In this volume, African scholars engaged in research on the continent reflect on their recent and ongoing empirical studies. They discuss the strengths and limitations of research methods, theories, and interventions designed outside Africa to spur innovative research on the continent. And they explore how insights from African philosophical, theoretical, and empirical work can be combined with exogenous forms of knowledge to generate understanding of the processes of African children's development in ways that are responsive to local contexts and meaningful for indigenous stakeholders. A new field of African child development research is emerging in African societies, focusing on children as valued and vulnerable members of society and potential civic leaders of the future. Systematic inquiries are now designed to enhance our understanding of how African children think, to discover effective ways of communicating with them, and to inform successful strategies of promoting their health, education, and preparation for adult responsibilities in society. This is the 146th volume in this Jossey-Bass series New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development. Its mission is to provide scientific and scholarly presentations on cutting edge issues and concepts in this subject area. Each volume focuses on a specific new direction or research topic and is edited by experts from that field.

The Definitive reference on the important role fathers play in child development today Edited by Dr. Michael Lamb—the recognized authority on the role of fathers in child development, The Role of the Father in Child Development, Fifth Edition brings together contributions from international experts on each subject to provide a thorough and current summary of the state of fatherhood across cultures, classes, economic systems, and family formations. This classic guide offers a single-source reference for the most recent findings and beliefs related to fathers and fatherhood. This thoroughly updated new edition provides the latest material on topics such as: The effects of divorce Fathers from low-income backgrounds Stepfathers’ lives: exploring social context and interpersonal complexity Social policy Gay fathers Fatherhood and masculinity The definitive book on when, why, and how fathers matter to their children and families, The Role of the Father in Child Development, Fifth Edition is an essential reference for all mental health professionals who endeavor to understand and support fathers in becoming positive influences in their children’s development.

In contemporary societies children’s racial identity is co-constructed in response to racial stereotyping with extended family, peers and teachers, and potent media sources. The studies in this volume take cognizance of earlier research into skin color and racial stereotyping, but advance its contemporary implications. Developmental trajectories of racial attitudes of Black and White children, examining recent empirical research from the perspective of theorizing associated with experimental studies of stereotyped-threat are discussed. Reviewed are also the theoretical and empirical role of media images in influencing the race-related images as well as the PVEST theoretical model in considering the significance of parental racial messages and stories. The last paper argues that youth can be victimized by racial/cultural stereotyping despite being majority-Black cultural members. Interdisciplinary commentaries by scholar-researchers are given for each chapter.Researchers, academicians, and practitioners will find in this publication a succinct update, inclusive of references and bibliographies, regarding the latest information in the development and socialization of racial attitudes and racial stereotyping.

This volume offers critical analysis of national school reform policies intended to align with global agendas to promote educational quality and equity. By uniquely foregrounding the need for education reform to nurture child well-being alongside traditional measures of academic achievement, the book identifies common challenges across the Global North and South and extends insights provided by international student assessment data. Chapters offer a close analysis of reform practices in countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas to consider cultural, social, political, and functional aspects which drive or inhibit the success of reform initiatives. Providing excellent insights into holistic education for children and youth, this book highlights lessons to support global efforts in providing high-quality, equitable education for the whole child. Developing international knowledge and supplementing international data, this volume will be of interest to students, scholars, and researchers with an interest in education policy, as well as comparative and international education.

The collaborative efforts of ColombiaA's Department of National Planning (DNP) and the World Bank has produced the National Evaluation System of Public Sector Performance (SYNERGY). Put in place by the Special Division for Evaluation in DNP, this system has been designed and implemented to change the public sector from an inward-looking, process-oriented body (which sometimes restrains economic and social progress) into a more dynamic, results-oriented partner of the community and private sector in development. This report explores the critical factors in making SYNERGY a successful evaluation system. Such factors include ways of making it an effective management tool, promoting civil society participation by focusing on results for people and leveraging on their energy and resource, defining a constructive learning process for implementation, and providing an enabling environment for a results-oriented public sector.

This guide aims to stimulate the development of effective community-based interventions in the field of childhood adversity and to contribute to the growing theory of practice in this area.

This handbook provides a comprehensive review of the impact of fathers on child development from prenatal years to age five. It examines the effects of the father-child relationship on the child’s neurobiological development; hormonal, emotional and behavioral regulatory systems; and on the systemic embodiment of experiences into the child’s mental models of self, others, and self-other relationships. The volume reflects two perspectives guiding research with fathers: Identifying positive and negative factors that influence early childhood development, specifying child outcomes, and emphasizing cultural diversity in father involvement; and examining multifaceted, specific approaches to guide father research. Key topics addressed include: Direct assessment of father parenting (rather than through maternal reports). The effects of father presence (in contrast to father absence). The full diversity of father involvement. Father’s impact on gender role differentiation. Father’s role in triadic interactions of family dynamics. Father involvement in psychotherapeutic family interventions. This handbook draws from converging perspectives about the role of fathers in very early child development, summarizes what is known, and, within each chapter, draws attention to the critical questions that need to be answered in coming decades. The Handbook of Fathers and Child Development is a must-have resource for researchers, graduate students, and clinicians, therapists, and other professionals in infancy and early child development, social work, public health, developmental and clinical child psychology, pediatrics, family studies, neuroscience, juvenile justice, child and adolescent psychiatry, school and educational psychology, anthropology, sociology, and all interrelated disciplines.

What does it mean to be a child in Africa? In the detached Western media, narratives of penury, wickedness and death have dominated portrayals of African childhood. The hegemonic lens of the West has failed to take into account the intricacies of not only what it means to be an African child in local and culturally specific contexts, but also African childhood in general. Challenging colonial discourses, this edited volume guides the reader through different comprehensions and perspectives of childhood in Africa. Using a blend of theory, empiricism and history, the contributors to this volume offer studies from a range of fields including African literature, Afro-centric psychology and sociology. Importantly, in its eclectic geographical coverage of Africa, this book unashamedly presents the good, the bad and the ugly of African childhood. The resilience, creativity, pains and triumphs of African childhood are skilfully woven together to present the myriad of lived experiences and aspirations of children from across Africa. As an important contribution to African childhood studies, this book has the potential to be used by policymakers to shape, sustain or change socio-cultural, economic and education systems that accommodate African childhood dynamics and experiences at different levels.

This innovative text explains child development from a cross-cultural perspective. Using examples to illuminate key points, it considers a range of topics from attachment to identity and communication to socialization. This is essential reading for social workers at all stages of their careers who want to develop culturally sensitive practice.

This unprecedented collection of articles is an introduction to the study of cultural variations in childhood across the world and to the theoretical frameworks for investigating and interpreting them. Presents a history of cross-cultural approaches to child-development Recent articles examine diverse contexts of childhood in ecological, semiotic, and sociolinguistic terms Includes ethnographic studies of childhood in the Pacific, Africa, Latin America, East Asia, Europe and North America Illuminates the process through which people become the bearers of culturally/historically specific identities Serves as an ideal text for anthropology courses focusing on childhood, as well as classes on development psychology