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What is POP?<\/b><\/p>\n
The Parent Outreach Project (POP) is an initiative at the Child Development\u00a0Labs at BU that aims to establish stronger ties with our community. POP has a dual\u00a0mission to both facilitate our research in\u00a0developmental psychology with others and explain how\u00a0we conduct our science. We depend on families, schools and community groups that are willing to\u00a0participate in our studies. As researchers and educators, we seek to share\u00a0important findings from developmental psychology with others and explain how we conduct our science. \u00a0We have also found that parents, teachers, children and others have a great deal to teach\u00a0us about child\u00a0development! Through the POP initiative we create a productive and\u00a0ongoing conversation with the community about child development.<\/p>\n
Connecting with diverse populations.<\/b><\/p>\n
Families living in the Boston area come from a wide range of backgrounds, and diversity is one of the strengths of our hometown.\u00a0 Diversity exists on many levels: racial and ethnic, cultural and religious, economic and educational.\u00a0 One of the goals of POP is to extend our contact with diverse communities across the Boston area.\u00a0 We recognize the importance of individual and group differences and seek to understand the many pathways of healthy child development.\u00a0 We also recognize that large segments of the population are often left out of conversations about child development research and policy.\u00a0 We hope to bridge this gap by establishing a two-way conversation with parents, teachers and community organizations.\u00a0 We do this by partnering with local organizations that are trusted and established in serving their communities.<\/p>\n
What does partnering mean?<\/b><\/p>\n
Through the Parent Outreach Project, we establish voluntary associations with organizations that serve local parents and families.\u00a0 We meet with each organization to determine how we can work together.\u00a0 Our developmental psychologists give talks and hold discussions with parent groups and staff members tailored to their interests.\u00a0 We attend family events where we talk to parents about our research and invite them to participate in studies at our labs.\u00a0 We also bring fun activities for children to these events.\u00a0 As a new initiative, we are interested in creative approaches to advancing our research and educational missions with our partners.<\/p>\n
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