The concept of a good childhood means many things to many people, yet one thing we all have in common is the experience of having once been a child.
The period of childhood, when we reflect back, is often remembered as a fleeting time. Researchers and early childhood practitioners however, tell us that this ‘fleeting’ time is one of critical development for a child, and the importance of it must be understood.
In early 2017, Berry Street’s Childhood Institute commenced on a research project to bring together information around current thinking and research findings and practices, frameworks, key issues and approaches, around how a good childhood is defined and the key factors and domains of a good childhood.
Making an assessment of what makes a good childhood for individual children, and for all children more generally, is a difficult task, but one in which Berry Street feels is important to undertake.
Some of the key areas considered in our research were:
- Childhood: An historical perspective. An overview of how the experiences of childhood have changed over time.
- Childhood in the 21st century: What are they key factors impacting on childhood today?
- Childhood wellbeing: What does it mean; What are the key factors; how do we effectively measure it; how children themselves define the factors that relate to their wellbeing
- Early childhood: Why it’s critical to understand the importance of the early years
- Childhood Domains: The key domains that Berry Street have identified as being important for all children
- A shared responsibility: What we can all do to ensure the wellbeing of children and young people.
We will be sharing blog posts on these topics over the coming weeks.
