This book examines the connections between policy, school experiences, and everyday activities of children growing up in the global city of Melbourne, Australia. It provides an in-depth consideration of Melbourne primary school children’s lifeworlds, exploring everyday stories and practices inside and outside of school. This includes consideration of the diverse ways that educational “success” may be understood in the context of Melbourne, productively moving beyond a narrow focus only on academic achievement. Situated alongside policy and curriculum analysis, the book draws on research in Melbourne Year 4 primary school classrooms in the form of student-completed surveys, classroom ethnographies, and student responses to a learning dialogues activity, as well as video re-enactments of out-of-school life. Through this it explores key aspects of children’s lifeworlds with a focus on school timetabling and pedagogical encounters, school engagement and belonging, and activities and everyday routines outside of school. This book offers a comprehensive and holistic exploration of children’s lifeworlds in Melbourne, drawing connections between children’s lives inside and outside of school, and the broader policy contexts.

This book examines connections between policy contexts, school experiences and everyday activities of children growing up in the global city of Singapore. In particular, it explores how Singapore children’s everyday experiences inside and outside of school shape their orientations towards educational success. Alongside an analysis of school life and educational policies, it also considers children’s out-of-school activities, including leisure, homework, and enrichment activities, and connections between these and their school-based activities. The book draws on empirical data from Primary 4 classes in two Singapore schools in the form of student-completed surveys, classroom ethnographies, student responses to a learning dialogues activity, and a re-enactment of one child's out-of-school life, as well as curriculum and policy analysis. It provides readers with an in-depth understanding of Singapore Primary 4 children’s experiences inside and outside of school, including the structure of timetables and pedagogical approaches encountered in school lessons, children’s enjoyment of activities inside and outside of school, children’s engagement and wellbeing at school, and the impact of Singapore’s educational policies on children’s learning experiences. Moving beyond a simplistic focus on Singapore children’s academic performance in international high-stakes testing, the book offers a comprehensive exploration of their lives inside and outside of school. This holistic approach is unique in the Singapore context and contributes to a greater understanding of children’s everyday lives in the city.

This book introduces findings from an international, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary study of children’s everyday experiences of growing up and going to school in the context of the three global cities of Hong Kong, Singapore and Melbourne. It takes the premise that children’s learning and orientations to educational success are shaped by everyday cultural practices at home and at school, by policy contexts that both produce and respond to educational and cultural norms, and by individual and familial desires and aspirations. Drawing on research conducted with primary school-aged children in Year 4, the book considers how day-to-day routines such as going to school, engaging in extra-curricular activities outside of school, and spending time at home with family intersect with the broader milieus of education policy ideals in a changing and interconnected world. Through a combination of visual methodologies, surveys, ethnographic observations in schools, classrooms and cityscapes, re-enactments of everyday activities with children at home, and sociological education policy analysis, this book shows both the richness of children’s everyday lives and learning in global cities, as well as exploring questions that pose challenges to educational and social norms.

First Published in 2006.Leading planning and geography authors present this comprehensive assessment of the extent to which the physical and social make up of Western cities accommodates and nourishes the needs of children and youth. Examining the areas of planning, design, social policy, transport and housing, Creating Child Friendly Cities outlines strengths and deficiencies in the processes that govern urban development and change from the perspective of children and youth. Issues explored include children's view of the city and why this is unique; the 'obesity epidemic': is it caused by cities?; the journey to school and children's transport needs generally. With illustrations and case studies, Creating Child Friendly Cities presents planning professionals with a solid case for child-friendly cities and an action plan to create places for children to play.

This book outlines how good teaching of primary geography can extend children′s world awareness and help them make connections between their environmental and geographical experiences. Chapters offer guidance on important learning and teaching issues as well as the use and creation of resources from the school environment to the global context. It covers all the key topics in primary geography including: understanding places physical and human geography environmental sustainability learning outside the classroom global issues citizenship and social justice. Summaries, classroom examples and practical and reflective tasks are included throughout to foster understanding and support the effective teaching of primary geography.

Faith stories is an investigation of faith and belief systems in Australia and England. Drawing on ethnography, interviews, focus groups for adults and arts-based workshops for their children, Hickey-Moody takes a community-based approach to examining belonging, attachment, faith, belief and ‘what really matters’ in diverse areas. Each of the book’s research sites is geographically and culturally specific in ways that shape residents’ experiences of community and belonging, but they are united by enduring threads relating to colonisation, diaspora and negotiating belonging in culturally diverse contexts. Examining faith reveals that there are striking similarities between seemingly different cultures. Understanding these connections can reduce conflict and promote cohesion in communities that are often struggling to adapt to huge changes. This book provides rich resources for those who wish to explore faith and belief in complex social circumstances, either as research or as community engagement. In such increasingly divided times, work like this is needed now more than ever.

This Handbook explores the multidisciplinary field of childhood studies through a uniquely global lens. It focuses on enquiries and investigations into the everyday lives of young children in the age range of birth to 8 years of age, giving space to their voices and involving interrogations about the various aspect of their lives. This Handbook engages with the interdisciplinary field of childhood studies, education, cultural studies, ethnography, and philosophy, with contributions from scholars from across the globe who have focused their work on the complexities of childhoods in contemporary times. By considering a range of epistemologies, ontologies and perspectives to present the contemporary & systematic research on the topic from a wide range of academics and authors in the field, this Handbook provides a significant contribution to the international dialogue of Global Childhoods. Part 1: Global Childhoods Part 2: Researching Global Childhoods Part 3: Contemporary Childhoods Part 4: Pedagogies and Practice Part 5: Creating Communities for Global Children