Literacy and Mothering: How Women's Schooling Changes the Lives of the World's Children (Child Development in Cultural Context) - Hardcover
Winner of the 2013 Eleanor Maccoby Award from APA Division 7
Women's schooling is strongly related to child survival and other outcomes beneficial to children throughout the developing world, but the reasons behind these statistical connections have been unclear. In Literacy and Mothering, the authors show, for the first time, how communicative change plays a key role: Girls acquire academic literacy skills, even in low-quality schools, which enable them, as mothers, to understand public health messages in the mass media and to navigate bureaucratic health services effectively, reducing risks to their children's health. With the acquisition of academic literacy, their health literacy and health navigation skills are enhanced, thereby reducing risks to children and altering interactions between mother and child. Assessments of these maternal skills in four diverse countries - Mexico, Nepal, Venezuela, and Zambia - support this model and are presented in the book.
Chapter 1 provides a brief history of mass schooling, including the development of a bureaucratic Western form of schooling. Along with the bureaucratic organization of healthcare services and other institutions, this form of mass schooling spread across the globe, setting new standards for effective communication - standards that are, in effect, taught in school. Chapter 2 reviews the demographic and epidemiological evidence concerning the effects of mothers' education on survival, health, and fertility. In this chapter, the authors propose a model that shows how women's schooling, together with urbanization and changes in income and social status, reduce child mortality and improve health. In Chapter 3, the authors examine the concept of literacy and discuss how its meanings and measurements have been changed by educational research of the last few decades. Chapter 4 introduces the four-country study of maternal literacy. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 present the findings, focusing on academic literacy and its retention (Chapter 5), its impact on maternal health literacy and navigation skills (Chapter 6), and changes in mother-child interaction and child literacy skills (Chapter 7). Chapter 8 presents a new analysis of school experience, explores policy implications, and recommends further research.
Women's schooling is strongly related to child survival and other outcomes beneficial to children throughout the developing world, but the reasons behind these statistical connections have been unclear. In Literacy and Mothering, the authors show, for the first time, how communicative change plays a key role: Girls acquire academic literacy skills, even in low-quality schools, which enable them, as mothers, to understand public health messages in the mass media and to navigate bureaucratic health services effectively, reducing risks to their children's health. With the acquisition of academic literacy, their health literacy and health navigation skills are enhanced, thereby reducing risks to children and altering interactions between mother and child. Assessments of these maternal skills in four diverse countries - Mexico, Nepal, Venezuela, and Zambia - support this model and are presented in the book.
Chapter 1 provides a brief history of mass schooling, including the development of a bureaucratic Western form of schooling. Along with the bureaucratic organization of healthcare services and other institutions, this form of mass schooling spread across the globe, setting new standards for effective communication - standards that are, in effect, taught in school. Chapter 2 reviews the demographic and epidemiological evidence concerning the effects of mothers' education on survival, health, and fertility. In this chapter, the authors propose a model that shows how women's schooling, together with urbanization and changes in income and social status, reduce child mortality and improve health. In Chapter 3, the authors examine the concept of literacy and discuss how its meanings and measurements have been changed by educational research of the last few decades. Chapter 4 introduces the four-country study of maternal literacy. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 present the findings, focusing on academic literacy and its retention (Chapter 5), its impact on maternal health literacy and navigation skills (Chapter 6), and changes in mother-child interaction and child literacy skills (Chapter 7). Chapter 8 presents a new analysis of school experience, explores policy implications, and recommends further research.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Robert A. LeVine is the Roy E. Larsen Professor of Education and Human Development, Emeritus, at Harvard University, where he directed the Project on Maternal Schooling that informs this book. His previous books include Anthropology and Child Development: A Cross-Cultural Reader (2008, with Rebecca S. New) and Child Care and Culture: Lessons from Africa (1994, with Sarah LeVine and others). In 2001 he received the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research from the American Educational Research Association.
Sarah LeVine is an anthropologist who has conducted research on four continents and coordinated the fieldwork of the Project on Maternal Schooling. Her books include Dolor y Alegrķa: Women and Social Change in Urban Mexico (1993) and The Saint of Kathmandu (2008).
