Children's Perspectives on Believing and Belonging


Book Description

Based on interviews with over 100 pupils from three schools, this research report shows that children’s religious identities and experiences are varied and complex and that they are able to talk about it with interest and insight.




Parenting Matters


Book Description

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.




Believing in Belonging


Book Description

Drawing on empirical research exploring mainstream religious belief and identity in Euro-American countries, Abby Day explores how people 'believe in belonging', choosing religious identifications to complement other social and emotional experiences of 'belongings'.




Principles and Practice to Help Young Children Belong


Book Description

This vital resource for early years and primary school trainees and practitioners explores a range of social and therapeutic strategies and interventions that will successfully support all children’s sense of belonging. A sense of belonging is vital to children’s physical, emotional, psychological, mental health and wellbeing. This book considers social and therapeutic strategies and interventions that support all children’s sense of belonging and can be adopted by practitioners. It addresses the interrelated factors that impact children’s sense of belonging such as race, gender, expression of sexual orientation, religion and disabilities. It will help develop practitioners’ awareness of current social and educational issues including LGBT+ topics, the changing family unit, relationships, misogyny and toxic masculinity, meditation and mindfulness as well as the importance of children connecting with nature and transformative activism. The chapters adopt a theoretical and practical approach, presenting case studies of good practice, which will create positive and inclusive outcomes, supporting individual growth and community wellbeing. An essential reading for practitioners, including teachers, teaching assistants (continuing professional development), lecturers and social workers, working in early years and primary educational setting, this book would also be suitable as a core and supportive text for students studying on a variety of undergraduate degree courses within the scope of education, pedagogy, mental health and wellbeing, social work and child development.




The Right of the Child to Religious Freedom in International Law


Book Description

Religious children -- A model of the right of the child to religious freedom -- The ICCPR -- The UNCRC -- The special rapporteur -- The ECHR




Braving the Wilderness


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • A timely and important book that challenges everything we think we know about cultivating true belonging in our communities, organizations, and culture, from the #1 bestselling author of Rising Strong, Daring Greatly, and The Gifts of Imperfection Don’t miss the five-part Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! “True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are.” Social scientist Brené Brown, PhD, MSW, has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives—experiences of courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame, and empathy. In Braving the Wilderness, Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in an age of increased polarization. With her trademark mix of research, storytelling, and honesty, Brown will again change the cultural conversation while mapping a clear path to true belonging. Brown argues that we’re experiencing a spiritual crisis of disconnection, and introduces four practices of true belonging that challenge everything we believe about ourselves and each other. She writes, “True belonging requires us to believe in and belong to ourselves so fully that we can find sacredness both in being a part of something and in standing alone when necessary. But in a culture that’s rife with perfectionism and pleasing, and with the erosion of civility, it’s easy to stay quiet, hide in our ideological bunkers, or fit in rather than show up as our true selves and brave the wilderness of uncertainty and criticism. But true belonging is not something we negotiate or accomplish with others; it’s a daily practice that demands integrity and authenticity. It’s a personal commitment that we carry in our hearts.” Brown offers us the clarity and courage we need to find our way back to ourselves and to each other. And that path cuts right through the wilderness. Brown writes, “The wilderness is an untamed, unpredictable place of solitude and searching. It is a place as dangerous as it is breathtaking, a place as sought after as it is feared. But it turns out to be the place of true belonging, and it’s the bravest and most sacred place you will ever stand.”




Equality and Inclusion in Early Childhood, 2nd Edition


Book Description

Equality and inclusion in early childhood will help you to understand the key principles and best practice across the areas of social inclusion: gender, ethnic group and cultural background or faith, disability and health. You will be able not only to understand special issues, but also how to address dilemmas in balancing the diverse needs of children and families within provision. This new edition brings readers up to date with changes in legislation and guidance. The content reflects recent developments to address the experiences of boys and concerns about their achievement. New perspectives focus on ensuring a proportionate response to family preferences for children's care. A notable feature of Equality and inclusion in early childhood is how readers are supported to link equality practice with a sound knowledge of what young children understand and how their attitudes develop. This book is part of Jennie Lindon's series 'Linking Theory and Practice'. The established approach provides accessible descriptions of relevant theory and research, yet links this information closely to practice with young children and families. The content and style of the series has been developed to support students on Early Childhood degree programmes, Early Years Foundation Degree courses, practitioners working towards Early Years Professional Status and also experienced senior practitioners extending their professional development and that of their team.




Born Believers


Book Description

Infants have a lot to make sense of in the world: Why does the sun shine and night fall; why do some objects move in response to words, while others won’t budge; who is it that looks over them and cares for them? How the developing brain grapples with these and other questions leads children, across cultures, to naturally develop a belief in a divine power of remarkably consistent traits––a god that is a powerful creator, knowing, immortal, and good—explains noted developmental psychologist and anthropologist Justin L. Barrett in this enlightening and provocative book. In short, we are all born believers. Belief begins in the brain. Under the sway of powerful internal and external influences, children understand their environments by imagining at least one creative and intelligent agent, a grand creator and controller that brings order and purpose to the world. Further, these beliefs in unseen super beings help organize children’s intuitions about morality and surprising life events, making life meaningful. Summarizing scientific experiments conducted with children across the globe, Professor Barrett illustrates the ways human beings have come to develop complex belief systems about God’s omniscience, the afterlife, and the immortality of deities. He shows how the science of childhood religiosity reveals, across humanity, a “natural religion,” the organization of those beliefs that humans gravitate to organically, and how it underlies all of the world’s major religions, uniting them under one common source. For believers and nonbelievers alike, Barrett offers a compelling argument for the human instinct for religion, as he guides all parents in how to effectively encourage children in developing a healthy constellation of beliefs about the world around them.




The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child


Book Description

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most extensive and widely ratified international human rights treaty. This Commentary offers a comprehensive analysis of each of the substantive provisions in the Convention and its Optional Protocols on Children and Armed Conflict, and the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Pornography. It provides a detailed insight into the drafting history of these instruments, the scope and nature of the rights accorded to children, and the obligations imposed on states to secure the implementation of these rights. In doing so, it draws on the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, international, regional, and domestic courts, academic and interdisciplinary scholarly analyses. It is of relevance to anyone working on matters affecting children including government officials, policy makers, judicial officers, lawyers, educators, social workers, health professionals, academics, aid and humanitarian workers, and members of civil society.




Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 33


Book Description

Volume 33 of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion brings together an open section and two special sections that illuminate new vistas in the study of religious and non-religious belief. Special section 1 examines the historical roots of religious practice emerging from Greater Khurāsān – a historical ‘cross-road’ for many world religions. Special section 2 initiates a paradigm shift in study of religious and non-religious belief in relation to children, insisting upon foregrounding children’s narratives. Both special sections explore under-researched areas, underlining the significance of historical and contextual approaches. At an intrinsic level the volume interrogates the power dynamics that determine why particular voices and approaches are prioritised in the study of religious and non-religious belief, and why others remain under- or mis-heard.