ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we investigate the primary socialisation of 5–6-year-old children and, in this way, contribute to studying the early construction of social inequalities. We show that child-rearing styles vary according to parents’ social classes and reveal socially differentiated conceptions of childhood. These conceptions are situated between two poles, preserving childhood versus moving towards adulthood. They can be observed at three levels in children’s daily lives: in relation to learning, in relation to the constraints placed on children and in relation to children’s beliefs. This allows us to show that, even before the age of 6, dispositions accumulate and become inequalities, in particular, in the school context.
