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Tabula Rasa
Translated from Latin, tabula rasa means a “clean slate”—a blank wax tablet that ancient Romans used for writing on. Accruing meaning over many centuries, this term has become a metaphor defining a certain perspective on childhood. This entry explores the history of the term’s use within the discipline of childhood studies, summarizes its meaning and representation in relation to children, and explores how it continues to inform understandings of children in the 21st century.
Origins
Interpretation of tabula rasa in relation to human cognition and experience is most famously attributed to the English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) and his work on the nature of human understanding. However, a more thorough attempt to trace this term to its origins leads to Aristotle and his peers, who believed that, ...
- Age Identities/Age Positions
- Adolescence
- Adolescence, History of
- Age
- Age Compression
- Age of Consent
- Ageism
- Baby, Social Construction of
- Birth Order
- Boyhood
- Child Prodigy
- Children as Citizens
- Children as Consumers
- Children as Legal Subjects
- Children as Philosophers
- Children as Photographers
- Children as Witnesses
- Children’s Mobility
- Emerging Adulthood
- Feral Children
- Generation Gap
- Generational Conflict
- Girl Power
- Girlhood
- Girling
- Girls
- Growth
- Infancy
- Infantilization
- Innocence
- Minority Group, Children as
- Native American Children, Religion and Spirituality
- Orphans
- Peer Culture
- Peer Group
- Puberty
- Queer Childhoods
- Roma Children
- Teenage Fathers, United Kingdom
- Teenagers
- Transgender Children
- Transitions
- Tween
- Women and Children
- Young-Girl, Theory of
- Youth
- Areas of Study/Fields of Interest
- Biopolitics of Childhood
- Boyhood Studies
- Childhood in Western Philosophy
- Childhood Studies
- Childhood, Anthropology of
- Children’s Bodies
- Children’s Culture Industry
- Children’s Cultures
- Children’s Geographies
- Clinical Psychology and Clinical Child Psychology
- Critical Children’s Literature Studies
- Critical Legal Studies
- Critical Pedagogy
- Critical Race Theory
- Critical Realism
- Cultural Politics of Childhood
- Developmental Psychology
- Disabilities
- Disability Studies
- Ecology and Environmental Education
- Enlightenment and the Child
- Ethnicity
- Evolutionary Developmental Psychology
- Feminism
- Food Studies and Children
- Gender
- Girlhood Studies
- Global Politics of Childhood
- Global Politics of Orphanhood
- Medicalization of Childhood
- Mental Health, Child
- Parenting Studies
- Pediatrics
- Philosophy for Children
- Philosophy, the Child in
- Political Geographies of Youth
- Postcolonial Childhoods
- Posthumanism and Childhood
- Postmodern Childhoods
- Psy Disciplines
- Psychosocial Studies
- Queer Studies
- Social Work
- Sociology of Childhood
- Virtual Materiality
- Wholeness Approach
- Youth Studies
- Youth Studies, Birmingham School
- Children’s Rights
- Age Assessment, in Migration
- Asylum, Children as Seekers of
- Babies’ Rights
- Best Interests Principle
- Child Domestic Work
- Child Labor
- Child Labor in Europe, History of
- Child Mortality
- Child Trafficking
- Child Welfare
- Childhood Poverty
- Children and Youth in Prison
- Children’s Ombudspersons/Commissioners for Children’s Rights
- Children’s Rights
- Children’s Rights, Critiques of
- Children’s Rights, Historical Perspective on
- Citizenship
- Disabilities, Children With—Global South
- Domestic Workers, Children as
- Ethics
- Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1924
- Globalization of Childhood
- Immigrant Children
- Immigration
- Participation Rights, UNCRC
- Participation, Protection, and Provision Rights (Three Ps), UNCRC
- Political Rights of Children
- Protection Rights, UNCRC
- Provision Rights, UNCRC
- Transnational Childhoods
- Undocumented Children
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child (UNCRC)
- Well-Being, Children’s
- Education
- After-School Centers
- Boarding Schools
- Classroom Discipline
- Disability Studies in Education
- Early Childhood Education
- Education
- Education and Nationalism in Late Imperial China
- Education for All (EFA)
- Education Versus Care
- Education, Child-Centered
- Education, Co-operative
- Education, Inclusive
- Enabling Education Network (EENET)
- Homeschooling
- Intergenerational Learning
- Kindergarten
- Language Learning/Acquisition
- Literacy/Literacies
- Mid-day Meal
- Montessori Schools
- Mulberry Bush School
- Numeracy Learning in Early Childhood
- Out-of-School Children
- Pedagogy
- Playrooms
- Private Schools
- School Dress Codes
- School Readiness
- School Uniforms
- Schooling
- Schooling, Gender, and Race
- Sexualities Education
- Special Education
- Supplementary Schools
- Vocational Education
- Waldorf Schools
- Environments and Geographies
- Child-Friendly Cities
- Childhood and Architecture
- Childhood and Nature
- Children and Borders—Cyprus
- Children and Borders—Palestine
- Children and International Development
- Children’s Hospitals
- Children’s Libraries in the United States
- Children’s Museums
- Home Learning Environment
- Playground Movement, U.S. History
- Playgrounds
- Family and Childrearing
- Adoption, History of
- Adoption, Transnational
- Adoption, Transracial
- Babysitting, U.S. History of
- Caregivers, Children as
- Childcare
- Child-Headed Households
- Diaspora Childhoods
- Family
- Fatherhood
- Fathers/Fathering
- Foster Parenting
- Gay and Lesbian Parenting
- In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
- Intergenerational Relations
- Mothers/Motherhood
- Parenthood
- Parenting
- Parenting Styles, History of
- Parents of Children with Disabilities
- Parents with Disabilities
- Restavek
- Same-Sex Parenting
- Sibling Rivalry
- Stepparents
- Transnational Families
- Histories
- Institutions and Organizations
- Care, Institutional
- Care-Work
- Children and Social Policy
- Children and the Law, United States
- Children’s Bureau, United States
- Children’s Music Industry, U.S.
