As a white, Western-educated man, undertaking research in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya, I encountered ethical dilemmas related to my privileged racial and gender status. These include power imbalances between researchers and refugees and conducting research in the face of human suffering. Through critical self-reflexivity, I analyze my own…

The importance of considering wider contexts when evaluating the success or failure of programs has been increasingly acknowledged with the shift towards culturally responsive evaluation. But one of the important advantages of contextual approaches has been mostly overlooked--that they can provide more "realist" evaluations for why…

Contemporary educational institutions have been faced with emerging social-cultural, spiritual and moral issues that have brought with them new choices in views, cultural orientations, and philosophy. Ultimately, their health well-being is affected. This has created a contextual social crisis that necessitates the need to guide young people in…

Cognitive interviewing is a method to develop culturally appropriate survey questions and scale items. We conducted two rounds of cognitive interviews with 24 pregnant women in Ethiopia and Kenya to assess the appropriateness, acceptability, and comprehension of general and micronutrient supplement adherence-specific social support scales. We…

This paper examines pedagogy in early childhood music education and the resultant learning experiences in music for children in Kenyan preschools. Two important principles proposed for the synchronisation of teaching and learning in early childhood music education are cultural relevance and developmental appropriateness. These terms are…

In 2010, the "World Family Map Project" seeks to launch a research initiative that will track central indicators of family strength around the globe. The "World Family Map Project" (WFMP) would partner with Child Trends, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C., the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, and…

Those involved in early childhood development must recognize that many of their most cherished beliefs about what is best for children are cultural constructions. This book focuses on quality in large-scale programs for disadvantaged young children in a variety of cultural settings. Chapter 1, "Changing Childhoods," discusses issues…

The first of three papers from this symposium on cross-cultural human resource development (HRD), "Determinants of Supply of Technical Training Opportunities for Human Capital Development in Kenya" (Moses Waithanji Ngware, Fredrick Muyia Nafukho) reports findings from interviews of technical training institute department heads in Kenya…