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The Anthropology of Childhood:
Cherubs Chattel and Changelings
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Reviews |
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"In this comprehensive and delightful book, Lancy weaves his encyclopedic knowledge of the field of childhood across cultures into a series of thought-provoking essays that capture the wide range of children's experience around the world. As he interprets the cultural meanings that organize their daily lives, he simultaneously performs a comprehensive cultural analysis of middle-class American childhood and parenting. This book is unique in that it will be of great value to scholars and their students across the fields of anthropology, sociology, psychology, and education, but also of great interest to parents and policy makers who want to see themselves and others more clearly." - Suzanne Gaskins, Professor of Psychology, Northeastern Illinois University |
"Through his expansive integration of the anthropological literature, Lancy has moved the field forward towards a holistic and unified perspective on children and childhood. I can think of no other work that at once exemplifies such depth and breadth. This visionary focus joins theoretical perspectives heretofore considered disparate in a synthetic framework that redefines the anthropology of childhood." - John Bock, Professor of Anthropology, California State University
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"In this work of stunning insight and signal importance, David Lancy frees us from constricted, culture-bound conceptions of childhood, illustrating the extraordinarily diverse forms that children's development has taken. By dismantling narrowly ethnocentric notions of what constitutes a normal childhood, he allows us to envision alternatives to the overpressured, overorganized, overcommercialized world that today's middle-class children inhabit." - Steven Mintz, Columbia University, author of Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood |
"A wonderful, unique, and essential advance in our understanding of humankind. Anyone who cares about children (in fact, anyone who wants to understand their own life and modern society) should read this book." - Alan Fiske, Professor of Anthropology, Director, Center for Culture, Brain, and Development, University of California, Los Angeles |
“David Lancy has produced a finely nuanced, beautifully written and comprehensive account of children’s lives and the meanings that adults give to childhood. Delightfully illustrated and drawing on insights from anthropology, psychology, sociology and history his book is essential for anyone interested in cross-cultural studies of childhood.” - Heather Montgomery, Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies, The Open University. |
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Playing on the Mother-Ground
Cultural Routines for Children's Development
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"This is an important study of childhood development in an African society, based upon extensive field research. Particularly valuable is the discussion of the role of games in childhood development, and of how children learn the major economic skills of adulthood. The elements of the transition from play to work form an interesting and significant contribution to the study of African childhood education. The relative roles of informal learning, apprenticeship and bush initiation in learning are analyzed with unusual care." --Simon Ottenberg, PhD, Emeritus Professor, University of Washington |
"One of the important contributions that anthropologists can make to the field of child development and socialization research is to provide researchers with 'thick descriptions' (Geertz 1973) of children's routine social interactions in various cultural contexts. Play is an important activity for children but the child development and socialization literature is short on carefully researched 'ethnographies of play.' David Lancy's Playing on the Mother Ground is exactly the type of ethnography that this field needs--it is ethnographically rich and theoretically sophisticated. I was most impressed with the approach Lancy develops for examining how cultural routines shape children's socialization experiences." --Helen B. Schwartzman, Ph.D., Dept of Anthropology, Northwestern University
"Lancy's observations of children's socialization into a nontechnological culture are rich and comprehensive. This ethnography elucidates the interrelations among different levels of learning and informal education--play, work, stories, proverbs, apprenticeship, and more." --Patricia M. Greenfield, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
"...recommended to anyone genuinely interested in understanding the imperialism of Western schooling and the cultures it destroys." --International Review of Education
"An interesting and useful study of childhood learning in a society vastly different from ours in its attitude towards children and the acquisition of skills." --Journal of Anthropological Research
"...recommended to anyone genuinely interested in understanding the imperialism of Western schooling and the cultures it destroys." --International Review of Education
"An interesting and useful study of childhood learning in a society vastly different from ours in its attitude towards children and the acquisition of skills." --Journal of Anthropological Research |
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Studying Children and Schools
Qualitative Research Traditions
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"The most significant and unique feature of Studing Children and Schools: Qualitative Research Tradtions is that the principles of qualitative research are derived inductively - that is, to tease out important techniques, the author reviews dozens of classic studies in the field. With an engaging style, Lancy involves the reader in ethnography, the field study, ethnomethodology, ethology, case studies and personal accounts. An impressive amount of data about children and schools has been gathered and compiled using many varied qualitative methods. By reviewing actual, published studies, the book offers readers dozens of exemplary models on which to base their own studies. The author then provides step-by-step helpful hints for student research, from choosing the problem to be studies, to structuring the final report.
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Children's Emergent Literacy
From Research to Practice
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| Grounded in social, cultural, and cognitive theories about literacy, Lancy's edited volume is a significant contribution to the dynamic field of emergent literacy. Highly recommended for graduate students, researchers/faculty, and professionals/practitioners.--Choice |
*This book is scholarly, yet reasonably easy for the practitioner to read and understand. It contains a wealth of valuable information which relate to both theory and practice.--Contemporary Education
*This book is scholarly, yet reasonably easy for the practitioner to read and understand. It contains a wealth of valuable information which relate to both theory and practice.--Contemporary Education
*An honest and interesting attempt to portray the strengths and possible weaknesses of emergent literacy.--Early Development and Parenting
This book examines emergent literacy as the foundations for language instruction and seeks to relate the work of those doing research on literacy acquisition and those designing programs to facilitate children's literacy development. It bridges theory and practice, looking at both cognitive processes and settings in which children first experience "literacy." With contributions by leading researchers in the field, the book examines emergent literacy in nonliterate homes; oral language supports; parent-child reading; literacy and working class families; literacy from a developmental perspective; parental involvement; and collaborative efforts of teachers and parents. An essential collection for all research and education in the language arts methods area. Will also appeal to educators involved in reading instruction and parent-education.
An honest and interesting attempt to portray the strengths and possible weaknesses of emergent literacy.--Early Development and Parenting |
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