The first stage of childhood and the “civilizing process”

Abstract

“Do he what somever he wyll no man doth blame him”. This statement from a fifteenth-century sermon for the “Boy Bishop's” feast referring to the child in the first stage (which according to the accepted view lasted until the age of seven) expresses in a nutshell the medieval theory regarding socialization at this stage. The dominant attitude was in favour of lenient treatment and of granting small children freedom to act in accordance with their natural inclination without imposing demands for discipline or self-control. Education proper was expected to commence only at the age of seven, which was perceived as a turning point marking the end of indulgence and pampering.This theory gradually began to change from the seventeenth century onwards. The idea that development and learning start early in the human being and that drives manifest themselves already in infancy, developed in the context of various philosophical and educational theories. There was also a stronger emphasis on the role of impressions in...