Peer Groups And Children's Development

Peer Groups and Children's Development considers the experiences of school-aged children with their peer groups - in both formal and informal settings - and the implications of these experiences for their social, personal and intellectual development. Peer Groups and Children's Development considers the experiences of school-aged children with their peer groups. The book looks at the formal peer groups that children are placed in for teaching and learning, covering such topics as the class size debate, mixed-ability vs. ability-based teaching, gender and classroom dialogue, and dialogic teaching and cooperative learning. Howe also provides an in-depth examination of the nature, causes, and consequences of a child's informal peer relationships, including those associated with cliques, friendships, and adolescent gangs. Evidence presented throughout reveals how formal and informal aspects of peer groups interrelate to a great extent in determining patterns of development. This has significant implications for research and theory, as well as for the practical concerns of parents, teachers, counselors, school psychologists, and policy makers. Informed by the latest research and scholarship, Peer Groups and Children's Development offers revelatory insights into the effects of peer relationships on a child's intellectual, personal and social development. Peer Groups and Children's Development considers the experiences of school-aged children with their peer groups and its implications for their social, personal and intellectual development Focuses on the peer group experiences of children attending school in Western societies, from five years of age through to adolescence Considers peer groups in classrooms, friendships made within and outside of school, and the groups that children participate in for extra-curricular activities Includes a final summary which brings together the significant implications for theory, policy and practice Unique in that no other volume reviews and integrates literature relating to peer groups in both classroom and out-of-class settings Addresses the research interests of psychologists and educationalists, as well as the practical concerns of teachers, parents, counsellors, and policy makers