A Corpus-based Study of the Conceptualizations of Childhood in the Iranian Culture and their Implications for Early Childhood Education

Abstract

This study investigates the conceptualizations of childhood in the Iranian culture through a linguistic analysis of three Persian lexical items for a child (bache, kudak, tefl) and their implications for Early Childhood Education (ECE). Employing a corpus-based approach supplemented with ethnographic insights, the study investigates how the Persian speaking members of the Iranian culture understand childhood as a cognitive cultural concept. The findings highlight a divergence between traditional and modern conceptualizations of children, where a traditional, socially determined, non-chronological definition coexists with an age-based definition. It is shown that the concept of ‘evil’ child as understood in Western societies is absent in the Iranian culture. Diverse cultural conceptualizations of childhood are identified, including children as a source of joy, playful and mischievous, innocent and vulnerable, naïve and simple-minded, compliant subordinates and, in some cases, out-of-control beings, who also attempt to negotiate their agency. The study highlights the heterogeneity of Iranians’ conceptualizations of childhood that are shaped by ongoing negotiations between tradition and modernity. This heterogeneity has direct and vicarious implications for ECE, which highlight both the role of parents and educators in dealing with children and educational materials.