- Day Care
- Disney
- Federal Indian Boarding Schools, U.S. Architecture of
- Foster Care, U.S.
- Health Care
- Homes, Institutional
- International Child Welfare Organizations
- International Children’s Aid Organizations
- International Nongovernmental Organizations (INGOs)
- Juvenile Courts
- Juvenile Justice, International
- La Leche League
- League of Nations
- Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
- Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)
- One-Child Policy, China
- Orphans and Orphanages as Childcare in the United States
- Scouting, Boys
- Scouting, Girls
- Sea Hospitals
- Social Welfare Regimes
- Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
- Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
- Sunday School
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
- Welfare State
- Youth Clubs
- Key Thinkers and Cultural Figures
- Addams, Jane
- Andersen, Hans Christian
- Ariès, Philippe
- Benjamin, Walter
- Bernstein, Basil
- Bettelheim, Bruno
- Binet, Alfred
- Bourdieu, Pierre
- Bowlby, John
- Bronfenbrenner, Urie
- Carroll, Lewis
- Darwin, Charles
- Deleuze, Gilles
- Dewey, John
- Dickens, Charles
- Dockar-Drysdale, Barbara
- Dolto, Françoise
- Ennew, Judith
- Erikson, Erik
- Frank, Anne
- Freire, Paulo
- Freud, Anna
- Freud, Sigmund
- Froebel, Friedrich
- Gesell, Arnold
- Grimm Brothers (The Brothers Grimm)
- Hall, Granville Stanley
- Hine, Lewis
- Hug-Hellmuth, Hermine
- Isaacs, Susan
- Key, Ellen
- Klein, Melanie
- Korczak, Janusz
- Lacan, Jacques
- Lindgren, Astrid
- Locke, John
- Mannheim, Karl
- Milner, Marion
- Montessori, Maria
- Opie, Iona and Peter
- Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich
- Piaget, Jean
- Postman, Neil
- Reich, Wilhelm
- Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
- Spencer, Herbert
- Spielrein, Sabina
- Spinoza, Baruch
- Spock, Benjamin
- Steiner, Rudolf
- Sully, James
- Sutton-Smith, Brian
- Temple, Shirley
- Vygotsky, Lev
- Watson, John B.
- Winnicott, Donald W.
- Wordsworth, William
- Yousafzai, Malala
- Measurements
- Media
- Brownies’ Book
- ABC Books
- Apps (Mobile Applications)
- Binge-Watching
- Children and Technology
- Children’s Radio
- Children’s Television, U.S. History
- Digital Childhoods
- Digital Literacy
- Digital Media
- Digital Mobile Technologies
- iPad
- Media, Children and
- Moveable Books
- Picture Books
- Riot Grrrls
- Sesame Street
- Teen Magazines
- Teenager Television Series
- Theme Parks
- Toys, Digital
- YouTube
- Medical Discourses and Practices
- Abortion
- AIDS Orphans
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Autism and Neurodiversity
- Autism, Child Development, and Theory
- Birth
- Birth Control
- Child Neglect
- Child Pregnancy
- Child Sexual Abuse and Pedophilia
- Child Suicide
- Childhood Insanity
- Depression
- Eugenics
- Fetal Personhood
- Health
- Neurocognitive Development
- Neuroscience
- Pregnancy
- Reproductive Choice
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
- Movements
- Objects and Material Culture
- Practices
- Apprenticeship
- Bilingualism and Multilingualism
- Breastfeeding
- Child Actors in Theater
- Children and Art
- Children’s Time Use
- Children’s Work
- Counseling Children
- Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)
- Domestic Chores
- Inclusion in Schools
- Language, Social, and Cultural Aspects
- Orphan Care
- Parenting Children
- Pocket Money
- Residential Child Care
- Socialization
- Sport
- Toilet Training
- Youth Work
- Religions
- Representations
- Child Actors in Film and Television
- Childhood as Figuration
- Childhood Representations in Media and Advertising
- Children and U.S. Adoption Literature
- Children in Postcolonial Literature
- Children in Romantic Literature and Thought
- Children’s Literature
- Death, Children’s Conceptions of
- Fairy Tales in the Western Tradition
- Family Photography
- Film, the Child in
- Folklore, Children’s
- Hidden Adult, in Literature
- Literature, Golden Age
- National identity
- Parental Advice Literature
- Peter Pan
- Popularity and Gender
- Popularity, Social Media and
- Queer Children, Representations of
- Reality Television
- Representations of Childhood in Early China
- School Story, The
- Young Adult (YA) Literature
- Youth and Representation in Popular Media, U.S.
