Dear Students,

We developed Understanding Human Development in hopes of addressing gaps present in many of the current open sourced resources. Our primary goal was to create a textbook that incorporates a diverse range of perspectives, experiences, and practices. Through inclusive and updated content, we hope to challenge outdated and biased views about children and their development.

The current practice of capitalizing on knowledge within the textbook industry, which results in high cost textbooks, poses a significant equity issue. It is important for us to have a textbook that is free and openly licensed because we feel that education should be accessible to every student, regardless of their socio-economic background, where each person has the access to the same quality of information. When knowledge is monetized through exorbitant textbook costs, it creates a barrier that disproportionately affects economically disadvantaged students. This perpetuates a cycle of inequality, where those with greater financial resources have an advantage over their peers.

Understanding Human Development is written by three female lead authors with diverse cultural backgrounds and career experiences. We developed the content for this book to reflect our knowledge about public health, social work, public education and social policy. We use four case studies that follow children’s development over the course of the life stages. Through these stories, we are able to bring to life the many ways in which a child’s development is impacted by factors outside of their control, such as poverty or access to quality education. The case studies provide us with a way to infuse our work and life experiences into the textbook to aid instructors and students in their teaching and learning.

As an author team, we represent many diverse experiences in our personal lives and careers. However, we know that the experiences we can speak to are not exhaustive. As you read through this book, we invite you to share with us the ways you were able to find your own story of development and the ways you did not see yourself represented. Please share your reflections with us, as they will help us in the ongoing revision process.

Warmly,

Christina, Esmeralda, and Terese

Understanding Human Development: Lead Authors

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Licenses, Attributions, and References for Message to Students

“Message to Students” by Christina Belli, Esmeralda Janeth, and Terese Jones is licensed under CC BY 4.0.