John Paul McKinney - Teaching About Adolescence

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SERIES ON CHILDREN, YOUTH
AND FAMILIES
VOLUME 5
GARLAND REFERENCE LIBRARY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
VOLUME 1020

JOHN PAUL MCKINNEY, Senior Editor
LAWRENCE B. SCHIAMBERG, AMY B. SLONIM, AND
LINDA SPENCE, Associate Editors

CHILD MALTREATMENT AND OPTIMAL CAREGIVING IN SOCIAL CONTEXTS
by Diana Baumrind

ADOLESCENT PARENTHOOD AND EDUCATION
Exploring Alternative Programs
by Mary Pilat

UNIVERSITY-COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Outreach Scholarship for Youth and Families
edited by Richard M. Lerner and Lou Anna K. Simon

ADOLESCENTS, CULTURES, AND CONFLICTS
Growing Up in Contemporary Europe
edited by Jari-Erik Nurmi

TEACHING ABOUT ADOLESCENCE
An Ecological Approach
edited by John Paul McKinney Lawrence B. Schiamberg and Lawrence G. Shelton

First published 1998 by Garland Publishing

First issued in paperback 2018

Published 2018 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Copyright 1998 by John Paul McKinney, Lawrence B. Schiamberg, and Lawrence G. Shelton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:

Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Teaching about adolescence: an ecological approach / edited by John Paul
McKinney, Lawrence B. Schiamberg, Lawrence G. Shelton.

p. cm. (Michigan State University series on children, youth,
and families; v. 5) (Garland reference library of social science; v. 1020)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8153-1981-9

(case: alk. paper)

1. Adolescent psychologyStudy and teaching. I. McKinney, John Paul, 1935-. II. Schiamberg, Lawrence B. III. Shelton, Lawrence G. IV. Series. V. Series: Garland reference library of social science: v. 1020. BF724.T43 1998

305.2355dc21 98-29686

CIP

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-98364-9 (pbk)

ISBN 13: 978-0-8153-1981-8 (hbk)

A FOREWORDX TO THE MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SERIES ON CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES

Lawrence B. Schiamberg

The publication of Teaching About Adolescence signals the continued prominence and success of the Michigan State University Series on Children, Youth, and Families. The authors scholarly work, accompanied by the insightful foreword by Laurence Steinberg, is a prime example of the creative emphasis on cutting-edge scholarship addressing the needs of a diversity of children, youth, families, and communities which the MSU Series represents. In particular, this book promises to be a seminal and landmark volume in rethinking the diversity of circumstances which provide contexts for both teaching about adolescence as well as for effective interventions and programs for adolescents which, in turn, derive from a contextually sensitive approach to adolescent development.

Furthermore, this volume is a clear illustration of the goals of the Institute for Children, Youth, and Families (ICYF), as an example of the relationship of outreach scholarship to essential issues of policy and program development which, in turn, has the potential for enhancing the lives of children, youth, and families in the diverse communities which the Institute serves. Likewise, the publication of this challenging and most impressive volume provides evidence that the MSU Series, initiated by ICYF and well served by the commitment and intellectual leadership of Senior Editor John Paul McKinney with the able guidance of Marie Ellen Larcada of Garland Publishing, is a compendium of scholarly work reflecting the very best scholarship aimed at enhancing the life experiences of a diversity of children, youth, and families. As such, both this volume and the MSU Series provide evidence for the importance and feasibility of the mission of ICYF in integrating research and outreach.

The mission of the Institute for Children, Youth, and Families at MSU is based on a vision of the nature of a land-grant university as an academic institution with a responsibility for addressing the welfare of children, youth, and families in communities. More specifically, the mission of ICYF is shaped by an ecological perspective to human development which places the life span development of human beings in the context of the significant settings of human experience, including community, family, work and peer networks (Lerner et al., 1994; Schiamberg, 1985, 1988). Historically, the ecological perspective has both been associated with, and a guiding frame for, colleges of home economics or, as they are more recently termed, colleges of human development, human ecology, or family and consumer sciences (Miller & Lerner, 1994). Using the ecology of human development as a conceptual framework, the Institute for Children, Youth, and Families continues to develop programs that integrate the critical notion of development in context with the attempt, indeed the necessity, of creating connections between such scholarship and social policy, program design, delivery, and evaluation.

The MSU Series is a unique collection of books, designed to provide a vehicle for the publication and transmission of research/outreach efforts characterized by the collaborative relationship (and potential relationship) between university expertise and the community. The McKinney, Schiamberg, and Shelton book represents the careful thinking of authors who have worked, first hand, within the rich and broad variety of contexts for teaching about adolescence. It discusses, as well, the power and potential of a contextual perspective for the development of best practice efforts for enhancing the life prospects of adolescents and youth in family and community settings. As universities begin to respond to continuing social pressures to apply their resources to address a variety of critical social problems, there is a compelling need for such careful thinking and best practice in helping universities and communities to frame joint programs addressing the needs of the diverse children and families that both serve. The Michigan State University Series on Children, Youth, and Families is, itself, an example of the outreach scholarship which reflects the contextual and practical policy focus of the ICYF research program. The MSU Series publishes reference and professional books, including monographs and edited volumes, which appeal to a wide audience in communities as well as in universities, including such constituencies as scholars, practitioners, service deliverers, child and family advocates, business leaders, and policymakers. The MSU Series has substantial import and appeal to these constituencies primarily because of its focus on the integration of research and outreach and, as well, an emphasis on collaborative relationships between universities and communities.

The unique role and perspective of both ICYF and the MSU Series can be further appreciated in light of the ongoing and persisting trends for both university accountability and social contribution. In particular, the various university stakeholders, including business, government, and community leadership, are increasingly urging universities to use their research and scholarly resources to address problems of social, political, and technological relevance (Boyer, 1990; Votruba, 1992). Thus, communities are seeking a greater involvement in outreach on the part of their universities. Both ICYF and Michigan State University are committed to integrating outreach into the full fabric of university responsibility (Provosts Committee on University Outreach, 1993).