Note: My colleague Hasina Ebrahim from South Africa invited me to review her insightful book as it was being published in late 2016. I was honoured to have the opportunity to review it and comment on its contribution to the field. Hasina Banu Ebrahim’s book, Early Childhood Education for Muslim Children: Rationales and Practices in South Africa (2017), is … Continue reading
Reflections on the 2016 US Elections (including some thoughts on parenting in this context)
Note 1: As some of you may know, I am a Canadian Muslim, of Pakistani heritage, living with my family in California, USA at this time. Note 2: While this post is not explicitly about early childhood development, which is the general focus of my blog, there are very real implications for those who are parenting … Continue reading
Parenting with community support: Our experience in Tanzania
In late February, my family landed at the small Mwanza airport in Tanzania. With our luggage and our toddler, Z, hoisted on my hip, we climbed down the airplane stairs and onto the shuttle bus that would take us to the terminal. The shuttle bus was packed and I remember feeling slightly disappointed that … Continue reading
How do you transform data into a great story?
How do you transform your troves of data into a story that fascinates people and moves them to act? This is an issue with which researchers, analysts, and evaluators grapple on an ongoing basis. Last week, I had the opportunity to learn and reflect on these very matters with colleagues working with data in the … Continue reading
Ready schools in Pakistan: School & classroom factors associated with children’s success in early primary
I am happy to let you all know that I successfully defended my PhD thesis last week. It was an exhilarating experience and an immensely useful discussion with a group of academics whom I truly respect. I will be sharing more of my dissertation findings here in the months ahead, but in the meantime, I would like to share … Continue reading
Why I use the term ‘Majority world’ instead of ‘developing countries’ or ‘Third world’
As you may have noticed in my blog posts, I avoid using the terms ‘developing world’ or ‘Third world’. Instead, I use the term ‘Majority world’. Here’s why. The terms ‘developing world’ and ‘Third world’ imply that ‘development’ is a standard, linear process, and that certain ‘developed’ countries have finished ‘developing’ and are the norm towards … Continue reading
Noteworthy ECD resources (v5): Babies and parenting
[This post is part of my Noteworthy Early Childhood Development (ECD) Resources series, which rounds up and highlights key resources on particular topics.] I am often asked by parents of young children for clarification on some of the recommendations made by ‘experts’ on various aspects of parenting infants and toddlers, especially around sleep. As a … Continue reading
Racism and imperialism in the child development discourse: deconstructing ‘developmentally appropriate practice’
[This post is part of a series highlighting particular publications or resources I have written or developed in the past which may be of interest to my blog readers.] One of the most influential approaches to early childhood education in North America is ‘Developmentally Appropriate Practice’ (DAP), articulated by the NAEYC. When I used Foucauldian and other … Continue reading
Community-based participatory research: training manual for community researchers
[This post is part of a series highlighting particular publications or resources I have written or developed in the past which may be of interest to my blog readers.] Many social issues need to be examined through research in order for us to better understand and act for change. These social issues are often best examined at … Continue reading
Primary education in Pakistan: Outcomes on key indicators
Pakistan has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child and voted in support of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, both of which assert the right of each child to education, with primary education compulsory and available free to all. However, Pakistan is far from achieving universal access to primary education, and primary education quality remains … Continue reading
