Empowering Children

Christopher J. Kazanjian, PhD, is an associate professor of educational psychology at El Paso Community College. He is currently the program director of the multicultural humanistic psychological after-school program Kidz n’ Coaches-El Paso.

"Empowering Children is a unique and trailblazing contribution to the fields of humanistic child and multicultural psychology. Drawing on his mentor Jim Smrtic's groundbreaking after-school program, Kidz n' Coaches, Christopher Kazanjian draws from a rich array of humanistic philosophers and psychologists to illuminate an approach to child-care that should in my view help set the standard for the optimal development of our youth. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned with how we treat each other and the basis on which such engagements impact well-being." — Kirk Schneider, PhD, author of The Spirituality of Awe and The Polarized Mind; senior editor of The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology; president of the Existential-Humanistic Institute"In Empowering Children, Christopher Kazanjian invites us to think about what it really means to support children as they grow and learn and move into the world. Through elegantly written and engaging prose, Kazanjian uses the story of Jim Smrtic to illustrate how a community-engaged after-school program can support strong development in children, especially if it is based on a multicultural humanistic psychology committed to culturally relevant self-actualization." — Wayne Au, PhD, professor, School of Educational Studies at the University of Washington Bothell; editor of Rethinking Schools"In this moving text, Christopher Kazanjian draws upon the narrative style and life’s work of his mentor, Jim Smrtic, in developing the Kidz n’ Coaches after-school program as a means to create a multicultural humanistic psychology. His work demonstrates the power of a multicultural perspective in his concrete interactions with children. Drawing on the tradition of empirical-phenomenology, Dr. Kazanjian has created a data-driven work that establishes the legitimacy of existential-humanistic principles in the area of child development. His utilization of the notions of culturally relative self-actualization and the emerging child come at a pivotal time in American history." — Eugene Mario DeRobertis, PhD, professor of psychology, Brookdale College; author of The Phenomenology of Learning and Becoming: Enthusiasm, Creativity, and Self-Development"We need to unravel the interconnected web of challenges that hegemonic totalities impose upon our realities; these include white privilege, cultural blindness, socio-economic factors, deficit models, and the impact on social and emotional intelligences. Empowering Children makes a brilliant assessment of these elements within our global experience felt in our borderland community by using a phenomenological research study of growth-promoting relationships for youth in the after-school program Kidz n’ Coaches. Dr. Kazanjian explores a multicultural humanistic psychological paradigm and praxis, emphasizing on empowerment through culturally relative self-actualization prospects where youth develop critical consciousness to become democratic agents of social change." — Cesar A. Rossatto, PhD, associate professor of critical pedagogy/ multiculturalism and social justice, University of Texas at El Paso; author of Engaging Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of Possibility: From Blind to Transformative Optimism

• Foreword. Acknowledgments. Part I. Introduction. 1. After-School Multicultural Humanistic Psychology 2. Multicultural Humanistic Psychology 3. Becoming a Facilitator of Humanistic Psychology 4. The Optimistic View of Children in Humanistic Psychology 5. Experiential Learning in Facilitating Kidz n’ Coaches 6. The Empowerment of Children through Growth-Promoting Relationships and Culturally Diverse Group Dynamics 7. Existential Foundations of After-school Multicultural Humanistic Psychology 8. Becoming a Leader in After-School Multicultural Humanistic Psychology 9. Developing a Multicultural Humanistic Praxis Part II. 10. Multicultural Humanistic Psychology on the Border: Kidz n’ Coaches-El Paso Appendix. References. Index