This reflection paper discusses the life course perspective and encourages examining the birth year of a parent to understand historical events that influenced their life development. It emphasizes the historical insights gained from this reflection process, as described by Elder. The document includes examples to guide this exploration.

1. Reflection Paper 1:
Life course
This reflection focuses on the life course perspective (Elder
reading and PPT/lecture). Take the birth year of one of your
parents, get a sense of what historic events and processes were
taking place in and around the year they were born, and reflect
on how that event or events may have helped shape their life
course development. “The mere step of locating parents in
history through their birth year can generate historical insights
that would not be achieved otherwise” (Elder, pg. 6). The
article has a number of examples to help you think about this
idea.