“The Golden Age of Preschool Childhood”: historical context, key conditions and characteristics, an attack on childhood in the 21st century

Abstract

Background. The growing problems in the upbringing and education of children, which are a global trend, require a more careful look, on the one hand, at the 1960s-80s, when most of the current problems did not exist, and, on the other hand, at the XXI century, where development problems are increasing, both in their “assortment” and in quantitative coverage of the younger generation. Objective. To analyze the conditions and characteristics of preschool childhood in the 1960–80s. and critically correlate them with the characteristics of a given age period in the XXI century. Methods. To achieve this goal, the following research methods were used: phenomenological method, symptomological approach, analysis, generalization, comparison. Results. The conducted research made it possible to identify eight key conditions / characteristics of full-fledged living by children of the first seven years in the 1960s-80s, as well as to identify the nature of changes in these conditions in the XXI century, which become the causes of increasing development problems in the modern younger generation. Conclusions. A critical examination of the conditions and characteristics of preschool childhood in the 1960s–80s. indicates that for the first time children had the opportunity to fully live out their first seven years, which is the basis for subsequent human development. The absence of wars and mass repression, social stability, safe space, children’s play culture, minimal involvement in the technological environment, healthy physical maturation became the conditions that allowed children to successfully move to the apprenticeship stage and effectively advance in their education in the early school years. Since the late 1980s., the designated conditions for full-fledged living by children in the first seven years of life began to come under attack. This is due both to negative changes in the geopolitical and environmental situation, and to the initiatives of adults who, ignoring age patterns, are intensively introducing early development methods, immersing children in the virtual world.

Keywords

• preschool childhood
• play
• physical maturation
• early development techniques
• intelligence