The Autonomous Child: Day Care and the Transmission of Values

Originally published in 1986, this book’s focal point is a field study which asks whether the social childrearing context of daycare transmits to young children values different from those within America’s dominant value tradition of individualism. Daycare critics were concerned that this social childrearing within daycare would weaken the family and promote collectivist rather than individualistic values, and thereby threaten the social continuity of America’s values. Through participant observation four daycare teachers’ interactions as they emphasize children’s individual learning experiences and children’s social learning experiences are examined. By focusing on the actions and words of daycare teachers and their children in their daily activities over time, this field study provides a conceptual model for an initial understanding of the relationship of daycare to the continuity of America’s values.