Child Development in Cultural Contexts: Implications of Cultural Psychology for Early Childhood Teacher Education

Abstract

In this article we argue that early childhood educators, under the influence of last century's grand universal theories of child development, have not been attentive enough to the centrality of culture in children's development. We discuss how the exploration of contemporary developmental perspectives is critical to the field and illustrate cultural views of child development based on cultural psychology. The goal of cultural psychology is to study the co-creation of human beings and cultures by focusing on both mentalities and practices, on both culture and biology. Using this lens, we explore the implications that cultural psychology holds for early childhood educators.

Korean Immigrant Mothers’ Perspectives: The Meanings of a Korean Heritage Language School for Their Children’s American Early Schooling Experiences

“…An educational approach that values children's home culture can allow educators to support minority children and immigrant families in avoiding dissonance between family and school. Paralleling other researchers (Cannella 1997;Lubeck 1996;Lee and Johnson 2007;Walsh 1991), researchers also need to pay more attention to immigrant parents' perspectives on children's development and the behaviors of children from diverse backgrounds. As Rogoff (2003) noted, much of the research on child development has focused on middle-class European American populations.…”

War, Displacement and Productive Occupations in Northern Uganda

“…Typically, children are indoctrinated or socialized into their cultures. In an innate process of watching, mirroring, learning, doing and gaining proficiency, they increasingly function as contributing members of their societies (Bonder, 2007;Kostelny, 2006;Lee & Johnson, 2007;Nsamenang, 2008 Lost occupation is clearly a loss of much more than the loss of physical acts of doing, it is the loss of meaning, purpose, identity, control, value, and potential. Displacement into a situation where meaningful engagement is severely restricted and idleness tolerated as part of an overall situation can have very serious consequences to the population.…”

Re-envisioning the Role of Universities in Early Childhood Teacher Education: Community Partnerships for 21st-Century Learning

“…Organizations that inform early childhood teacher preparation (e.g., NAEYC, NCATE, DEC) and extant research on teacher characteristics and school quality suggest that early childhood teachers must possess significant knowledge of child development within a cultural context (Maude et al, 2009;Lee & Johnson, 2007;Ryan & Grieshaber, 2005).…”