Local Organising Committee

Robert Serpell

Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
University of Zambia
PO Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia

email: robertserpell@gmail.com

Research interests:
Cognitive development, intelligence and literacy in cultural context; cross-cultural communication; family socialisation beliefs and practices, educational practices and policies; assessment methods.

Selected publications:

Serpell, R. (1976) Culture's influence on behaviour. London: Methuen. (144 ps.)
(Translations of this book were published in 1977-78 in Finnish, Hungarian, Portuguese, SerboCroatian and Spanish.)

Serpell, R. (1982). Measures of perception, skills, and intelligence: the growth of a new perspective on children in a Third World country. In W.W. Hartup (ed.), Review of Child Development Research, Vol. 6 (pp. 392-440). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Serpell, R. (1984) Mobilizing local resources in Africa for persons with learning difficulties or mental handicap. (Report on a workshop held in Nairobi, November 1982.) Oslo: NFPU & Brussels: ILSMH.

Serpell, R., Zaman, S.S., Huq, S., Ferial, S., Silveira, M.L.M., Dias, A.M.C.de S., de Campos, A.L.R., Narayanan, H.S., Rao, P.M., Thorburn, M.J., Halim, A.J., Shrestha, D.M., Hasan, Z.M., Tareen, K.I., Qureshi, A.A. & Nikapota, A.D. (1988) Assessment criteria for severe intellectual disability in various cultural settings. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 11 (1), 117-144.

Serpell, R., Nabuzoka, D. & Lesi, F. (Eds.) (1989) Early intervention, developmental disability and mental handicap in Africa (Proceedings of subregional workshop held in Lusaka, June 1987 at the University of Zambia). Lusaka: University of Zambia/UNICEF.

Serpell, R. (1993). The significance of schooling: life-journeys in an African society. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Serpell, R., Mariga, L. & Harvey, K. (1993) Mental retardation in African countries: conceptualization, services, and research. International Review of Research in Mental Retardation, 19, 1-39.

Serpell, R. (1994) Negotiating a fusion of horizons: a process view of cultural validation in developmental psychology, Mind, Culture and Activity, 1, 43-68.

Serpell, R. & Boykin, A.W. (1994) Cultural dimensions of cognition: a multiplex, dynamic system of constraints and possibilities. In R.J. Sternberg (Ed.) Handbook of Perception and Cognition, Vol.12: Thinking and Problem-solving (pp. 369-408). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Serpell, R. (1997). Literacy connections between school and home: how should we evaluate them? Journal of Literacy Research, 29 (4), 587-616.

Serpell, R. & Hatano, G. (1997). Education, literacy and schooling in cross-cultural perspective. In J.W. Berry, P.R.Dasen & T.M. Saraswathi (Eds.) Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology (2nd edition), Volume 2 (pp.345-382).Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Akkari, A., Serpell, R. Baker, L., & Sonnenschein, S. (1998). An analysis of teacher ethnotheories. The Professional Educator, 21, 45-61.

Kathuria, R. & Serpell, R. (1998). Standardization of the Panga Munthu Test - a nonverbal cognitive test developed in Zambia. Journal of Negro Education, 67, 228-241.

Serpell, R. & Mwape, G. (1998/99). Participatory appropriation of health science and technology: a case study of innovation in basic education in a rural district of Zambia. African Social Research, 41/42, 60-89.

Serpell, R. (1999). Theoretical conceptions of human development. In L.Eldering & P.Leseman (Eds) Effective early intervention: cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 41-66). New York: Falmer.

Serpell, R. (1999). Local accountability to rural communities: a challenge for educational planning in Africa. In F. Leach & A. Little (Eds) Education, Cultures and Economics: Dilemmas for Development (pp.107-135). New York: Garland.

Serpell, R. (1999). Opportunities and constraints for research on education and human development in Africa: focus on assessment and special education. Prospects, XXIX (3), 349-363. (Also published in translation by the journal in Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish.)

Serpell, R. (2000). Intelligence and culture. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed), The Handbook of Intelligence (pp.549-577). Cambridge, UK & New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.

Astatke, H. & Serpell, R. (2000). Testing the application of a Western scientific theory of AIDS risk behavior among adolescents in Ethiopia. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 25 (6), 367-379.

Serpell, R., Sonnenschein, S., Baker, L., & Ganapathy, H. (2002). Intimate culture of families in the early socialization of literacy. Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 391-405.

Serpell, R., Baker, L., & Sonnenschein, S. (2005). Becoming literate in the city: the Baltimore Early Childhood Project. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Serpell, R. (2006). Negotiating the middle ground between the ostensible and shared horizons: a dynamic approach to cross-cultural communication about human development. In J.Straub, D. Weidemann, C. Kölbl, & B. Zielke (eds.) Pursuit of Meaning: Advances in Cultural and Cross-Cultural Psychology (pp. 393-433). Berlin: Verlag.

Serpell, R. (2007). Bridging between orthodox western higher educational practices and an African sociocultural context. Comparative Education, 43 (1), 23-51.

Ganapathy-Coleman, H. and Serpell, R. (2008). Challenging western hegemony through systematic study of cultural diversity: an undergraduate course on child development and culture. Intercultural Education, 9, 97–104

Serpell, R. and Jere-Folotiya, J. (2008). Developmental assessment, cultural context, gender, and schooling in Zambia. International Journal of Psychology, 43, 1-9.

Serpell, R. (2008). Participatory appropriation and the cultivation of nurturance: a case study of African primary health science curriculum development. In P. R. Dasen & A. Akkari (Eds), Educational theories and practices from the “majority world” (pp. 71-97). New Delhi: Sage.

En francais:

Serpell, R. (1989) Dimensions endogenes de l'intelligence chez les AChewa et autres peuples Africains. In J.Retschitzki, M..BosselLagos & P.Dasen (eds), La recherche interculturelle, Tome II (pp.164 -179). Paris, France: Editions l'Harmattan.

Serpell, R. (2001). Responsabilite vis-a-vis la communaute rurale: un defi pour la planification de l’enseignement en Afrique. In A.Akkari, R.Sultana, & J.-L. Gurtner (Eds) Politiques et strategies educatives: termes de l’echange et nouveaux enjeux Nord-Sud (pp. 215-243). Bern, Suisse: Peter Lang. (translation of Serpell, R. (1999), Local accountability to rural communities: a challenge for educational planning in Africa.)

Ka, O. & Serpell, R. (2003). Le defi d’integration des langues et cultures africaines dans les programmes de scolarisation en Afrique Noire. In Gohard-Radenkovic, A., Mujawamariya, D. & Perez, S. (Eds). Integration des minorities et nouveaux espaces culturels (pp.251-272). Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang