The 12th Colloquium of Ecological Future Making of Childrearing
◆Date
14:00 – 16:00, June 27th (Friday) 2025
◆Venue
#Large-sized meeting room, Inamori Memorial Foundation Building (third floor), Kyoto University
◆STYLE: on-site & online
* Presentations will be given in Japanese.
◆Title
The Ecology of Learning in the Work-Play Rhythms of Pastoralist Maasai Childhood
◆Speaker
Associate Professor Xiaojie Tian (Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba）
◆Discussant
Tomoe Noguchi (ASAFAS, Kyoto University)
◆Abstract
This presentation examines the cultural development and learning processes of Maasai children in southern Kenya, based on my newly published ethnography Maasai Childhood: The Rhythm of Learning in Daily Work and Play Routines. It focuses on the unique childcare environment, parental norms, and daily empirical experiences of the Maasai children across the pastoral landscape. While the personal identity of East African pastoralists has often associated with the concept of “independence syndrome” in early cross-cultural discussions, which emphasizes individual autonomy, local perceptions of independence and its impact on child-rearing and identify formation during childhood have largely been overlooked. This presentation addresses these gaps by exploring the social roles Maasai children assume at different developmental stages, their staged independent mobility, and the autonomy entrusted to them in managing family assets through collaboration with peers and/or adults. Drawing on long-term participant observation and mix-method research, I also investigate how children develop ethno-knowledge and embody skills practical related to livestock, the biota, and the external environment through work and play, contributing to the ongoing formation of pastoralist identity in a changing world.
【Notes】
* Presentations will be given in Japanese.
* For any inquiries, please contact the following:
MEXT Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(S) “ Ecological future making of childrearing in contact zones between hunter-gatherers and agro-pastoralists in Africa”
Contact
E-mail: CCI.takada.lab※gmail.com