CAROLYN POPE EDWARDS, EdD
Professor - Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies
Professor - Department of Psychology
250 Mabel Lee Hall
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0236
(402) 472-3127

Biography

Carolyn Pope Edwards is a Willa Cather Professor and Professor of Psychology and Child, Youth, and Family Studies. She studies early childhood education, social and moral development in cultural context, and socialization processes within the family and childcare and educational settings. She received an EdD in Human Development from Harvard University in 1974. Her early work was on cross-cultural social/moral development, investigating the cultural universality of ethical reasoning stages and the experiential factors influencing individual development. She also worked with an anthropological team in Kenya, East Africa, studying the effects of rapid social change on the lives of children and mothers. Dr. Edwards has held visiting research professor positions at universities in Kenya, Italy, and Norway. Her current research includes studies of the world-recognized, family-centered early childhood programs of Reggio Emilia and Pistoia, Italy. She has also been applying the findings about high-quality care giving to create preschool enrichment and infant nurture programs in welfare institutions (orphanages) in China, under the auspices of Half the Sky Foundation of Beijing and Hong Kong.

Dr. Edwards is Co-PI on the "Parent Engagement and Child Learning Birth to Five" grant and the Nebraska team of the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium, and PI on Head Start and Child Care Research Bureau grants to support Linda Willis’ dissertation research. She has extensive experience and leadership in teacher preparation and serves on on many committees in the state of Nebraska that are working to improve services for young children, including programs of preschool education and child care. Dr. Edwards is author and editor of The Diary of Laura: Perspectives on the Reggio Educational Diary (in press), Moral Development: Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Volume 51 (2005), Ngecha: A Kenyan Community in a Time of Rapid Social Change (2004), Bambini: The Italian Approach to Infant-Toddler Care (2001), The Hundred Languages of Children, 2nd Edition: The Reggio Emilia Approach, Advanced Reflections (1998), The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education (1993), Children of Different Worlds: The Formation of Social Behavior (1988), and Promoting the Social and Moral Development of Young Children: Creative Ideas for the Classroom (1986), as well as many research articles and chapters. 

Recent Publications

Journal Articles

Edwards, C. P., Churchill, S., Gabriel, M., Heaton, R., Jones-Branch, J., Marvin, C., & Rupiper, M. (2007).  Students learn about documentation throughout their training program. Early Childhood Research and Practice [Online]. Available at http://ecrp.uiuc.edu

Cotton, J., Edwards, C. P., & Zhao, W. (2007).  Nurturing care for China’s orphaned children. Young Children, November, 62.

Edwards, C. P. (2006).  Montessori’s education and its scientific basis (2006). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 27, 183-187.

Knoche, L., Peterson, C. Edwards, C. P., & Jeon, H. (2006). Childcare services for children with and without disabilities: The provider, observer, and parent perspectives. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21, 93-109.

Liu, W., & Edwards, C. (2006). Survey on the practice of urban parents' sex education to their children. Contemporary Youth Research, 9, 76-80. (In Chinese).

Sheridan, S. M., Clarke, B. L., Knoche, L., & Edwards, C. P. (2006).  The effects of conjoint behavioral consultation in early childhood settings.  Early Education and Development, 17, 593-617. 

De Guzman, M. R. T., Edwards, C. P., & Carlo, G. (2005). Prosocial behaviors in context: A study of the Gikuyu children of Ngecha, Kenya. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 542-558.

Edwards, C. P., & Ha, Y. (2005). The effects of parent attachment, socioeconomic status, and perspective-taking on early adolescents’ prosocial behavior towards parents and siblings. Korean Journal of Psychological and Social Issues, 11, 43-57. 

Aukrust, V., Edwards, C. P., Kumru, A., Knoche, L., & Kim, M. (2004). Young children's extended relationships in school: Parental ethnotheories in four communities, in Norway, United States, Turkey, and Korea. International Journal of Behavior Development.

Edwards, C. P. (2003). "Fine Designs" from Italy: Montessori education and the Reggio Emilia approach. Montessori Life: Journal of the American Montessori Society, 15, 33-38.

Edwards, C. P. (2002). Evolving questions and comparative perspectives in cultural/historical research. Human Development, 171, 307-312.

Edwards, C. P. (2002). Three approaches from Europe: Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia. Early Childhood Research and Practice [Online]. Available at http://ecrp.uiuc.edu

Edwards, C. P., & Raikes, H. (2002). Extending the dance: Relationship-based approaches to infant-toddler care and education. Young Children, 57, 10-17.

Weisner, T., & Edwards, C. P. (2002). Introduction to the special issue honoring Beatrice Whiting. Ethos: The Journal of Psychological Anthropology, 29, 1-8.

Book Chapters

Edwards, C. P., deGuzman, M. T., Brown, J., & Kumru, A. (2006). Children’s social behaviors and peer interactions in diverse cultures. In X. Chen, D. French, & B. Schneider (Eds.), Peer relations in cultural context (pp. 23-51). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Edwards, C. P., Knoche, L., Aukrust, V., Kumru, A., & Kim, M. (2006). Parental ethnotheories of child development: Looking beyond independence and individualism in American belief systems. In U. Kim (Ed.), Indigenous and cultural psychology: Understanding people in context (pp. 141-162). New York: Kluewer Plenum/Academic Press. 

Edwards, C. P. (2005). Children’s play in cross-cultural perspective: A new look at the Six Culture Study. In F. R. McMahon, D. Lytle, & B. Sutton-Smith (Eds.), Play: An interdisciplinary synthesis.  Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

Research Projects