Child Development in Africa
Views From Inside: New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Number 146
Published on 19. December 2014
128 pages
978-1-119-03994-5 (ISBN)
Description
In this volume, African scholars engaged in research on thecontinent reflect on their recent and ongoing empirical studies.They discuss the strengths and limitations of research methods,theories, and interventions designed outside Africa to spurinnovative research on the continent. And they explore how insightsfrom African philosophical, theoretical, and empirical work can becombined with exogenous forms of knowledge to generateunderstanding of the processes of African children'sdevelopment in ways that are responsive to local contexts andmeaningful for indigenous stakeholders.
A new field of African child development research is emerging inAfrican societies, focusing on children as valued and vulnerablemembers of society and potential civic leaders of the future.Systematic inquiries are now designed to enhance our understandingof how African children think, to discover effective ways ofcommunicating with them, and to inform successful strategies ofpromoting their health, education, and preparation for adultresponsibilities in society.
This is the 146th volume in this Jossey-Bass series NewDirections for Child and Adolescent Development. Its mission isto provide scientific and scholarly presentations on cutting edgeissues and concepts in this subject area. Each volume focuses on aspecific new direction or research topic and is edited by expertsfrom that field.
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Robert Serpell | Kofi Marfo
Child Development in Africa: Views From Inside
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Number 146
Book
12/2014
Wiley
€27.27
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Content
1. Some Long-Standing and Emerging Research Lines in Africa1
Robert Serpell, Kofi Marfo
The authors contend that early debates about thegeneralizability of Western theories of child development shouldgive way to a focus on responding to developmental phenomenadistinctive to the African region.
2. Biomedical Risk, Psychosocial Influences, andDevelopmental Outcomes: Lessons From the Pediatric HIV Populationin Africa 23
Amina Abubakar
The author reviews evidence that the impact of HIV and AIDS onchild development in Africa involves interaction between biologicaland psychosocial factors, and outlines strategies of quantitativeanalysis to determine causal pathways as a guide to pediatricintervention.
3. African Early Childhood Development Curriculum andPedagogy for Turkana Nomadic Pastoralist Communities of Kenya43
John T. Ng'asike
The author critiques the current early childhood educationalprovision for a pastoralist community in Kenya and proposes aframework for integrating indigenous knowledge and ecoculturallyprevalent learning contexts into ECE instructional programs.
4. Promoting Children's Sustainable Access to EarlySchooling in Africa: Reflections on the Roles of Parents in TheirChildren's Early Childhood Care and Education 61
Jacob Marriote Ngwaru
The author reviews his research in rural Zimbabwe, Kenya,Uganda, and Tanzania showing that support for children'stransition from home to school suffers from weak parentalparticipation and lack of appropriate learning materials, andadvocates for more culturally responsive early childhoodeducation.
5. Design and Validation of Assessment Tests for YoungChildren in Zambia 77
Beatrice Matafwali, Robert Serpell
The authors explain the need for culturally appropriate childassessment instruments and describe two programs of testdevelopment in Zambia.
6. Some Growth Points in African Child Development Research97
Robert Serpell, Kofi Marfo
The editors present concluding observations and perspectives onhow the invited authors respond to key challenges identified by theeditors and, in so doing, help advance an African field of childdevelopment.
INDEX 113