- Research Methodologies
- Assent, Children’s, in Research
- Child as Method
- Child Attachment Interviews
- Child-Centered Design
- Child-Centered/Child-Led Research
- Children’s Drawings and Psychological Development
- Consent, Children’s, in Research
- Ethnography
- Historical Methods
- Interviews
- Least-Adult Role in Research
- Life Mode Interview
- Narrative Research Method
- Narratives, Children’s
- Participatory Action Research
- Participatory Research Methods
- Photovoice, Research Method of
- Piaget’s Interview Methods: From Clinical to Critical
- Power Relations in Research
- Professional Conversations with Children
- Quantitative Methods
- Reflexivity
- Visual Methods
- Social Issues and Controversies
- Artificial Insemination
- Baby Farms
- Better Baby Contests
- Bullying
- Bullying and Parents
- Bullying and Teachers
- Bullying in Schools
- Child and Youth Activism
- Child Beauty Pageants
- Child Marriage
- Child Pornography
- Child Prostitution, Sex Work
- Child Soldiers
- Children and Nationalism
- Children as Victims
- Children as Workers
- Children Who Murder
- Columbine (High School) Massacre, U.S.
- Corporal Punishment
- Cyberbullying
- Discipline and Childhood
- Domestic Violence, Children’s Experiences of
- Early Marriage
- Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
- Gender Independent Children
- Gifted Children
- Homeless Children and Youth
- Juvenile Delinquency
- Militarization
- Obesity
- Race and Childhood in U.S. Context
- Racism
- Refugees
- School Violence
- Sexual Citizenship
- Sexual Exploitation of Children
- Social Inclusion
- Street Children
- Surrogacy
- Transnational Migration
- Unaccompanied Minors, Migration
- Violence
- War and War-Affected Children
- Working Children
- Young Offenders
- Youth Gangs
- Youth Justice
- Theories and Concepts
- Adultism
- Agency
- Anticipatory Socialization
- Attachment Theory
- Autonomy
- Beings and Becomings, Children as
- Borders, National
- Bullying, Genealogy of the Concept
- Capitalism and Childhood
- Care, Feminist Ethic of
- Child
- Child as Other/Stranger
- Child Consumption: A Vygotskian Perspective
- Child Depravity
- Child-Friendly, Concept of
- Childhood
- Childhood Identity Constructions
- Childhood Nostalgia
- Childhood Publics
- Childhoods and Time, Philosophical Perspectives
- Childing
- Childism
- Children as Competent Social Actors
- Children as Political Subjects
- Children at Risk
- Children’s Perspectives
- Children’s Social Participation, Models of
- Children’s Voices
- Colonialism and Childhood
- Community of Learners
- Concerted Cultivation, Parenting Style
- Conduct of Everyday Life
- Consent, Sexual
- Consumer Socialization
- Critical Theory, the Child in
- Cultural Capital
- Development
- Developmentality
- Different Childhoods
- Distributed Violence
- Emotion Regulation (Children)
- Emotional Intelligence
- Gender Identity
- Generational Approach
- Generationing
- Global North Childhoods
- Global South Childhoods
- Global Womb
- Governmentality
- Habitus
- History of Childhood
- Hope
- Human Capital, Child as
- Identity
- Imaginary Companions
- Indigenous Childhoods
- Institutionalization of Childhood
- Interiority
- Interpretive Reproduction
- Intersectionality
- Juvenocracy/Juvenocratic Spaces
- Miniature Adulthood
- Moral Development, Cultural-Developmental Perspective
- Natural Growth, Parenting Style
- Nature Versus Culture
- Nature Versus Nurture
- Play Therapy and Autism
- Play, Theories of
- Popularity
- Priceless Child
- Psychoanalysis, the Child in
- Racial Formation
- Racial Innocence, Child and (U.S. History)
- Recapitulation Theory
- Relational Violence
- Resilience
- Rites of Passage
- Self-Esteem
- Sex Education, Psychoanalysis in
- Sexual Orientation
- Sexuality and Childhood
- Social and Emotional Learning
- Social Exclusion and Bullying
- Socialization Paradigm
- Stage Theories of Development
- Standpoint Theory
- Structural Violence
- Subjective Well-Being
- Tabula Rasa
- Time and Childhood
- Time, Concept of, in Children
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Universalism
- Universalization of Childhood
- Vulnerability of Children
- Youth Culture
- Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, Lev)
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