Identify two categories from writers who discuss historical constructions of childhood (e.g. Hendrick, James & amp; Prout) – choose one which you think is most relevant for our current understanding of childhood and one which you think is least relevant. That way you are arguing for and against the statement in the title – as you are asked to do. Remember to focus on those most relevant for young children (up to ages of 8!). You must support your argument - for example you can draw on media representations but you must also refer to academic literature. • Demonstrates detailed knowledge and critical understanding of the frameworks presented by current writers for understanding the lives of past children • Demonstrates the ability to develop a critical and coherent academic argument drawing on a range of literature What is a position paper? Position papers for this module will take the form of a summary of an issue or aspect of an issue arising from your study of a particular historical perspective. The paper will normally include two or more ‘viewpoints’ about the issue so that they can be contrasted and more than one side of the issue can be seen. A ‘viewpoint’ is more than just your opinion about the issue. It is a ‘view’ of the issue based on reading around the topic and will refer to published sources, and may also, if appropriate, refer to professional experience. What are we looking for? The purpose of the position papers is to help you develop your skills of reasoning and appraisal. Most of all, we want you to be good thinkers about the issues you come across and about how they might affect the services to children available today. Thinking can be hard – but you are almost certainly much better at it than you might imagine!