Understanding the Discourse of Early Childhood Education in Coming of Age in Samoa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3563709 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Janez Krek (0000-0001-5827-7609, University of Ljubljana, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2020-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SAGE Open (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/2158244020902083 |
| OpenAlex | W3001744447 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 26 |
The apparently readily comprehensible descriptive discourse in Margaret Mead's famous ethnographic study Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) (CAS) presents a discursive challenge that is greater than one might expect from a book that has gained a wide readership. Through theoretical analysis, and in relation to the notorious Mead/Freeman controversy, we seek to contribute to understanding CAS as discourse, and even more specifically as educational discourse. Three research questions are addressed: How can the account of Samoan culture presented by Mead in CAS be understood as discourse? How can her account of early childhood education be understood in relation to Freeman's account? Is Mead describing permissive education when describing patterns of early childhood education in Samoa? We argue that Mead produced an overlapping research discourse that has appealed to the wider public because of its cultural suppressed message aimed at the unconscious in culture. Mead's and Freeman's contradictory accounts of Samoan cultural patterns in relation to early childhood education can be explained by differences in the perspectives of the social and hierarchical positions of respectable elders and chiefs (Freeman) and of young girls who were caregivers of even younger children (Mead). Finally, we argue that early childhood education in Samoa at that time was clearly not permissive. Young Samoan girls internalized the symbolic Law (Lacan) and were therefore able to act in an authoritative way as caregivers. In the field of education nearly a century later, Mead's descriptions of early childhood education in Samoa still provide an intricate case study
Developmental psychology · Early childhood education · Ethnography · Linguistics · Pedagogy · Samoan · Sociology · Anthropology · Early Childhood Education and Development · Gender Studies · Indigenous and Place-Based Education · Parental Involvement in Education · Psychology
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Current patterns of parental authority
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Was "Coming of Age in Samoa" Based on a "Fateful Hoaxing"? A Close Look at Freeman's Claim Based on the Mead-Boas Correspondence
Anthropology as Cultural Critique
Less than nothing
Mead and the Trajectory of Anthropology in the United States
Cultural Alternatives and a Feminist Anthropology
The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead
Virginity and Veracity
Margaret Mead and Samoa, The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth
The Samoan Side
Mead, Freeman, and Samoa
Sex and Hoax in Samoa
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| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |