‘In the best interest of the child’: misopedy in education

Abstract

This article examines misopedy–hatred of children–in educational settings. Drawing on nine qualitative datasets, including interviews, ethnographic observations, questionnaire responses and literature, it argues that misopedy is a socially, collectively, and structurally produced system. The paper analyses discursive practices embedded in educational frameworks, showing how children are positioned as fundamentally flawed, lacking agency, and as natural objects of control, punishment, and violence. Crucially, the study does not claim that educators are inherently misopedic; rather, it suggests that educators are compelled to navigate powerful and normalised discourses of misopedy.