Contexts of child development : culture, policy and intervention

'Contexts of Child Development' is an inspiring and thought-provoking collection that aims to deepen our understanding of child development in order to positively influence the people, policies and practices that help shape childrens lives. Drawing on a range of methodological, theoretical and practical perspectives, and on leading Australian and international research, the volume challenges us to consider issues as diverse as the continuing impact of past colonial policies and practices on Australian Aboriginal child development today; the ways in which a focus on learning through the arts can be beneficial to other areas of development, including literacy; and the potentially disabling consequences of the socio-culturally biased construction of what constitutes a good childhood which currently underpins policy in the UK. A key concern of the collection is to advance insights and understandings of child development in relation to questions of cultural diversity, social disadvantage and state-supported interventions. Hence, many of the contributions focus on the outcomes of child development in Australian Aboriginal communities, including Ernabella and Docker River in the Western Desert, Darnley Island in north-east Queensland, the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory, Yakanarra in the Kimberley, and the Yorta Yorta in rural Victoria. While the editors consider that the contributions collectively point to complex patterns of intergenerational reproduction of disadvantage for which there is no single intervention point, they conclude that the challenge for educators, policy-makers, governments and communities alike is to find and follow the ways and means by which it is possible to support the outcomes of child development in order that the deleterious effects of multiple disadvantage might be undone.Introduction xiii -- Robinson, Eickelkamp, Goodnow, Katz. Contexts of Child Development: -- Culture, Policy and Intervention. -- Section 1: Constructs of Aboriginal Wellbeing: -- Historical, cultural and social realities 1 -- Introduction to Section 1 3 -- Chapter 1 Briscoe. Assimilation and Indifference: The paradoxical -- treatment of Indigenous children in Central Australia, 1914-1951 7 -- Chapter 2 Andrews. Bringing up our Yorta Yorta Children 23 -- Chapter 3 Robinson. Vulnerabilities, Families and Child Development: -- Crises affecting the young in a north Australian community 36 -- Chapter 4 Fietz. Socialisation and the Shaping of Youth Identity at Docker River 49 -- Chapter 5 Zubrick et al. The Western Australian Aboriginal Child -- Health Survey: Are there any policy implications? 59 -- Section 2: Childhood, Community and State: The challenge of intervention 73 -- Introduction to Section 2 75 -- Chapter 6 Goodnow. Research and Action: -- Challenges, moves forward and unfinished tasks 79 -- Chapter 7 Katz. Early Intervention and 'Evidence-based' Policy 90 -- Chapter 8 James. Day Care or Early Education? Perspectives on the -- institutional provision for young children in the UK 100 -- Chapter 9 Scott. Early Childhood and Community: -- Capacity building in early childhood networks 111 -- Chapter 10 Korbin. Child Neglect and Abuse across Cultures 122 -- Section 3: Play, Symbols and Language: Development and learning -- in and out of school 131 -- Introduction to Section 3 133 -- Chapter 11 Eickelkamp. Play, Imagination and Early Experience: -- Sand storytelling and continuity of being among Anangu -- Pitjantjatjara girls 138 -- Chapter 12 Piscitelli. Images of Childhood: -- By children, about culture and identity 153 -- Chapter 13 Disbray & Wigglesworth. A Longitudinal Study of Language -- Acquisition in Australian Aboriginal Children -- in Three Communities 167 -- Chapter 14 Christie. Advanced Literacy Development for the -- Years of Adolescence 183 -- Chapter 15 Cazden. A Longitudinal Follow-up Study of the Alumnae -- of a Middle-School Science and Literacy Program: -- Achieving and sustaining 196.242 page(s