Ellen Skinner, Ph.D.
Professor of Human Development and Psychology
Associate Chair, Department of Psychology
Research Interests
I locate my work within
life-span developmental psychology and developmental systems
theory. My research focuses on the dynamics of motivational
development, and examines how these dynamics contribute to the
development of children's self-system processes, engagement, and
coping. I am interested in how the self can exert so powerful an
influence on children's motivation, including their ongoing engagement
and coping with obstacles and setbacks. I am convinced that social
contexts and close relationships with parents and teachers play a
critical role in promoting or undermining the motivational resources
children draw upon when they encounter challenges and failures. I view
school as a natural laboratory of "challenges and failures," and I am
especially interested in school transitions, like the third grade
transition and the transition to middle school. In the last several
years, I have become very interested in the development of children's
coping.
My background in lifespan development and developmental systems
meta-theories has meant that, over the years, an ongoing task has been
building (and elaborating) an integrative conceptual framework for my
research. Hence, I enjoy spending time on theory development and
measurement construction. I seem to approach each new area which seems
relevant by first constructing or refining "developmentally-friendly"
theories, and then creating corresponding measures. Hence, sprinkled
among my empirical studies are a series of papers on theories and
measures of perceived control, engagement, parenting, and coping.
Current projects. I think of my current work as
involving three intertwined strands. The first focuses on "engagement"
and uses a large longitudinal data set, focusing on children and their
parents, teachers, and peers, over four years and eight measurement
points from the beginning of third to the end of seventh grade. The
project, which I am working on with Thomas Kindermann, Carrie Furrer,
and Gwen Marchand, contributes to ongoing debates about "engagement"
as an indicator and facilitator of academic success and resilience by
(1) proposing a motivational conceptualization of engagement, (2)
arguing for its central role in the dynamics of motivational
development, (3) presenting a psychometrically sound assessment, and
(4) empirically exploring the antecedents and consequences of
constructive engagement in the classroom. Cutting edge analyses, which
I am working on with my doctoral students, examine engagement as a
precursor to the development of a sense of children's "ownership" of
their academic progress (with Gwen Marchand), and explore the
synergistic and antagonistic roles in shaping self-systems and
engagement that are played by parents, teachers, and peers (with
Tatiana Snyder). I also continue to focus on the role of perceived
control in the development of engagement and coping (with Teresa
Greene).
The second strand of my work is a newly-formed collaborative
project that involves an interdisciplinary team of faculty and
graduate students, not only from psychology but also from the Graduate
School of Education, and the departments of English, mathematics, and
biology. The core group of faculty includes Dilafruz Williams, Pramod
Parajuli, Dae Yeop Kim, and Thomas Kindermann. The focus of the
research is a community project, captured broadly under the name
"Learning Gardens," that is taking place in several elementary and
middle schools who serve low-income and minority youth. This project
involves culturally diverse children and adolescents, their families
and communities and addresses issues of food security through the
creation of food-based and garden-based education. Our research team
(which includes graduate students Lorraine Escribano, Amy Lacey,
Jennifer Pitzer, and Una Chi) was recruited to help design and conduct
research on the effects of students' participation in Learning Gardens
on the development of their academic engagement, motivation, and
coping. We have started working with one middle school as a pilot to
allow the new team to become oriented and organized.
The third strand, and my current passion, is the construction of a
lifespan theory of the development of coping, which I am working on
with Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck (Griffith University, Australia). We are
trying to figure out how developments in underlying processes, such as
language, self-regulation, cognition, and ego development, contribute
to qualitative shifts in how people react to and deal with stressful
events. I belong to a loosely affiliated group of scholars, the Coping
Consortium (which includes Irwin Sandler, Bruce Compas, Nancy
Eisenberg, Patrick Tolan, and Tim Ayers), who are working together to
articulate the newly emerging area focusing on the development of
coping. Over the past ten years, we have participated in five
work-shops that have been dedicated to theory building, research
planning, problem-solving, and exchange of ideas on coping during
childhood and adolescence.
I also work with graduate students on applied topics that are
closely related to issues of motivation and coping, such as research
that supports the constructive engagement of marginalized groups, like
homeless persons, in self-governance activities to bring about social
change (with Heather Mosher), that examines how social contexts
support or undermine the coping of parents of children who have
serious self-regulatory challenges (with Theresa Rice), and that
considers spiritual development as a resource for coping (with Glen
Richardson).
Developmental Science and Education (DeSE). The
Psychology Department has recently begun to offer training in the
interdisciplinary specialty of developmental science and
education. Core faculty include Dalton Miller-Jones, Thomas
Kindermann, Cathleen Smith, Gabriela Martorell, Keith James, and Yves
Labissiere. DeSE focuses on the study of educational systems as
contexts for the development of students, teachers, and staff. It is
also concerned with the application of research strategies and
knowledge from the developmental disciplines to address issues facing
educators and parents. DeSE is particularly interested in working with
schools who serve students from racial and ethnic minority, immigrant,
and low income families. DeSE training is available to students in all
areas of psychology as well as students from other
fields. Ph.D. students may complete a minor in DeSE which usually
includes working with faculty and taking courses from outside of
psychology, such as from education, sociology, anthropology, social
work, criminal justice, or urban and public affairs.
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