The Pedagogical Poem through the gender perspective: a historical case study research on children and childhood under communism

The historical case study research is based upon a larger historical study of the development of social work education during state socialism in Yugoslavia and the understanding of welfare and social work by the communist... [ view full abstract ]

The historical case study research is based upon a larger historical study of the development of social work education during state socialism in Yugoslavia and the understanding of welfare and social work by the communist leadership after the success of the October Revolution. The case study is a discourse analysis of the famous Ukrainian and Soviet pedagogue Anton Semjonovič Makarenko (1888-1939) who was the founder of the Soviet pedagogy and whose work had a major impact to all countries of Easter Europe. The discourse analysis focuses on a critical and gender analysis of his leading work “The Pedagogical Poem” and reflects upon some basic conceptual and ideological building blocks of the socialist education. The primary focus will be the question of gender and disability. The analysis will show how childhood was conceptualized within the state socialism and what consequences this major work had upon several generations of young people across the region. The case study and the discourse analysis of the Makarenko’s writing will be used to understand the remaining post-socialist welfare and social work culture as well as the attitudes towards children and childhood in the region today.
The abstract is part of the History-welfare-gender workshop