Beatrice Schnell-Anzola is a specialist in bilingual language and literacy assessment who received her Ed.D. at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She joined the Project on Maternal Schooling in 1992, developed its literacy assessment program, and led its Venezuela study. Her articles have appeared in the International Journal of Educational Development, the Harvard Educational Review, and Social Science and Medicine.
Meredith L. Rowe is Assistant Professor of Human Development at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her doctorate from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education in 2003 and participated in the Project on Maternal Schooling since 1999. Her research focuses on the role of parents and family factors in children's language development, and she has published articles in Science, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Developmental Science.
Emily Dexter is a developmental psychologist whose research focuses on literacy development, academic achievement gaps, and the role of parents, teachers, and society in children's development. She was a member of the Project on Maternal Schooling while a doctoral student and postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and designed many of the project's quantitative analyses. Her work has been published in the Comparative Education Review, Elementary School Journal, and School Effectiveness and School Improvement.
Review:
Winner of the 2013 Eleanor Maccoby Award from APA Division 7
"'Women's schooling is not a panacea,' LeVine and colleagues conclude, but it is still likely to be an important part of the solution to the problems of still-high child mortality and rapid population growth in the twenty-first century. Literacy and Mothering provides the most sophisticated account yet of how this process may work. This is a remarkable achievement, and the authors have gone about it in a lucid way, spelling out each step in their model clearly and weighing alternative explanations. The book should reinvigorate research on the topic of schooling and demographic change and inspire new collaborations between education researchers and demographers... It deserves attention from all social scientists and everyone who works on policy relevant to education and population." -- Edward G.J. Stevenson, Population & Development Review
"My conclusion is unmitigated praise for the research and development of theory
represented in Literacy and Mothering. It is a book that provides a solid foundation for
answering important questions about how literacy is affecting the children of the world and
provides encouragement to involve girls in schooling, trusting that the benefits will be there
even years later. LeVine et al. also generously reveal the progression of their thinking over
the years, especially how it fits into the greater historical context." -- PsycCRITIQUES
"This is an immensely valuable book for demographers in general and especially for the many demographers who have long been fascinated by the black box of the education of females. [... A]n extremely useful reference work as well as an educational resource for those of us still grappling with the meanings of schooling and education. The authors are to be congratulated for bringing their vast knowledge and experience of the latest theories and methods in education to bear upon some central quantitative findings in demography. I would see this book as [...] fleshing out so well what it is about maternal behaviour that changes with education and leads to such profound demographic and social transformations." -Alaka Malwade Basua, Population Studies: A Journal of Demography
"The research presented in this book brings a new perspective to the recurrent analysis of social change in the developing world during the second half of the twentieth century. It focuses on the communicative socialization of girls in schools and, years later, how their language and literacy learning affect (or may affect) their behaviors as mothers. This unusual and well-researched book illuminates processes through which the expansion of schooling might influence children's health and education and ultimately their survival." --Gabrielle Oliveira, Comparative Education Review
"Social scientists, humanists, and historians have long speculated about the impact of literacy on the way we think. Robert Levine and his colleagues show that literacy has an impact not just on thinking, but on the way that children are raised, and on whether they live or die. Girls who learn to read in school are better able - when they become mothers - to ensure the survival, health and educational development of their children. Literate mothers are more likely to understand and follow health guidelines and better able to communicate with bureaucratic medical services. In a sweeping narrative, Levine and his colleagues describe the dramatic spread of Western schooling since World War II, the ensuing rise in female literacy, and its ultimately critical role in improving children's lives. The book is a compelling example of how thoughtful anthropological and psychological analysis can illuminate global historical change." -- Paul L. Harris, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education
"This book is truly exemplary and an outstanding study - the best in this field. Improvements in literacy and associated changes in communication processes cause gains in women's and children's health, declines in fertility, increased economic status, and changes in mother-child interaction and children's schooling. This study helps us understand why and how this happens. It is a model for how to undertake applied, empirical, and evidence-rich policy-relevant work. This study is richly interdisciplinary and uses integrated qualitative and quantitative methods. It moves across levels of analysis from global trends in formal education and the history of the spread of schooling, to national and local classrooms, and the everyday interactions, homes, and lives of mothers and children in local communities." -- Thomas S. Weisner, Professor of Anthropology, Departments of Psychiatry and Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles
"Poor societies, aided by the West, have invested mightily in the schooling of girls over the past six decades, yielding dramatic benefits. But until now we simply haven't known how the school institution-even low-quality education-magically alters the social and cognitive agility of young women. Literacy and Mothering unlocks this mystery, shining a bright light on the novel skills, norms, and ideals that modern schooling imparts, an engaging bicultural versatility." -- Bruce Fuller, former World Bank sociologist, and Professor, Education & Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
"Robert LeVine and his collaborators have written an impressive review of their decades of research in developing countries on the impact of maternal schooling and literacy on mothering. Their work is utterly convincing on the core issue - that literacy and the cognitive changes involved have important direct effects on mothering behavior, and account for much of the modern worldwide improvement in the survival and health of mothers and their children." -- John W. Meyer, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, Stanford University
Robert A. LeVine is the Roy E. Larsen Professor of Education and Human Development, Emeritus, at Harvard University, where he directed the Project on Maternal Schooling that informs this book. His previous books include Anthropology and Child Development: A Cross-Cultural Reader (2008, with Rebecca S. New) and Child Care and Culture: Lessons from Africa (1994, with Sarah LeVine and others). In 2001 he received the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Educational Research from the American Educational Research Association.
