Humans are adapted to spontaneously transfer relevant cultural knowledge to conspecifics and to fast-learn the contents of such teaching through a human-specific social learning system called "pedagogy" ( Csibra & Gergely, 2006). Pedagogical knowledge transfer is triggered by specific communicative cues (such as eye-contact, contingent reactivity,…

The key importance of after-school and out-of-school time in a democratic society is the experience of activities and programs providing a common ground that extends the play of childhood into leadership opportunities for youthful learning and exploration of the world. The authors hypothesize that by focusing civic attention on the developmental…

The topic of perfectionism is bound to surface when discussing the social and emotional development of gifted children and adolescents. The author has observed gifted and talented fourth graders who have exhibited perfectionism in a myriad of unhealthy ways. She was able to document and categorize the manifestations of perfectionism. In this…

This article reports an action research project in which children, their teacher and the author, and an advisory teacher from a Local Authority collaborated as co-researchers in a project to improve working relationships in the classroom. Both appreciative enquiry and emancipatory research informed the project. This article focuses on one aspect…

Cochlear implantation is a relatively new procedure, which has already had significant impact on the lives of many profoundly deaf children and adults, in providing useful hearing to those unable to benefit significantly from hearing aids. After 16 years of cochlear implantation in the United Kingdom, there is now a body of evidence covering a…

Research Findings: Data on more than 900 children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to examine the effect of age of entry to kindergarten on children's functioning in early elementary school. Children's academic achievement and socioemotional development were…

This article was originally presented as a position paper at the Symposium on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Social Development held in Jakarta by the ASEAN Foundation Collaboratory (May 2006). Its main premise is that, while there is growing use of open and distance learning (ODL) in formal and nonformal education and training…

Asia is the world's largest and most culturally diverse region. Consisting of some 53 independent nations with a combined population of more than 3808 million persons--59% of the world's total population in 2005--patterns of social and economic development in the region have been comparatively slow, especially with respect to rates of economic…

This article highlights the importance of peer interactions for pre-school-aged children's social and language development and demonstrates the need for professional development in this area. Learning Language and Loving It[TM]--The Hanen Program[R] for Early Childhood Educators and Preschool Teachers is a professional development program that is…

Children younger than three are overrepresented in substantiated cases of abuse and neglect. As with all maltreated children, infant and toddler victims of abuse and neglect are disproportionately affected by developmental delays. Over the past 20 years, child development research has demonstrated the importance of the first three years of life on…

Indicators for measuring and comparing entrepreneurship in different regions are important tools for understanding economic and social development and formulating strategies to bring improvements to less developed areas. The existing indicators are not adequate for this purpose because they do not link the economic and social factors that…

This report provides a developmental perspective on what competencies young people need to be ready for college, the workplace, and the transition to adulthood. National hand-wringing about the lack of preparedness of high school graduates for college and the workplace has catalyzed researchers, educators, and policymakers to define the skills and…

This report was commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) to inform the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and LGA work on "Narrowing the Gap." It focuses on early years' provision and presents findings from a review of the best evidence on narrowing the gap in outcomes across the five Every Child Matters…

At the most basic level, autism is a neurological disorder that most likely involves a distinct abnormality in brain structure and affects a child's abilities in two areas: communication and social development. It also is marked by repetitive or stereotypical behavior. Because of the variability in the causes of deafness as well as…

This article presents a summary of results from a Swiss nationwide empirical study of the determinants of grade retention, its effects on learning, and its social and emotional consequences. Results show that the decision for grade retention does not rest only on the pupil's actual academic performance but also on the teacher's attitudes and…