Reams have been published about development in infancy and adolescence, but middle childhood has been strangely ignored. This book studies successful pathways through middle childhood and investigates how myriad and diverse environmental contexts (economic, culture, history, politics, and social) influence child and family development. The text reflects and acknowledges the demographic changes that have taken place in the U.S. over the past 50 years and understands how contemporary children's life options differ and how their own actions and those of people around them can shape their pathways--for better and for worse. Thus, the author's developed a set of models and measures of evolving systems that interact over time, and using these they've prepared a set of cases that trace how children and families shape and are affected by their individual, relational, institutional, and cultural experiences.
Developmental Pathways Through Middle Childhood: Rethinking Context and Diversity as Resources: advances knowledge about an important period of development that has been under researched; highlights an interdisciplinary approach which appeals to social scientists; samples children and families from different parts of the U.S. with diverse backgrounds; and uses an approach different from others emphasized in the past. The book appeals to researchers, educators, and policy makers.
Table of Contents:
Contents: W.A. Collins, Foreword: Contextualizing Middle Childhood: Beyond 1984. C.R. Cooper, C.T. García Coll, W.T. Bartko, H. Davis, C. Chatman, Editors' Introduction. Part I:How Adults and Children, Through Their Perceptions and Actions, Connect Resources Across Family, School, and Community Contexts.H.B. Weiss, E. Dearing, E. Mayer, H. Kreider, K. McCartney, Family Educational Involvement: Who Can Afford It and What Does It Afford? J.A. Fredricks, S. Simpkins, J.S. Eccles, Family Socialization, Gender, and Participation in Sports and Instrumental Music. B. Thorne, Unpacking School Lunchtime: Structure, Practice, and the Negotiation of Differences. W.T. Bartko, The Contexts and Significance of Children's Everyday Experiences and Activities: A Commentary. Part II:How Low-Income Families and Children and Their Teachers Interpret and Use Contexts as Resources for Creating Pathways Through Childhood.D. Stipek, Children as Unwitting Agents in Their Developmental Pathways. E.D. Lowe, T.S. Weisner, S. Geis, A.C. Huston, Child-Care Instability and the Effort to Sustain a Working Daily Routine: Evidence From the New Hope Ethnographic Study of Low-Income Families. P. Blumenfeld, J. Modell, W.T. Bartko, W.G. Secada, J.A. Fredricks, J. Friedel, A. Paris, School Engagement of Inner-City Students During Middle Childhood. W.G. Secada, The Mediation of Contextual Resources. Part III:How Immigration Affects Children's Emerging Identities in Their Family, School, and Community Contexts.C.R. Cooper, C.T. García Coll, B. Thorne, M.F. Orellana, Beyond Demographic Categories: How Immigration, Ethnicity, and "Race" Matter for Children's Emerging Identities and Pathways Through School. C.T. García Coll, L.A. Szalacha, N. Palacios, Children of Dominican, Portuguese, and Cambodian Immigrant Families: Academic Attitudes and Pathways During Middle Childhood. C.R. Cooper, E. Domínguez, S. Rosas, Soledad's Dream: How Immigrant Children Bridge Their Multiple Worlds and Build Pathways to College. A.J. Fuligni, J. Alvarez, M. Bachman, D.N. Ruble, Family Obligation and the Academic Motivation of Young Children From Immigrant Families. V.C. McLoyd, Pathways to Academic Achievement Among Children From Immigrant Families: A Commentary. J.J. Goodnow, Contexts, Diversity, Pathways: Advances and Next Steps. A. Prout, Reflections on Childhood, Diversity, Pathways, and Context. C.R. Cooper, H. Davis, Epilogue: Mapping Concepts of Contexts, Diversity, and Pathways Across Disciplines.
About the Author :
Catherine R. Cooper (Edited by) , Cynthia T. Garc!a Coll (Edited by) , W. Todd Bartko (Edited by) , Helen M. Davis (Edited by) , Celina Chatman (Edited by)
Review :
"This book is a good read for teachers, administrators, and lay persons alike. The beauty of the collection of chapters in this book is that there is recognition of the fact that children are change agents and that they do shape their educational settings in very subtle ways...'Developmental Pathways' is a good discussion text for the university classroom..."—PsycCRITIQUES, December 6, 2006, Vol. 51, No. 49
