Robert Serpell – Zambian Educational Psychologist
Robert Nicholas Serpell (born 1944) is a British-Zambian Professor of Psychology at the University of Zambia. From 2003 to 2006 he was Vice-Chancellor of the University. He also serves as the current Chancellor of Eden University in Lusaka, Zambia.
Serpell has conducted numerous studies on gaps in academic performance between ethnic groups, finding that even within a given society different cognitive characteristics are emphasized from one situation to another and from one subculture to another. These differences extend not just to conceptions of intelligence but to what is considered adaptive or appropriate in a broader sense.^[2] Serpell's work shows how conceptions of intelligence vary from culture to culture, and that the majority of these views do not reflect Western ideas.^[3] Serpell and others have found that people in some African communities—especially where Western schooling has not yet become common—tend to blur the Western distinction between intelligence and social competence. In rural Zambia, for instance, the concept of nzelu includes both cleverness (chenjela) and responsibility (tumikila). Serpell’s work is very interesting, but you might want to check out Serpells 1979 article which describes his study of perception: o Serpell, Robert. "Cultural differences in attentional preference for colour over form." International journal of Psychology 4.1 (1969): 1-8. o Serpell, Robert. "How specific are perceptual skills? A cross‐cultural study of pattern reproduction." British Journal of Psychology 70.3 (1979): 365-380. The 1979 article draws on Serpell’s studies of perception differences between Zambian children and British children. From Wikipedia (Full Wikipedia article)
Some Robert Serpell publications: o Serpell, R. (1966). Selective attention in matching from sample by children. [Lusaka], Human Development Research Unit, University of Zambia. o Serpell, R. (1968). Selective attention and interference between first and second languages. Lusaka,, University of Zambia Institute for Social Research. o Serpell, R. (1968). Discrimination of orientation by Zambian children. [Lusaka], Human Development Research Unit, University of Zambia. o Serpell, R. and M. Mwanalushi (1976). The impact of education and the information media on racism in Zambia since independence : a report for UNESCO. Zambia, UNESCO. o Serpell, R. (1980). "Linguistic flexibility in urban Zambian schoolchildren." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 345: 97-119. o