ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to challenge the theoretical notion of the child as a competent social agent. Drawing on research with three state secondary schools in urban northern England into children’s experiences of geography fieldwork, this chapter focuses on the theme of risk which was found to be a central concern for those organizing and authorizing fieldwork. Through this analysis it is demonstrated how the management of fieldwork risk may be understood as contributing to the ongoing social construction of childhood, with students’ experiences of risk largely determined by teachers’ varying assumptions about competency, maturity and autonomy. The varying levels of personal responsibility invested in the students for the reflexive monitoring of risk demonstrate the conflicting standards by which children were deemed (in)competent to make decisions in the field. Furthermore, it is argued that teachers’ heightened sensitivity to risk, fuelled by perceptions of a litigious society, frequently informed decisions where aspects of adult authority were maintained. These findings expose some of the uncertainties and ambiguities surrounding the theoretical notion of children’s competent agency.