Sarah LeVine is an anthropologist who has conducted research on four continents and coordinated the fieldwork of the Project on Maternal Schooling. Her books include Dolor y Alegrķa: Women and Social Change in Urban Mexico (1993) and The Saint of Kathmandu (2008).
Beatrice Schnell-Anzola is a specialist in bilingual language and literacy assessment who received her Ed.D. at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She joined the Project on Maternal Schooling in 1992, developed its literacy assessment program, and led its Venezuela study. Her articles have appeared in the International Journal of Educational Development, the Harvard Educational Review, and Social Science and Medicine.
Meredith L. Rowe is Assistant Professor of Human Development at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her doctorate from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education in 2003 and participated in the Project on Maternal Schooling since 1999. Her research focuses on the role of parents and family factors in children's language development, and she has published articles in Science, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Developmental Science.
Emily Dexter is a developmental psychologist whose research focuses on literacy development, academic achievement gaps, and the role of parents, teachers, and society in children's development. She was a member of the Project on Maternal Schooling while a doctoral student and postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and designed many of the project's quantitative analyses. Her work has been published in the Comparative Education Review, Elementary School Journal, and School Effectiveness and School Improvement.
Winner of the 2013 Eleanor Maccoby Award from APA Division 7
"'Women's schooling is not a panacea,' LeVine and colleagues conclude, but it is still likely to be an important part of the solution to the problems of still-high child mortality and rapid population growth in the twenty-first century. Literacy and Mothering provides the most sophisticated account yet of how this process may work. This is a remarkable achievement, and the authors have gone about it in a lucid way, spelling out each step in their model clearly and weighing alternative explanations. The book should reinvigorate research on the topic of schooling and demographic change and inspire new collaborations between education researchers and demographers... It deserves attention from all social scientists and everyone who works on policy relevant to education and population." -- Edward G.J. Stevenson, Population & Development Review
"My conclusion is unmitigated praise for the research and development of theory
represented in Literacy and Mothering. It is a book that provides a solid foundation for
answering important questions about how literacy is affecting the children of the world and
provides encouragement to involve girls in schooling, trusting that the benefits will be there
even years later. LeVine et al. also generously reveal the progression of their thinking over
the years, especially how it fits into the greater historical context." -- PsycCRITIQUES
"This is an immensely valuable book for demographers in general and especially for the many demographers who have long been fascinated by the black box of the education of females. [... A]n extremely useful reference work as well as an educational resource for those of us still grappling with the meanings of schooling and education. The authors are to be congratulated for bringing their vast knowledge and experience of the latest theories and methods in education to bear upon some central quantitative findings in demography. I would see this book as [...] fleshing out so well what it is about maternal behaviour that changes with education and leads to such profound demographic and social transformations." -Alaka Malwade Basua, Population Studies: A Journal of Demography
"The research presented in this book brings a new perspective to the recurrent analysis of social change in the developing world during the second half of the twentieth century. It focuses on the communicative socialization of girls in schools and, years later, how their language and literacy learning affect (or may affect) their behaviors as mothers. This unusual and well-researched book illuminates processes through which the expansion of schooling might influence children's health and education and ultimately their survival." --Gabrielle Oliveira, Comparative Education Review
