Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE OVERVIEW
- PART TWO PATTERNS OF SOCIALIZATION AND PARTICIPATION
- 4 African-Americans in Salt Lake City: A Historical and Social Overview
- 5 The Teachers
- 6 Adults' Perspectives on Spiritual Socialization
- 7 Narratives Related during Sunday School
- 8 Socialization and Participation through Storytelling
- 9 Adult–Child Verbal Conflicts
- 10 Other Contexts for Socialization and Participation
- PART THREE RELATIONSHIPS OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
- PART FOUR CONCLUSION
- References
- Index
9 - Adult–Child Verbal Conflicts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgments
- PART ONE OVERVIEW
- PART TWO PATTERNS OF SOCIALIZATION AND PARTICIPATION
- 4 African-Americans in Salt Lake City: A Historical and Social Overview
- 5 The Teachers
- 6 Adults' Perspectives on Spiritual Socialization
- 7 Narratives Related during Sunday School
- 8 Socialization and Participation through Storytelling
- 9 Adult–Child Verbal Conflicts
- 10 Other Contexts for Socialization and Participation
- PART THREE RELATIONSHIPS OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
- PART FOUR CONCLUSION
- References
- Index
Summary
In the following excerpt, 13-year-old Mamie challenges Sister Ima regarding her interpretation of the Adam and Eve story:
mamie: Eve should of just picked up a stick and whooped that snake and we would still be in that garden.
SI: Maybe God wanted us to know that we could have redemption.
mamie: Slap him [snake] up against one of them trees! Stomp on his neck! (While enacting.)
si: God intended us not to be – God made other provisions for us.
mamie: Hey, but I didn't do nothing!
(They continue to debate the meaning of the Adam and Eve story and the concept of sin.)
Throughout this book, I've elaborated upon adults' growth-oriented, child-sensitive stance toward socialization and children's active participation in church. As Mamie's challenge to Sister Ima's traditional interpretation of original sin suggests, adult–child conflict is an excellent context in which to observe children's active participation in Sunday School. Children, as well as adults, had viewpoints on the particular beliefs and practices they encountered during Sunday School, and sometimes these viewpoints differed from those of their teachers. Adult–child verbal conflicts provide a unique glimpse into the rich diversity of children's perspectives. Verbal conflicts also provide a window into child-sensitive aspects of socialization practices. As we will see in this chapter, some children explicitly disagreed with teachers and elaborated their opposing views. The extent to which children were free to disagree with adults may reflect their status as active interpreters of biblical texts.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- African-American Children at ChurchA Sociocultural Perspective, pp. 129 - 143Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001