David Elkind (born March 11, 1931) is an American
child
A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
psychologist
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...
and author. Elkind and his family relocated to California when he was still a teenager. He studied at the University of California at Los Angeles and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952 and Doctorate in Philosophy in 1955. David also earned an honorary doctorate in Science at the Rhode Island College (1987).
A longtime professor at
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
, his groundbreaking books — ''The Hurried Child'', ''The Power of Play'' and ''Miseducation'' informed
early childhood education professionals of the possible dangers of "pushing down" the elementary school
curriculum
In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...
into the very early years of a child's life. By doing so, he argued, teachers and parents alike could lapse into developmentally inappropriate instructional and learning practices that may distort the smooth development of learning. He is associated with the belief of decline of social markers.
Professional positions
David Elkind is professor emeritus of Child Development at
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
in
Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus alo ...
. He was formerly professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Education at the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees.
The University of Roc ...
.
Elkind obtained his doctorate at UCLA and then spent a year as
David Rapaport
David A. Rapaport (September 30, 1911, Budapest, Austria-Hungary – December 14, 1960, Stockbridge, Mass.) was a Hungarian clinical psychologist and psychoanalytic ego psychologist.
Biography
Rapaport was born in Budapest, Hungary on Septem ...
's research assistant at the
Austen Riggs Center
The Austen Riggs Center is a psychiatric treatment facility in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Austen Fox Riggs in 1913 as the Stockbridge Institute for the Study and Treatment of Psychoneuroses before being renamed in honor of Au ...
in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In 1964–65 he was a
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at
Piaget's Institut d'Epistemologie Genetique in Geneva. His research has been in the areas of perceptual, cognitive and social development where he has attempted to build upon the research and theory of Jean Piaget.
Elkind is a member of some 10 professional organizations, is on the editorial board of numerous scientific journals, and is a consultant to state education departments as well as to government agencies and private foundations.
He lectures extensively in the United States, Canada and abroad. He has appeared on
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...
, The CBS Morning News, Twenty/Twenty, Nightline, Donahue, and
The Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...
. He has been profiled in ''People'' and ''Boston Magazine''. Elkind co-hosted the Lifetime television series, Kids These Days. He is past president of the
National Association for the Education of Young Children
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a large nonprofit association in the United States representing early childhood education teachers, para-educators, center directors, trainers, college educators, families o ...
.
Publications
Professor Elkind's bibliography now numbers close to 500 items and includes research, theoretical articles, book chapters and eighteen books. In addition he has published more popular pieces such as children's stories in ''Jack and Jill'', biographies of famous psychologists in the ''New York Times Magazine'', as well as presentations of his own work in ''Good Housekeeping'', ''Parade'' and ''Psychology Today''. Some of his recent articles include "Computers and Young Children," "The Authority of the Brain," "The Cosmopolitan School," "On Becoming a Grandfather," and "Thanks for the Memory: The Lasting Value of True Play."
Perhaps Elkind is best known for his popular books, ''The Hurried Child'', ''The Power of Play'', ''All Grown Up and No Place to Go'', and ''Miseducation''. ''Grandparenting: Understanding Today's Children'' was published in November 1989. ''Parenting Your Teenager'' and three additional books, ''Images of the Young Child''; ''Understanding Your Child'' and a third edition of ''A Sympathetic Understanding of the Child: Birth to Sixteen'' appeared in 1993. ''Ties That Stress: The New Family Imbalance'' was published in 1994. A second edition of ''All Grown Up and No Place to Go'' and ''Reinventing Childhood: Raising and Educating Children in a Changing World'' appeared in 1998. A third edition of ''The Hurried Child'' came out 2001 and the 25th anniversary edition was published in 2007 along with his newest book ''The Power of Play: Learning What Comes Naturally''.
Elkind was a contributing editor to ''Parents Magazine''.
Personal
Elkind is married to Debbie Elkind, lives on Cape Cod, and has three sons and four grandchildren. Elkind enjoys sailing and gardening and has recently taken up pottery.
See also
*
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology is the science, scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult deve ...
*
Imaginary audience
The imaginary audience refers to a psychological state where an individual imagines and believes that multitudes of people are enthusiastically listening to or watching them. Though this state is often exhibited in young adolescence, people of any ...
*
Personal fable
According to Alberts, Elkind, and Ginsberg the personal fable "is the corollary to the imaginary audience. Thinking of themselves as the center of attention, the adolescent comes to believe that it is because they are special and unique.” It is f ...
*
Genie (feral child)
Genie (born 1957) is the pseudonym of an American feral child who was a victim of severe abuse, neglect, and social isolation. Her circumstances are prominently recorded in the annals of linguistics and abnormal child psychology. When she was ...
References
External links
*http://ase.tufts.edu/faculty-guide/faculty.asp?id=delkind a profile of Elkind
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elkind, David
1931 births
Living people
American family and parenting writers
American psychology writers
American male non-fiction writers
Jewish American writers
Early childhood education in the United States
Play (activity)
Tufts University faculty
Writers from Boston
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
21st-century American Jews
American child psychologists