Course Outline
Part I
Programme Title
: MEd specialization Educational & Developmental Psychology
Course Title
: Issues in Development in School Contexts
Department
: Psychological Studies
Credit Points
: 3 cps
Course Hours
: 39 hrs
Pre-requisite(s)
: Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence: Personal, Social,
Emotional, & Moral Development
Part II
1. Synopsis
This course provides students with the opportunity to study critical issues in development in school
contexts. Drawing upon relevant psychological theories and empirical studies covered in
Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence: Personal, Social, Emotional, & Moral Development,
students will be given the opportunity to identify and study specific issues in development. Among
these issues may be school readiness, family relationships and schooling, peer relationships,
socialization, gender identity and adolescent sexuality, school alienation, and children or
adolescents at-risk. As this course is one which encourages students to study critical issues related
to their specific interests the content listed below is suggestive of possible areas of investigation.
2. Objectives (Os)
Students will:
O1 Demonstrate in-depth understanding of theory and research covered in Psychology of Childhood
and Adolescence: Personal, Social, Emotional, & Moral Development
O2 Critically examine and evaluate the major concepts, theories, empirical findings, and historical
trends in understanding a specific developmental issue in school contexts
O3. Design theoretically-informed, evidence-based intervention strategies or activities for use in
school contexts in response to an identified developmental issue
3. Content
Course content
School readiness:
Cognitive and emotional readiness; self-regulation and successful adaptation to
the socially defined role of student; academic and social competence in school
settings
Parenting, family relationships, and schooling:
Parenting (dimensions, styles, and cultural variations); sibling relationships;
parental divorce and child development; relations between family and school
and child development
Peer relationships:
Peers as a context for development; friendship, peer group, peer status; victims
and bullies
Objectives
O1-3
O1-3
O1-3
1
Gender identity:
Sex and gender; Stages of gender concept development; gender schema theory;
gender differences; biological and environmental influences on gender
development
Children or adolescents at-risk:
Poverty and its implications for development; wealth and its implications for
development; resilience; learning difficulties and behavior disorders; deviancy
in adolescence (depression, drug use, suicide ideation, aggression).
Adolescent sexuality
Adolescent sexual health; adolescent sexuality interventions; partner
relationships; pregnancy.
Health and personal well-being in school contexts:
Stress, psychosocial adjustment, personality, school counseling.
O2-3
O1-3
O1-3
O1-3
4. Assessment
Assessment Tasks
Test (Multiple-choice and short answer questions)
Essay on a student-selected topic, outlining key theories,
principles, and research related to their chosen project
Individual project identifying, diagnosing, and designing an
intervention related to a specific developmental issue
covered in this course
Weighting (%)
20%
30%
Objectives
O1
O2
50%
O1-3
5. Recommended Reading
Adam, E. K. (2004). Beyond quality: Parental and residential stability and children’s adjustment.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 210-213.
Berndt, T. (1999). Friends' influence on students' adjustment to school. Educational Psychologist,
34, 15-28.
Blair, C. (2002). School readiness. American Psychologist, 57, 111-127.
Bussey, K., & Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory of gender development and
differentiation. Psychological Review, 106, 676-713.
Chang, L. (2004). The role of classroom norms in contextualizing the relations of children’s social
behaviours to peer acceptance. Developmental Psychology, 40, 691-702.
Chen, X., Cen, G. Z., Li, D., & He, Y. F. (2005). Social functioning and adjustment in Chinese
children: The imprint of historical time. Child Development, 182-195.
Colapinto, J. (2000). As Nature Made Him (pp. 163-195 & 273-276). New York: HarperCollins.
Dishion, T. J., McCord, J., & Poulin, F. (1999). When interventions harm. American Psychologist,
54, 755-764.
Dodge, K. A., & Pettit, G. S. (2003). A biopsychosocial model of the development of chronic
conduct problems in adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 39, 349-371.
Evans, G. W. (2004). The environment of childhood poverty. American Psychologist, 59, 77-92.
Friedman, H. S. (2000). Long-term relations of personality and health: Dynamisms, mechanisms,
tropisms. Journal of Personality, 1089-1107.
Gorehoff, S. M., John, O. P., & Helson, R. (2008). Contextualizing change in marital satisfaction
during middle age. Psychological Science, 19, 1194-1200.
Halpern, D. F. (1997). Sex differences in intelligence: Implications for education. American
Psychologist, 52, 1091-1102.
2
Harris, J. R. (1995). Where is the child’s environment? A group socialization theory of
development. Psychological Review, 102, 458-489.Karney, B. R. & Bradbury, T. N. (2005).
Contextual influences on marriage. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 171174.
Li, H., & Rao, N. (2000). Parental influences on Chinese literacy development: A comparison of
preschoolers in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Singapore. International Journal of Behavioral
Development, 24, 82-90.
Liu, F. (2006). Boys as only-children and girls as only-children – parental gendered expectations of
the only-child in the nuclear Chinese family in present-day China. Gender and Education,
18, 491-505.
Schneider, B. H. (2000). Friends and Enemies: Peer Relations in Childhood. London: Oxford.
Smith, T. W. (2006). Personality as risk and resilience in physical health. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 15, 227-231.
Steinberg, L. (2007). Risk taking in adolescence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16,
55-59.
Yoshikawa, H., & Hsueh, J. (2001). Child development and public policy: Toward a dynamic
systems perspective. Child Development, 72, 1887-1903.
6. Related Journals
Journal of Educational Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Child Development
Developmental Science
Educational Psychological Review
Developmental Review
Journal of Adolescence
Journal of Research on Adolescence
Contemporary Educational Psychology
School Psychological Review
Journal of School Psychology
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