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Monday Conference: Margaret Mead's perspective on parenting, 1973

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Anthropologist Dr Margaret Mead
Monday Conference: Margaret Mead's perspective on parenting, 1973

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  9–10


Do you think society's attitudes towards marriage and parenting change over time?

Do you share the same views about these things as your grandparents or great-grandparents?

In this clip, made in 1973 and featuring anthropologist Dr Margaret Mead, explore some of the factors that influence the way you view parenting.

Reflect on the texts that have shaped your attitudes.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Can you list five TV programs that feature families? If the families have two parents, are both of them equally involved in raising the children? Do both parents work outside of the home? What is your attitude towards parenting: should both parents be equally involved in raising children?
  2. 2.This interview was filmed decades ago, in 1973. How can you tell that Margaret Mead's idea of 'shared parenting' was controversial at the time? Were you surprised to learn that in the 1950s men in the USA were expected to contribute to family life as well as to work? What changed once women started working outside of the home? How does Margaret Mead suggest that fathers can be encouraged to co-parent?
  3. 3.Do Margaret Mead's suggestions about co-parenting now seem far-fetched? What is your response to her ideas? Does your own upbringing have an impact on your response? Again consider TV programs featuring families. Do they influence your response? Write a paragraph explaining how your response to a text (here, a video clip) can be influenced by your own context as well as your experiences of other texts (ie TV shows).
  4. 4.Do you think Margaret Mead's vision of equitable co-parenting has been achieved today? Consider families you know well. Does co-parenting seem to be the norm or does one adult take on more responsibility for parenting than the other?


Date of broadcast: 4 Jun 1973


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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