Robert Serpell Explained

Birth Name:Robert Nicholas Serpell
Birth Place:England
Citizenship:Zambian
Occupation:Professor of Psychology
Children:incl. Zewelanji Serpell, Namwali Serpell
Employer:University of Zambia

Robert Nicholas Serpell (born 1944 in England) is a Zambian citizen and Professor of Psychology at the University of Zambia. From 2003 to 2006 he was Vice-Chancellor of the University. He also serves as the current Chancellor of Eden University in Lusaka, Zambia.[1]

He has conducted numerous studies on intelligence, literacy and child development in social and cultural context, finding that even within a given society, different cognitive characteristics are emphasized from one situation to another and from one subculture to another. These differences extend not just to conceptions of intelligence but to what is considered adaptive or appropriate in a broader sense.[2] Serpell's work shows how conceptions of intelligence vary from culture to culture, and that the majority of these views do not reflect Western ideas.[3]

Serpell and colleagues discovered that people in some African cultures, particularly those where Western schooling is not yet popular, prefer to emphasise the relationship between intellect and social ability. In Zambia's rural Katete District, for instance, the concept of nzelu includes both cleverness (chenjela) and responsibility (tumikila).

In 2017, Serpell received an award from the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) for "Distinguished Contributions to Understanding International, Cultural and Contextual Diversity in Child Development".[4]

His research and publications extend into the fields of education for children with special needs, early childhood education and parenting, and educational policy, with special attention to the African region.

Personal life

Serpell is a widower; his wife, Namposya Nampanya Serpell, who was an economist, died in 2016. Married in 1973, Robert and Namposya raised together Derek Serpell (born 1966), Zewelanji Serpell (born 1974), Chisha Serpell (born 1976, died 1999), Namwali Serpell (born 1980), and Suwilanji Ng'ambi (born 1989, adopted 1996). The family usually resided in Lusaka, Zambia, but spent 12 years in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, from 1989 to 2002.

Selected publications

Notes and References

  1. "Eden University comes of age" (2014, https://www.daily-mail.co.zm)
  2. Estimates of intelligence in a rural community of Eastern Zambia (Serpell, 1974)
  3. http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb03/intelligence.htm "Intelligence across cultures: Research in Africa, Asia and Latin America is showing how culture and intelligence interact."
  4. Web site: 2017 SRCD Biennial Awardees | Society for Research in Child Development SRCD. March 2017 .