This book provides an organizational perspective on the local congregations of Christianity and Judaism Churches and Synagogues. It will meet the need of those who work in congregations, clergy and lay people alike for an accessible, non-judgmental analysis of the day-to-day work challenges they face. It will also fill a gap in the literature of four academic fields: Social policy and administration; non-profit and voluntary-sector management; the sociology of religion; and organizational behaviour.

For many years, the development of theories about the way children learn to read and write was dominated by studies of English-speaking populations. As we have learned more about the way that children learn to read and write other scripts, it has become clear that many of the difficulties that confront children learning to read and write English specifically are less evident, or even nonexistent, in other populations. At the same time, some aspects of learning to read and write are very similar across scripts. The unique cross-linguistic perspective offered in this book, including chapters on...

This book is about one of the most fundamental debates in language development, namely the relationship between children's language development and their language experience. This issue is not only of theoretical interest; understanding how a child's language development is giving cause for concern. If there are no environmental influences on early development then little can be done to help the child whose first steps into language are faltering. But, if the speed with which children develop language is subject to some external influence, then there are likely to be opportunities for...

Developmental Psychology: A Student's Handbook is a major new textbook that provides an up-to-date account of theory and research in the rapidly-changing field of child development. Margaret Harris and George Butterworth have produced an outstanding volume that includes recent research from Britain, Europe, and the USA. The text is designed for undergraduate students who have little or no prior knowledge of developmental psychology. Key features include: - Specially designed textbook features, such as key term definitions, chapter summaries, and annotated further reading sections. - Over 95...