ULB research| Personal data | Research themes | Ongoing teaching | Publications |
DE COSTER Lotta
Units
Unit of Developmental and Family Psychology
The principal topics of the unit are 1° perinatal psychology (parental experience of the pregnancy and the delivery, study on the attachement child-parent, premature delivery, impact of the post-partum depression on the child,...) 2° child psychology (impact of day nursery on the child, impact of divorce on the child, construction of the notion of time in child, gifted children, development in preterm infants), 3° adolescent's psychology (impact of divorce on the adolescent, identity problems in adolescents, deviances (drug addiction, suicide attempt...), 4° family psychology (new parentality, infertility, female identity, menopause and andropause).
Projetcs
This research aims to explore the experiential world of young children within an intersubjective developmental context from a Mosaic Approach. Few studies and authors have considered the views and experiences of children under five years old. One of the barriers to this approach is the language acquisition of the young child and the uncertainty about 'how to listen' to children at this age. Malaguzzi (cited by Clark & Statham, 2005) refers to the 'hundred languages of children', emphasizing the many different ways in which young children communicate and develop intersubjective experiences. Malaguzzi also refers to the 'hundred ways of listening'. Clark (2005) and Clark & Statham (2005) explore the Mosaic Approach, a methodology for listening to young children that brings together verbal and visual tools (e.g. cameras, tours and mapmaking) to reveal young children's perspectives. The material produced by the children provides a platform for communication between adults and children. For the moment, the ULB unit of Developmental and Family Psychology (Prof. Lotta De Coster and Researcher Emanuela Garau) studies the way in which young children experience their daily life and the communication with other children and adults at daycare (18 ' 36 months) and at school (2 years and a half- 6 years). This current research is financed by the Observatoire de l'Enfance, de la Jeunesse et de l'Aide à la Jeunesse (2013-2014 : Enquête exploratoire sur le point de vue des enfants de 0 à 6 ans sur la qualité de l'accueil et de l'éducation qui leur sont dispensés) and is carried out in collaboration with the Service des Sciences de l'Education (ULB, professor Sabine Kahn). Joint ULB-VUB future research will focus on the possible applications of this Mosaic Approach to studies on the intersubjective development of young children, who are involved in foster care. To document and communicate important details of their present as well as past lives might have an important psychological impact on these children. Feeling understood and having their views taken seriously by adults seem to be particularly important for children who often experienced serious discontinuities in their lives.This fourth research package will be conducted by the ULB Unité de Psychologie du Développement et de la Famille in close cooperation with the VUB research group IDNS, the Observatoire de l'Enfance, de la Jeunesse et de l'Aide à la Jeunesse and the SASPE (Service d'Accueil Spécialisé de la Petite E
Self-image, stereotypes of gender and acquisition of the notion of time by children aged 5 to 9 : developmental prospect
