Faculty & Research

Education:

• Ph.D. at Indiana University, 2002
• M.A. at Indiana University, 1999
• B.A. at University of Ghana, 1994
• Graduate Diploma at University of York, 1987

Contact Information:

(812) 856-0506

[send e-mail]

HPER Building, Room 296-I

Background:

My research interests lie in: (a) The role of the family in the development of the child; (b) culture, care, and child health; and (c) preschool health. With respect to the role of the family in the development of the child, my work focuses on school dropouts and the family, especially the contribution of the family toward the dropping out of its members from school as well as attitudes toward the school dropouts. I also examine the role of African immigrant families (in the United States) in the education of their children. On culture, care, and child health, my work investigates the role played by culture in disease perception and management. I also work on children's health management in preschool classrooms, emotional health in diverse classrooms, and the pedagogical importance of using stories to teach good eating habits in the classroom.

Publications:

(2002). "Home was uncomfortable; school was hell": A confessionalist-ethnographic account of traditional beliefs and socio-educational crises in the schooling of Ghanaian rural girls. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc.

(2004). Voices of affliction. Aspects of traditional healing practices and their impact on Akan families in Ghana. Cologne, Germany: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.

(In press). Strategies for teaching young children stories. Canadian Children: Journal of the Canadian Association for Young Children.

(In press). Attitudes of Families toward their teenaged school dropouts and the impact on the teenagers. In Sunal, M. et.al (Eds.), Education in Africa.

Courses Recently Taught:

HPER F317 Atypical Developmental Issues in Children

HPER F347 Human Development II

HPER F550 Families, Culture, and, Atypicality

HPER F559 Special Problems in Human Development

HPER H163 Children's Health

HPER H414 Health Education in K-6