Children's Development Within Social Context

These companion volumes bring together research and theoretical work that addresses the relations between social context and the development of children. They allow for the in-depth discussion of a number of vital metatheoretical, theoretical, and methodological issues that have emerged as a result of increased investigation in these areas. For example: Which methodological and statistical procedures are appropriate and applicable to studies of social context and processes of development? Should the nature of social context be reconceptualized as something more than different levels of some social independent variable? Are theories of development that do not consider social context incomplete? Will the increasingly finer definitions of social context lead to extreme situationism and contextualism? As developmental theory and investigation continues to address relationships between social and cognitive development, it becomes increasingly important that issues concerning social context be elaborated and discussed.

Winegar, Lucien T.; Valsiner, Jaan

Volume IContents: J. Valsiner, L.T. Winegar, Introduction: A Cultural- Historical Context for Social "Context." Part I:Contextualizing Context: Philosophical and Theoretical Approaches.P.M. Davidson, The Role of Social Interaction in Cognitive Development: A Propaedeutic. D. Serniak, Epistemic Bravado and the Problem With Objectivity. M.H. Bickhard, How Does the Environment Affect the Person? M.B. Tappan, Texts and Contexts: Language, Culture, and the Development of Moral Functioning. Part II:Specifying Contexts: Approaches to Theoretical Constructions.L.B. Adamson, Variations in the Early Use of Language. E.A. Forman, Discourse, Intersubjectivity, and the Development of Peer Collaboration: A Vygotskian Approach. K. Kreppner, Development in a Developing Context: Rethinking the Family's Role for Children's Development. D. Kritt, The Mass Media as a Symbolic Context for Socioemotional Development. Volume IIContents: Part I:Clarifying Context: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations.M. Cole, Context, Modularity, and the Cultural Constitution of Development. M.A. Bickhard, Scaffolding and Self-Scaffolding: Central Aspects of Development. P.D. Renshaw, Reflecting on the Experimental Context: Parents' Interpretations of the Education Motive During Teaching Episodes. M.J. Packer, B. Scott, The Hermeneutic Investigation of Peer Relations. Part II:Investigating Contexts: Empirical Endeavors.E. Moss, The Socioaffective Context of Joint Cognitive Activity. S. Ellis, M. Gauvain, Social and Cultural Influences on Children's Collaborative Interactions. J.D. Day, J.G. Borkowski, D.L. Dietmeyer, B.A. Howsepian, D.S. Saenz, Possible Selves and Academic Achievement. M.L. Kelley, T.G. Power, Children's Moral Understanding: Developmental and Social Contextual Determinants. C. Lightfoot, Constructing Self and Peer Culture: A Narrative Perspective on Adolescent Risk Taking. Part III:Re-Contextualizing Context: A Discussion.L.T. Winegar, J. Valsiner, Contextualizing Context: Analysis of Metadata and Some Further Elaborations.