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As adults, we think age and experience better equip us to make decisions directly affecting children and young people. Is this always the case?
The interrelational dynamics engaged by children and adults can generate a humane and effective didactic process. What happens when managing these dynamics starts with a biased perspective? Adultcentrism as a sociological concept refers to the social supremacy of adults over children and adolescents. Adult-centrist discourse envisions adults as a reference group owning power and privilege; thus, they should be heard first, or most carefully, and dictate the terms of coexistence and education.
The adult-centrist perspective is one that we do not often question. As adults, we think that our longer life experience and authority, which by social custom comes with age, puts us in a more optimal position than children and young people to make decisions that directly involve them, but is this always true?
The normalization of children’s silence
The process of making children and young people invisible (or not heard) is embedded in the first threads of adults’ social and psychological fabric. This can be noticed from the words we use to designate the youngest. The etymology of “infant” comes from the Latin root is infantem, which as a noun means “babe in arms,” and as an adjective “unable to speak. From the depths of linguistic construction, adults see children as people who have no place in a conversation. The old saying is, “Children should be seen and not heard.”
It is customary to tell children and sometimes even adolescents to keep silent when adults speak in traditional family and school environments. In this way, vertical authoritarian relationships are created, which, although they help maintain social order, are not the best starting point for an educational experience of value.
How is education impacted?
Adultcentrism does not come from bad intentions; on the contrary, it starts from a natural desire to look out for children and take care of them. But it does establish a bias that hinders communication between children and adults, both at home and in the classroom. “The negative consequences of adult-centrism can be the same as those of ethnocentrism, failures in communication (with children), misjudgments (about children’s intention and motivation), misuse of power (limiting children’s agency),” and the undermining of their efforts and competencies, says social worker and author Christopher G. Petr in the article Adultcentrism in Practice With Children.
Elements such as effective communication, comprehensive and perceptive evaluations, fair interrelational dynamics, the direct participation of students in their educational process, and the space to develop their self-esteem and competencies are elements that, if absent, significantly decrease the quality of the didactic experience.
Guiding does not imply invalidating
If we speak only of training and education, heads of households and teachers invariably must guide and exercise leadership, teaching, and protection. These tasks are not inherently adult centrist. How then to exercise them without falling into habits of this nature?
Guiding through dialogue and listening would be a good start. Setting the necessary limits so that minors and adults are clear about their roles does not oppose listening to the points of view of the youngest and contextualizing their perspectives within an empathetic learning process. In the same way, it is necessary to understand that the opinions and behaviors of children are not inherently disrespectful nor a nuisance. They are the perspectives of people with different ways of thinking and communicating, marked by development and experience. Yes, it is shorter than that of adults, but not invalid or inferior, just different. It would also be valuable to understand that even if the primary role of the adult is to teach children, this does not mean that they are incapable of doing so in turn. Every didactic relationship is bilateral, and the educational experience significantly improves when managed as a two-way street.
Translation by Daniel Wetta
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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
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