Children's agency and development in African societies = La capacité d'agir et le développement des enfants dans les sociétés africaines
By: edited by = sous la direction de Yaw Ofosu-Kusi
Series: Codesria book series; Codesria book series
Publisher: CODESRIA
Published: 2017
Place of publication: Dakar, Senegal
Language: eng
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9782869787186
Subjects: Child development
Description: This book focuses on African childhood and youth within the context of development and socialization where children are expected to be moulded in the image of adults. In many African societies children are generally held as passive bearers of the demands of adults, regardless of the fact that they are often exposed to a multitude of challenges that originate from the capriciousness of those adults. However, buoyed by international conventions and national legislations that offer them greater protection, and the ubiquitous internet that exposes them to childhood and youth experiences elsewhere, many of them are increasingly becoming assertive in homes, schools, and communities as well as re-invigorating their survival and self-preservation instincts. It is in this regard that this book, through the various chapters, engages with their competencies, skills and creativity to respond to experiential challenges as independent migrants or ones under coercion working in city streets and markets or cocoa farms or juggling work and schooling in pursuit of some education. Confronted with their parents' and siblings' health predicaments and the inadequacies of state and familial care, or urgent negotiation of their sexualities, they demonstrate incredible resilience. Similarly, their perceptiveness is demonstrated in a unique appreciation of politics and its actors and a capacity to assume responsibilities beyond their chronological age. Thus while highlighting some of the challenges confronting African children, the book provides gripping evidence of how they resiliently negotiate those challenges.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: 1. Introduction : children's agency and development in African societies / Yaw Ofosu-Kusi; title: 2. Establishing a foothold in the informal economy : children's dreams, agency and street life in Ghana / Yaw Ofosu-Kusi; title: 3. Child fosterage dynamics in selected markets in Lagos State, Nigeria / Adediran Daniel Ikuomola; title: 4. Educational challenges facing children in cocoa plantations in Ondo State, Nigeria / Musediq Olufemi Lawal; title: 5. Childhood sexualities in Africa : agency and vulnerability / Deevia Bhana; title: 6. Application of 'theatre for development' in the promotion of youth agency in HIV prevention in Zomba City, Malawi / Catherine Mayesero Makhumula; title: 7. Building resilience in child-headed households : an exploration of the integrated community home-based care model in Maseru District, Lesotho / Ts'epang Florence Manyeli; title: 8. Children's perception of the images of Kenya's principal political leaders / Mokua Ombati; title: 9. A study of children's participation in school management in Cameroon / Tete Jesinta Lebsonga; title: 10. Children's assembly as a strategy for children's active participation in Kenyan society / Pamela M. Y. Ngugi; title: 11. Étude comparative de la formation du schéma corporel à̀ travers le conflit sociocognitif chez des "Enfants du monde de diamant" de Banalia et des "Enfants gardiens de la forêt" de Mambasa en RDC / Edmond Mokuinena Bomfie; title: 12. Les enjeux théoriques et sociaux de la modélisation du comportement environnemental à̀ travers l'éducation relative à l'environnement : cas de l'élè̀ve du primaire en Côte d'Ivoire / Kabran Aristide Djane; title: 13. Expériences de vie migratoire et capacités d'agir des enfants : cas des aides ménagères mineures dans la ville de Sikasso au Mali / Bra-Amba Dolo; title: 14. Les causes du décrochage scolaire des enfants et leur réorientation au Bénin / Sandra Elvyre Loumedjinon; title: 15. Impact de l'incarcération d'un parent sur la vie de l'enfant au Cameroun / Hippolyte Hé́li Abanda; title: 16. Conclusion : agency, realities and the future of African childhoods / Yaw Ofosu-Kusi.