines. In addition, the fortunes of working children in urban and rural settings are examined. Particular attention is paid to delinquent, abandoned and orphaned children and the ways they were treated by society. Finally, two lectures are devoted to representations of childhood in art and medical discourse on the child body at the dawn of the 20th century.

Bibliography
Horn Pamela, Children’s work and welfare, 1780-1890, Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Makrinioti D. (ed.), Childhood (in Greek), Athens, Nisos, 1997.

Riginos M., “Forms of child work in Greek industry and handicraft 1909-1936” in Historicity of Childhood and Youth, Proceedings of the International Congress, vol. 2, Athens, 1986.

Riginos M., Forms of child work in Greek industry and handicraft 1870-1940, Historical Archive of Greek Youth, Athens, 1995.

Papageorgiou G., “Apprenticeship in guilds under Turkish domination” in Historicity of Childhood and Youth, Proceedings of the International Congress, vol. 2, Athens, 1986.

Fournaraki H., Upbringing and educating girls. An Anthology 1830-1912, Historical Archive of Greek Youth, Athens, 1987.
Loukos Chr., “The foundlings of Hermoupolis” in A tribute to Professor Sfyroeras V., Athens, Lychnos, 1990.

Kalliga H., Social Welfare for Children in Greece during the 19th century, Athens, 1988.

Kondogianni V., “Pre-revolutionary childhoods: autobiography’s evidence” in Children in Neo-hellenic 19th and 20th century society. Values, representations and impressions. Proceedings of a two day conference (Theodorou V. & Kondogianni V., eds.), Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive-Democritus University of Thrace, Athens, 1999.

Fournaraki H., “On the education of ‘virtuous mothers’ and the instruction of ‘future citizens’: gender discourse in Greek education during the 19th century” ibid, pp. 73-120.

Theodorou  V., “The philanthropists’ discourse on poor and vagrant children, 1870-1900” ibid pp. 121-141.

Patsiou V., “Representations of children in the prose of the 1880s literary generation”, ibid pp. 141-153.

Lectures 12-14: Political discourse on children
This last unit examines the involvement of children and youth in politics during the interwar years and the Greek civil War (1946-1949).  The National Organization of Youth (E.O.N.) set up by the totalitarian regime of Ioannis Metaxas (1936-1940) and its objectives are presented. Moreover, the factors which led to the vindication of children not only by the Nationalistic government but also by the Democratic Army (the Communists) during the Greek Civil War, children’s displacement, their confinement in specially designated institutions and their political indoctrination attempted by both opponents fall within our examination.

Bibliography
Baerentzen L., “The mass kidnapping of children and the Childtowns” in Baerentzen L. & Iatrides G., (eds) Studies on the Greek Civil War 1945-1949, Athens, Olkos, 1992.
Mazower M. (ed.), After the War was over. The reconstruction of family, nation and the state in Greece, 1943-1960, Athens, Alexandreia, 2003.

 Ristovic M., “Children as refugees: Children in Yugoslavia 1948-1960” in  Naumobic S. & Jovanonic M. (eds), Childhood in South East Europe. Belgrade-Graze, 1996.

Gritzonas K., The Children of the Civil War: a contribution to the restoration of historical truth for the so called “mass kidnapping of children”, Athens, Filistor, 1998.

Lagani E., The mass kidnapping of children and Greek-Yugoslavian relations, 1949-1953: a critical approach, Sideris I., 1996.

Manoukas G., The mass kidnapping of children: education and instruction of the abducted children, 1969.

Bouschoten R., We went through lots of suffering my girl…Athens, Plethron, 1998.

Liakos A., “The rise of youth organisations. The case of Salonica”Historicity of Childhood and Youth, Proceedings of the International Congress, vol. 2, Athens, 1986.

Liakos A., The Socialist Working Federation of Salonica and the socialist youth: their Articles, Paratiritis, 1985.

Mahaira H., The youth of August the 4th: photographs, Historical Archive of Greek Youth, 1987.

Balta A., “The magazine of the National Organisation of Youth; ‘The Youth’: goals and public acceptance” in Historicity of Childhood and Youth, Proceedings of the International Congress, vol. 2, Athens, 1986.

Course pack with readings prescribed for the final exam
The course pack includes the following material:

a.  a series of articles from the book Makrinioti D. (ed.), Childhood, Athens, Nisos, 1997 which is distributed to students. Students are requested to study the following articles:

Aries Ph., “Childhood versions” pp. 47-54
De Mause L., “The evolution of childhood” pp. 56-64
Badinter E., “Discourse on childhood” pp. 67-80
Thompson E. P., “Children’s work” pp. 119-131
Piaget J., “The meaning of childhood” pp. 202-218
Donzelot J., “Controlling children and the family” pp. 415-459
Platt A., “Save the children movement” pp. 462-495
Kay E., “The century of the child” pp. 529-535
Doxiadou A. & Frangou Z. S., “Hygiene and children’s upbringing” pp. 80-82
Makka G., “Infancy” pp. 82-84
Vasileiadis S., “Announcing the establishment of the School for destitute children” pp. 413-415

b.  a number of articles included in the Proceedings of the International Congress Historicity of Childhood and Youth, Proceedings of the International Congress, vol. 2, Athens, 1986.

Papageorgiou G., “Apprenticeship in guilds under Turkish domination” in The Historicity of Childhood and Youth, Proceedings of the International Congress, vol. 2, Athens, 1986.
Riginos M., “Forms of child work in Greek industry and handicraft 1909-1936” in Historicity of Childhood and Youth, Proceedings of the International Congress, vol. 2, Athens, 1986.

c.  other publications

Loukos Chr., “The foundlings of Hermoupolis” in A tribute to Professor Sfyroeras V., Athens, Lychnos, 1990.
Kalliga H., “On the historiography of Childhood” in Social Welfare for Children in 19th century Greece, Athens 1988.
Kondogianni V., “Pre-revolutionary childhoods: autobiography’s evidence” in Children in Neo-hellenic 19th and 20th century society. Values, representations and impressions. Proceedings of a two day conference (Theodorou V. & Kondogianni V., eds.), Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive-Democritus University of Thrace, Athens, 1999.
Fournaraki H., “On the education of ‘virtuous mothers’ and the instruction of ‘future citizens’: gender discourse in Greek education during the 19th century” ibid.
Theodorou  V., “The philanthropists’ discourse on poor and vagrant children, 1870-1900” ibid.
Patsiou V., “Representations of children in the prose of the 1880s literary generation”, ibid.

d. primary sources handed out and discussed in class

e.  bibliography: the following are regarded as essential reading for a wide array of topics:

Aries Ph., Centuries of Childhood (translated into Greek) Athens: Glaros, 1990.
Egle Becchi-Dominique Julia, Histoire de l’enfance en Occident, Παρ?σι, Seuil, 1998.
Cunningham H., The children of the poor: Representations of childhood since the seventeenth century, Oxford, Blackwell, 1992.
Historicity of Childhood and Youth, Proceedings of the International Congress, vol. 2, Athens, 1986.

~~~

Notes

1. Before 1830, which in the context of Modern Greek History signals the establishment of the modern Greek State.

2. Childtowns were specially designated institutions for the protection of rural children from Communism.

3. Vassiliki Vassiloudi, Phd in children’s literature, contributed to the course during the years 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.