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.
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.
