Saturday, October 12, 2013
TESTING FOR INTELLIGENCE
Here in the United States, we use pictures or symbols for part of our assessment tests. In other countries these items may not be available or not even used by the children. There have been very few studies done in African countries detailing developing milestones. Recently researchers from the College of Medicine in Malawi have began using culturally correct developmental assessment tools to be used in rural Africa. The assessment tool involved a native game chipapapa and their ability to play the game. Also, nsima, a food eaten in Africa was used to see if the children were proficient in feeding themselves. The children tested were 0-6 years old. The test is called the Malawi Development Assessment Tool. The test identified children with no known disability as normal in development. Many of the rural African countries have little or none of the resources need so this test is commonly done as a research tool.
Reference
Wellcome Trust. (2010,August11). Refining the milestones:assessing child development in Africa. Retrieved from http://blog.wellcome.ac.uk/2010/08/11/refining-the milestones-assessing-child-development-in-Africa/
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Karen I enjoyed reading your post. Its interesting that the African assessment is a game. I can understand why this assessment is conclusive because a person can tell so much about what a child known through how they play.
ReplyDeleteInsightful blog on how African cultures really don't have an assessment based on education. Using the assessment to see if children are proficient in feeding themselves is not what I would think of when it came to this country. The assessment using the Chipapapa game is a great tool to see children in their comfort zone of play.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen,
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was very interesting. The idea of seeing if children are able to feed them selves independently makes sense to me. I think this could show their cognitive development as well as their physical development and fine motor skills. I wonder what age most children were given this assessment and if their standards for development are similar to those of the United States.
Karen, I think its a good approach to use a game to assess children. It reaches them really well. I am curious about how well these young children in Malawi ate by themselves and how young the youngest one is. The people in this culture use what tools and knowledge they have despite not having much research. Interesting post!
ReplyDeleteI too thought that a game was an interesting approach to assessment. I am interested to know more on the details of this game and what they look for...is it solely physical ability to play or does it involve their teamwork skills, etc.?
ReplyDeleteDarcie
Hi Karen,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for sharing so many experiences you have had on your blog during our child development class. I have enjoyed your honesty and have learned from your posts! I hope you find joy and fulfillment in your career with children!