The Subject of Childhood

The Subject of Childhood is a collection of essays on early childhood education/childhood studies that brings critical psychological, psychoanalytic, and cultural studies perspectives to bear on understanding the lives children live. Central concerns running through these essays are the emergence of subjectivity in the child; the complexity of conceptualizing the relationship between external cultural and social forces; and the internal sense of agency that we know that each child possesses. Together, the volume is a blending of interdisciplinary theoretical writing, personal autobiographical inquiry, and concrete examples from the author's work with teachers in schools and from his clinical practice as a child psychoanalyst. Written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and professionals across the English-speaking world in early childhood education, childhood education, educational foundations, and cultural studies in education, this book functions as a core text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in child development, child psychology, sociology of education, childhood studies, and early childhood education.

The Author: Michael O’Loughlin holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Postdoctoral Certificate in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy from Adelphi University. He is a professor at Adelphi University, where he teaches in the department of curriculum and instruction in the school of education. He also teaches and supervises in the graduate and postgraduate programs at Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi. He has a private practice in child and adult psychotherapy and psychoanalysis on Long Island, New York.