Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Abstract/Notes: Lightner Witmer (1867-1956) founded the first psychology clinic in Philadelphia 100 years ago, in March 1896. Even though he was an American, he readily acknowledged some European roots of his work. Witmer earned his Ph.D. at the University of Leipzig, Germany, under Wilhelm Wundt. He was encouraged by his Philadelphia mentor, James McKeen Cattell, to focus on individual differences in the tradition of Francis Galton of England. Witmer modeled his clinical interventions after the previous efforts of J.R. Pereira, J.M.G. Itard, and Edouard Seguin of France and Maria Montessori of Italy. The consequences for modern psychology of Witmer's idea that psychologists should use their knowledge to help people individually were noteworthy. Clinical psychology is today the most common psychology specialty in Europe and, indeed, in much of the world. However, Witmer's concept that clinical psychologists should be trained at the doctoral level is as yet far better accepted in North America than it is elsewhere.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1027/1016-9040.1.1.44

ISSN: 1016-9040, 1878-531X

Abstract/Notes: In this qualitative, interpretive study, I examine the experiences of African American families in accessing and financing Montessori education in the United States, including African American families who did or did not eventually enroll their child(ren) in Montessori schools. The extant literature notes that African American families are disproportionately underrepresented in Montessori schools, despite an interest in this form of education. Grounded in the theoretical framework of critical race theory, I analyze participants’ perspectives on the role of race, and relatedly class, on what helped or hindered their awareness of, access to, and financing of Montessori education. Through 45–60-minute interviews with 13 African American families characterized as interested in enrolling their children in Montessori education, I found the following themes in regard to my research questions. First, participants’ experiences were noted as the power of social capital, challenge of logistics, and competing tensions in enrollment decision making. Second, hindrances to participants’ access and financing of Montessori education included: financial and financial aid barriers, gaps in equitable communication and marketing strategies, and limited diversity & equity initiatives. Third, participants found sources of support for accessing and financing Montessori education through a guiding belief in the philosophy of Montessori education and external change agents. Implications for theory and practice are included.

Language: English

Published: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2022

Abstract/Notes: This dissertation accounts for debates around correct American Muslim mothering in the 21st century. It centers around the following underlying questions: What advice do Muslim modernists and Sunni ʿulamāʾ offer to mothers for raising Muslims in the limited, privatized spaces of their nurseries, homes, and mosque communities? How do Muslim mothers who desire to rear children communally, in harmony with their fiṭra (innate nature) and according to traditional notions of tarbiya (development, education) accomplish this as religious minorities in a hyper capitalist, secular modern context? What are the different ways that mothers negotiate the ideas of Muslim advice-givers, which sometimes clash both internally and with the diverse opinions of American pediatricians, psychologists, and neuroscientists? This study considers the nuanced impact secular modernity, feminism, and the expanding authority of the medical and psy disciplines have had on American Muslim child-rearing practices, reconfigurations of gender roles in Muslim families and the intergenerational transmission of American Islam. To gauge this impact, this dissertation narrowly focuses on two highly contested decisions mothers make in early childhood: how to feed infants after birth and whether to corporally punish young children. The data for this project was collected from in-depth fieldwork interviews with a diverse sample of Muslim mothers conducted in 2017 in the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. This data was analyzed by situating the types of religious and parenting education mothers had both received and sought out and by surveying the Islamic scriptural and jurisprudential texts, contemporary childrearing manuals, and social media sources that informed their child-rearing practices. This dissertation found that most mothers were much more likely to formula feed or breastfeed their infants themselves than allow other mothers to nurse their children. None of my interlocutors engaged wet nurses or used donated human milk for infant feeding. Additionally, most mothers disapproved of using corporal punishment for children’s discipline, either by themselves or others in loco parentis. Corporal punishment of children was increasingly viewed not as one method among many to cultivate children’s embodiment of ritual practices, but as child abuse. However, a minority of mothers demonstrated an openness to sharing milk and employing constrained forms of physical discipline in specific circumstances. In investigating the ever-shifting child-rearing advice from religious scholars (ʿulamāʾ), non-Muslim scientific experts, and a hybridized class of Muslim parent educators, this dissertation offers another avenue for understanding the fragmented nature of religious authority in American Muslim communities. It contributes to the growing body of scholarship that tracks the rising popularity of Sunnī rationalism and traditionalism by noting the way it attracts mothers who long for styles of parenting that are more shared and communal and less demanding and intensive. Finally, this dissertation affords insights into ongoing contestation over what constitutes correct, ethical tarbiya and how best to integrate and transmit American Islam

Language: English

Published: Chicago, Illinois, 2023

Language: English

ISSN: 0042-8639

Abstract/Notes: Abbiamo da New York che è colà sbarcata, provniente da Bordeaux a bordo del vapore "Espanos", la celebre educatrice italiana Dott. Maria Montessori, la ideatrice del nuovo sistema didattico che da lei ha preso il nome. La Dott. Montessori passò l'inverno a Barcellona insegnando in base al suo sistema. Ella, adesso, sopraintenderà ai lavori scolastici del Montessori Normal College che si aprirà a New York fra giorni e la cui direzione è affidata a Miss Parkhurst che accompagna la celebre educatrice. La Dottoressa resterà a New York tutto l'inverno e non è improbabile che si decida anche a fare un'altra visita anche all nostra California. [We have from New York who disembarked there, coming from Bordeaux on board the steamer "Espanos", the famous Italian educator Dr. Maria Montessori, the creator of the new teaching system which took its name from her. Dr. Montessori spent the winter in Barcelona teaching according to her system. She will now supervise the school work of the Montessori Normal College which will open in New York in a few days and whose direction is entrusted to Miss Parkhurst who accompanies the famous educator. The Doctor will remain in New York all winter and it is not unlikely that she will also decide to pay another visit to our California too.]

Language: Italian

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: This study investigated the use of directives by three bilingual Korean American children and their families in central New Jersey in the contexts of home and school. Directives are a crucial part of language socialization in the home (Bhimji, 2002; Blum-Kulka, 1997; Kent, 2012) and they are a critical part of the teacher’s repertoire in the classroom since directives aid teachers in the daily task of instructing the learning processes of students (Waring & Hruska, 2012). While directives play an important role in the language socialization practices of children in the home and school, there is little research on how directives are used by bilingual children in both settings of home and school. The study addressed this gap in research by examining the directive repertoires of three bilingual Korean American children and their families in their homes and by analyzing how the children’s directive repertoires intersected with the use of directives in their preschool classroom. The study consisted of an eight-month ethnography of three Korean American children and their families. The participants included three Korean American children, their parents, siblings, and teachers in their preschool class. The children were recruited from a preschool class in which the researcher had previously volunteered. The data was collected through field observations in the three homes and preschool class, interviews of children, parents, and teachers, and a collection of material artifacts in order to capture the use of directives of participants. All observations were audio-and video-recorded. The study contributed to an increased understanding of the bilingualism and biculturalism of Korean American children with a focus on their use of directives. It also shed light on the educational experiences and challenges of bilingual Korean American children in a monolingual preschool class. The study has implications for families and teachers of young bilingual children and learners of English in preschool.

Language: English

Published: New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2016

Abstract/Notes: Concerning a course titled: "World Competitiveness of U.S. Education and Industry." The fourth week of the course happened July 16-22, 1995.

Language: English

Language: English

ISSN: 0040-7887