A new book on how culture shapes children’s school and learning experiences co-edited by Robyn M. Holmes, Ph.D., professor of psychology and associated faculty member in the Department of History and Anthropology, and Jaipaul L. Roopnarine, Ph.D., Pearl S. Falk professor of human development and family science at Syracuse University and professor extraordinary of developmental psychology at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname, was recently published by Oxford University Press.
“Culture, Schooling, and Children’s Learning Experiences” connects to and informs Holmes’ teaching and research interests in children’s development, learning, play, and folklore. The topic is particularly relevant to the upper-level psychology elective courses, “Cultural Psychology” and “Children’s Play & Culture” that Holmes developed for, and regularly teaches, at Monmouth University.
The Holmes and Roopnarine text highlights the view of learning as an activity that takes place within cultural contexts. It investigates the connection between culture and children’s learning and school experiences from multidisciplinary perspectives, diverse methodologies, and across diverse cultural communities. Over two dozen contributors highlight the complex intersection of how cultural, historical, political, social, and economic forces shape children’s learning and learning opportunities across continents and cultural communities.
Individual chapters address how cultural variables, and other micro and macro forces connect to shape children’s classroom interactions with teachers, learning experiences, educational opportunities, and academic outcomes. Some of these variables include parental ethnotheories, cultural ways of learning and problem solving, the position of playful learning and the benefits of quality early childhood education, and the complex interaction of culture with other historical, economic, and political forces such as oppression, social injustice, economic inequality, and political ideologies.
The volume includes the experiences of Indigenous, newcomer, first-generation, and children from underrepresented communities and draws attention to the intimate and broader social actors that shape children’s learning experiences. These include caregivers, teachers, teacher educators, school administrations, and policy makers.
Holmes received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University and is a specialist in children’s activities and ethnographic methods. Her research and teaching interests are interdisciplinary and focus upon how culture mediates children’s developmental and learning outcomes as well as children’s activities, particularly their play and folklore.