Children's Engagement With Cultural Materials and Their Construction of Identity

• In Event: Racial and Cultural Identity Development Through Out-of-School Time Programs

Abstract

This paper follows a qualitative research study, which examined how children’s engagement with their everyday cultural material, both online and offline, influenced their understanding of the self and of the other. The study involved dynamic interviews with children with an age range of 4-11 in their homes. Two main themes that were uncovered addressed social characterization and the interplay of power and empowerment. The findings of the study reinforce the authors’ claim that recognizing how sociocultural dimensions shape social conventions can help parents and educators prepare children to negotiate challenging and arduous everyday issues in their future, and particularly the ways they develop their understanding of the self and the other.

Authors

• Dan Mamlok, Tel Aviv University

• Sandra Chang-Kredl, Concordia University

• Vivek Venkatesh, Concordia University - Montreal