Unlearning Childhood: A Series About the Myths We Inherit
We often speak about caregiving and childhood as if the rules have already been written.
- That children need to be taught to play.
- That mothers are natural caregivers.
- That early years centres offer personalised care.
But what if some of these are only half-truths, or not quite true at all?
Unlearning Childhood is a new series from the Bachpan Manao team, part of our ongoing attempt to pause and look again.
It draws from observations, conversations, and everyday encounters in the field, moments that made us question things we thought we already knew.
Each chapter follows the format of Two Truths and One Lie. We start with a familiar belief, then sit with what it might obscure, distort, or simplify. What are we misreading? What truths live quietly alongside the dominant ones?
This series is part of BM Stills, a reflective space within Bachpan Manao where we sit with the things that don’t always make it into reports or frameworks. It is where we pause together as a team to notice, to ask again, and to make sense of the patterns, contradictions, and quiet moments we witness in the field.
Sometimes these reflections begin with a question. Sometimes with a child’s gesture. Always, they ask us to listen more closely, and to care, curiously.
Explore the Chapters
Chapter 1: Do children need to be taught to play?
We explore how play often emerges without instruction, and what it reveals when we step back.
Read Chapter 1 here.
Chapter 2: Is free play really taking off?
Free play is widely celebrated, but rarely easy. We look at where the discomfort lies.
Read Chapter 2 here.
Chapter 3: Do children always know which hand to write with?
What handedness can tell us about choice, pressure, and listening to the body.
Read Chapter 3 here.
Chapter 4: Is care work just a mother’s responsibility?
Tracing how the “solo mother” narrative took hold, and what we’re missing when we buy into it.
Read Chapter 4 here.
Chapter 5: The myth of personalised care in early childhood centres
Can one worker care for sixty children meaningfully? We look at what care looks like beyond policy ideals.
Read Chapter 5 here.
Chapter 6: Do children only learn from success?
Observation is powerful, but what and who children learn from might surprise us.
Read Chapter 6 here.
Chapter 7: What can data really tell us about care?
Numbers have their place, but they don’t always capture the heartbeat of caregiving.
Read Chapter 7 here.
Chapter 8: Unlearning and Relearning Care
A closing reflection on letting go, noticing more, and making space for multiple truths.
Read Chapter 8 here.
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