Jyotsna Pattnaik

Father/male Involvement in the Care and Education of Children: History, Trends, Research, Policies, and Programs around the World

A 4-year-old boy from India and his father sing this song, creatively imitating and replacing words of a very popular picture book, Loue You Forever (Munsch, 1995), that narrates the love and bond between , a mother and her son. Most of us at a personal level recognize and acknowledge the fatherchild bond and the important roles that fathers/males play in lives of children. Beginning in the 1960s, ”father involvement” emerged as a formal field of interdisciplinary scholarship, with contributions by scholars from diverse academic disciplines and organizations around the world. There is a recognition that fatherhood is a sociocultural phenomenon that is continuously evolving in response to the changing family structure and ideologies, market realities, state policies (Hobson & Morgan, 2002), advocacy by social organizations and movements, and changing representations of fatherhood in academic discourses and popular media (Lupton & Barclay, 1997). It is with this understanding that the guest co-editors of the 2010 International Focus Issue of Childhood Education brought together an interdisciplinary pool of authors from around the world to discuss sociocultural processes and academic discourses that contribute to research studies, policy framework, and programs related to male involvement in children’s lives. While father involvement has been contextualized and defended within various political positions and debates, social and moral imperatives, legal frameworks, and market realities across the globe, educators clearly recognize the beneficial role of paternal involvement for children, family, and the society as the strongest rationale, thus potentially influencing educational policies and practice in diverse ways. It is important to mention here that while this issue highlights benefits of paternal involvement, it does not adhere to an ”essentialist position” that presents

On Behalf of Their Animal Friends: Involving Children in Animal Advocacy

T he two news items shared above bear testimony to children’s commitment to the welfare of animals. Animals have occupied a central place in the physical and emotional lives of children across cultures, as is evident in a gamut of animal-related products, places, and hobbies that are of interest to children, such as books, videos, software programs, stickers, toys and games, live and virtual pets, zoos, and sea worlds. Since time immemorial, animals have been serving human society in at least three broad roles: as teachers, as healers, and as companions and friends (Pattnaik, 2004). As teachers, animals have been used as symbols to convey cultural wisdom and moral lessons, as reflected in proverbs from various cultures and such stories and tales as Aesop’s Fables and thelataka Tales (from India). Animals’ potential role in children’s educational and emotional development is gaining wider acceptance. Teachers in many countries have begun to include pet animals as integral members of their classroom communities. Animals also have served the role of healers in ancient cultures as well as in modern medical practices. Originally developed by Boris Levinson, an American child psychotherapist, the technique of “pet therapy” is frequently used in hospitals, nursing homes, and with children all over the world. Dogs also are used as companions for chiIdren with special needs (Hart, Hart, & Bergin, 1987) and for people who are blind. Children’s authors around the world have championed the companion aspect of the human-animal relationship. John Heffernan’s (2001)My Dog (Australia’s 2002 “Children’s Book of the Year for Younger Readers”) is set during the crisis in Kosovo and centers around the optimism and courage of a boy whose only companion is a dog he rescued from a dying man. The dog serves as a constant companion Since t ime

Issues of Language Maintenance and Education of Aboriginal Children in India

Maintenance and Education of Aboriginal Children in India A jit Kumar Mohanty is a Professor of Social Psychology of Education at theZakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Mohanty received his doctorate from University of Alberta, Canada, in 1978, and was a postdoctoral Fulbright fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, between 1981-1982. Hewasamong the25prominentlinguists in theworld who participated in an International Symposium on Multilingual Education in 2004 at Columbia University. Professor Mohanty has more than 80 publications to his credit, which include books, book chapters, journal articles, and development of tests. He has developed a UNICEF language training package for Oriya-speaking children with delayed language development. He has developed a developmental stage model of multilingual awareness. His research studies have examined the social, educational, and cognitive implications of bilingualism among linguistic minorities, within the context of Indian multilingualism. He also has studied the effects of early environmental conditions, such as mother-child verbal interactions and the influence of the home environment on language development. Currently, he is examining minority language issues and the relationship between poverty and language in India. In September 2004, Mohanty addressed students and faculty at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Questions for this interview are based partly on Mohanty’s presentations at CSULB, which were titled “Hierarchical Multilingualism and Marginalization of Minority Mother Tongues” and “Minority Mother Tongues and Multilingual Education: Problems and Prospects. ’’

Involvement of Homeless Fathers

While the field of father involvement is gaining increasing sophistication in theory and research, homeless fathers have remained invisible to researchers and policy-makers. With the rise of family homelessness around the world, there is a need for devoting scholarly interest on homeless fathers and their children. This chapter provides an overview of existing theoretical perspectives, issues, and programs relevant to homeless fathers and their children. We also offer specific and feasible recommendations for practitioners and researchers.

Protecting Educational Rights of the Aboriginal and Indigenous Child: Global Challenges and Efforts: An Introduction

he terms “indigenous” and “aboriginal” are used interchangeably in this issue to refer to original or longbeliefs. I also had the opportunity to teach aboriginal children and interact with parents from these commuterm inhabitants of a geographical area. I n this international theme issue, we will adhere to the definition formulated by J. Martinez Cob0 (1987), Special Rapporteur for the sub-commission of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations:

Book Review: Cultural Conflict and Struggle: Literacy Learning in a Kindergarten Program by Patricia Ruggiano Schmidt

To address the growing population of language minority immigrant children in the nations classrooms and the challenge they pose for Eurocentrically designed institutions, an increasing number of scholars suggest that we prepare teachers with the philosophy and skills of culturally relevant pedagogy (Huber, 1996; Ladson-Billings, 1994, 1995). Grounding her ethnographic study on this particular theoretical framework, Patricia Schmidts book, Cultural Conflict and Struggle: Literacy Learning in a Kindergarten Program (1998), vividly captures the marginalization of two language minority immigrant children, Peley and Raji, in a suburban kindergarten classroom. The topic is timely considering the current controversies surrounding literacy learning of immigrant children, lopsided perceptions held by the general public and policymakers regarding the education of immigrant children, as well as a lack of information about what actually happens inside the classrooms (Valdes, 1998). In fact, the education of immigrant children has become a worldwide concern in the recent years (Glenn & de Jong, 1996).