This book is the newest addition to the Routledge series ‘Directions in Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis’, which is dedicated to publishing the latest work on the study of human conduct and aptitudes, the (re)production of social orderliness and the methods and aspirations of the social sciences. Keel’s contribution fits perfectly with this aim, analysing interactions between parents and (young) children in the light of socialization theory.
Intergenerational continuity in family behaviors partly results from socialization processes in the parental home. However, socialization is a multidimensional process. This article tests hypotheses about the relative importance of value transmission and modeling in explaining expectations of adolescence concerning the timing of leaving home, and entry into cohabitation, marriage, and parenthood. Structural equation modeling on multiactor data from over 1,000 parent–adolescent child couples in the Netherlands is used to test hypotheses. Results suggest that, in general, both value transmission and modeling are important predictors of adolescents’ expectations concerning the timing of major family events. Moreover, no differences between mothers and fathers and between boys and girls are observed in the strength of the intergenerational relationships studied.
Educational policies in the Netherlands reveal that the current mainstream participatory approach to citizenship education jeopardises students’ autonomy. Especially in Dutch post-secondary vocational education, citizenship education has been shown to be mainly aimed at socialization: initiating students into tradition, internalising rules, societal norms and values. This article reports on the findings of a research project, which is grounded in the assumption that integrating Bildung, citizenship education and critical thinking is a promising way to grapple with the perceived overemphasis on socialization strategies. We justify the interrelationship of critical thinking, Bildung, citizenship education, and professional training from two perspectives – historical and contemporary. It is only by combining these concepts, we contend, that educational professionals can create teaching materials more geared to developing autonomy, and prepare students in vocational training to navigate the political and societal dilemma’s on the work floor. Furthermore, we also clarify our perspective by offering three educational principles, used in our project to guide the design of teaching materials, that form a context for integrating citizenship, critical thinking, and Bildung in vocational education. A practical illustration is subsequently discussed.