"Social scientists, humanists, and historians have long speculated about the impact of literacy on the way we think. Robert Levine and his colleagues show that literacy has an impact not just on thinking, but on the way that children are raised, and on whether they live or die. Girls who learn to read in school are better able - when they become mothers - to ensure the survival, health and educational development of their children. Literate mothers are more likely to understand and follow health guidelines and better able to communicate with bureaucratic medical services. In a sweeping narrative, Levine and his colleagues describe the dramatic spread of Western schooling since World War II, the ensuing rise in female literacy, and its ultimately critical role in improving children's lives. The book is a compelling example of how thoughtful anthropological and psychological analysis can illuminate global historical change." -- Paul L. Harris, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education
"This book is truly exemplary and an outstanding study - the best in this field. Improvements in literacy and associated changes in communication processes cause gains in women's and children's health, declines in fertility, increased economic status, and changes in mother-child interaction and children's schooling. This study helps us understand why and how this happens. It is a model for how to undertake applied, empirical, and evidence-rich policy-relevant work. This study is richly interdisciplinary and uses integrated qualitative and quantitative methods. It moves across levels of analysis from global trends in formal education and the history of the spread of schooling, to national and local classrooms, and the everyday interactions, homes, and lives of mothers and children in local communities." -- Thomas S. Weisner, Professor of Anthropology, Departments of Psychiatry and Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles
"Poor societies, aided by the West, have invested mightily in the schooling of girls over the past six decades, yielding dramatic benefits. But until now we simply haven't known how the school institution-even low-quality education-magically alters the social and cognitive agility of young women. Literacy and Mothering unlocks this mystery, shining a bright light on the novel skills, norms, and ideals that modern schooling imparts, an engaging bicultural versatility." -- Bruce Fuller, former World Bank sociologist, and Professor, Education & Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
"Robert LeVine and his collaborators have written an impressive review of their decades of research in developing countries on the impact of maternal schooling and literacy on mothering. Their work is utterly convincing on the core issue - that literacy and the cognitive changes involved have important direct effects on mothering behavior, and account for much of the modern worldwide improvement in the survival and health of mothers and their children." -- John W. Meyer, Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, Stanford University
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication date2012
- ISBN 10 0195309820
- ISBN 13 9780195309829
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages224
Buy New
Learn more about this copy
US$ 89.21
Shipping:
US$ 3.25
Within U.S.A.
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
Literacy and Mothering: How Women's Schooling Changes the Lives of the World's Children (Child Development in Cultural Context)
Published by
Oxford University Press
(2012)
ISBN 10: 0195309820
ISBN 13: 9780195309829
New
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon0195309820
Buy New
US$ 89.21
Convert currency
Stock Image
Literacy and Mothering: How Women's Schooling Changes the Lives of the World's Children (Child Development in Cultural Context)
Published by
Oxford University Press
(2012)
ISBN 10: 0195309820
ISBN 13: 9780195309829
New
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0195309820
Buy New
US$ 88.46
Convert currency
Stock Image
Literacy and Mothering: How Women's Schooling Changes the Lives of the World's Children (Child Development in Cultural Context)
Published by
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
(2012)
ISBN 10: 0195309820
ISBN 13: 9780195309829
New
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0195309820
Buy New
US$ 88.62
Convert currency
Stock Image
Literacy and Mothering: How Women's Schooling Changes the Lives of the World's Children (Child Development in Cultural Context)
Published by
Oxford University Press
(2012)
ISBN 10: 0195309820
ISBN 13: 9780195309829
New
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0195309820
Buy New
US$ 89.95
Convert currency
Stock Image
Literacy and Mothering: How Women's Schooling Changes the Lives of the World's Children (Child Development in Cultural Context)
Published by
Oxford University Press
(2012)
ISBN 10: 0195309820
ISBN 13: 9780195309829
New
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0195309820
Buy New
US$ 89.55
Convert currency
Stock Image
LITERACY AND MOTHERING: HOW WOME
Published by
Oxford University Press
(2012)
ISBN 10: 0195309820
ISBN 13: 9780195309829
New
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 1.15. Seller Inventory # Q-0195309820
Buy New
US$ 99.98
Convert currency