Suggests the lack of research concerning contexts of human development has caused environmental influences to be not well known or studied. Discusses primary and secondary developmental contexts. Proposes four properties of the ecological environment that foster human development. Details impact of third parties on a setting, interconnections…

Tests applicability of dialogical research methods (psychosocial methods of P. Freire) to the investigation of three groups of six to eight Chicano college students. Vignettes incorporating isolation, achievement, or ethnic identity are used to initiate dialogs. Experiences of ethnicity and education from these dialogs can help improve academic…

Examines the relationship of self-esteem and cultural identity to psychosocial adjustment in African-American children through a literature review with an overview of identity research and a discussion of the development of self-esteem and cultural identity among African-American children. Implications for clinical and educational interventions…

Treatment programs for the growing problem of solvent abuse, in the form of sniffing gasoline, among Canadian-Native youth have had no success. Increased self-esteem, which is central to successful treatment, can only be achieved through programs designed by Native people and based on the their culture. Contains 32 references. (TD)

By definition, a biracial person participates in deconstructing the prevailing paradigm of racial categories. The author experienced the ambiguity of being half Japanese and only began to claim a positive ethnic identity in college. She discusses the "both/and" of being biracial and affirms its importance in counseling. (EMK)

The Miami Indian Village Schoolhouse was the center of tribal life, 1860s-1920s. The old building was repatriated to its original site in 1998 in an ongoing process of community revitalization. Tribal historian and leader Lora Siders played an important role in the repatriation, which reinforces Miami collective memory and political legitimacy as…

This study examined how, in some instances, participation in the cultural practices of high school science classrooms created intrapersonal conflict for ethnic minority students. Discourse analysis of videotaped science classroom activities, lectures, and laboratories was the primary methodology employed for analyzing students' discursive identity…

In this article, the author describes lessons she learned from graduate school in the Midwest. All her life, her skin color meant nothing to her. It was just a part of who she was, nothing more, nothing less. She knows she is stubborn. She does not give up easily. She knows she loves to read, she loves to write, and that nothing is more important…

Today, school personnel are facing many challenges in their efforts to serve diverse families and children with disabilities. Inadequate human and fiscal capacity, attitudinal and cultural barriers are among the many hurdles that must be surmounted for successful provision of related services. Decisions about who is educated versus who is…

Written for the layperson, this books presents perspectives in support of cultural diversity in America and against language restrictionism and establishment of English as the single official language. In a series of topical discussions, the book brings what linguists have learned about language acquisition to the issue of how the United States…

This study sought to understand how children develop their gender identities by examining their social interactions in a school setting. It followed six children over the course of the school year at a university-run laboratory preschool, utilizing videotaped observations, field notes, and teacher interviews. Four of the targeted children's gender…

Socio-emotional education has been given very little attention in Finland, either on the general level or within specific subjects. To examine the empathy level of Helsinki students and the influence of an empathy campaign on the development of empathy, 665 students, aged 11 to 18, (49 percent female, 51 percent male) were exposed to an empathy…

A series of studies are underway at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Audience Research Facility to examine the impact of interactivity on informational and entertainment based television viewing. In order to examine the learning of spatial skills from videogames, the first study compared the learning of spatial content from interactive…

This paper discusses mental health service issues for minorities who confront racism and pressures toward conformity to middle-class standards and at the same time feel the need to explore their own history and values. The paper describes group identity as a source of adaptive mechanisms for coping with discrimination and then reviews themes in…

Empirical findings and theoretical conclusions of a Swedish study on students' identification with their parents and their choice of college studies are presented. Attention was directed to parental identification, parental dominance, and social class membership in a group of women who had just begun their studies during the fall 1976 term or the…