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 in African 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 New Directions 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.
Table of 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, and Developmental 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 and Pedagogy 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 Early Schooling in Africa: Reflections on the Roles of Parents in Their Children’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 Young Children 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.
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About the author
Volume Editors:
Robert Serpell is a professor of applied developmental psychology and coordinator of the Center for Promotion of Literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa (CAPOLSA) in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zambia.
Kofi Marfo is a professor and founding director of the Institute for Human Development, Aga Khan University (South-Central Asia, East Africa, and the United Kingdom), and coleader of the Africa Child Development Research Capacity Building initiative.
Series Editors-in-Chief:
Lene Arnett Jensen is Associate Professor of Psychology at Clark University, where she holds the Oliver and Dorothy Hayden Junior Faculty Fellowship.
Reed W. Larson is a professor in the Departments of Human and Community Development, Psychology, Leisure Studies, Kinesiology, and Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the President of the Society for Research on Adolescence from 2008-2010.
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