EDUC 322: The Social Lives of School Children

 Contact info

If you need help, please contact Adena Brons, Education Librarian at 778 782 7419 or abrons@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian.

Definitions and introductory information

Child Development
Encyclopedia about all aspects of child development.

Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology
Encyclopedia including sociological perspectives on children.

Handbook of Psychology
Excellent source for introductory information about topics related to the social lives of school children. For example, the online volume on Developmental Psychology contains a scholarly article about emotional and personality development in childhood.

Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society
Online edition of a three-volume reference work about children.

Books

Use Library Catalogue to find books on your subject. For example: prosocial behav*

Advanced tip: When you find a book which appears interesting, look at the formal subject headings. For example, many books about prosocial behavior have the subject heading Helping behavior. When you click on a subject heading, you go to the subject index where you can see how many books in the library have that subject heading. When you click on the subject heading again, you'll reach a list of the books with that subject heading.

Journal articles

Formulating a search string

A search string is the text that you type into a search box, like the library catalogue or database. Developing a search string with Boolean operators will help you quickly get relevant results!

  • Start by writing down the question that you want to answer with your research. For example:
    What interventions could be used to promote prosocial behavior?
  • Next, identify the main concepts in your question. For example:
    What interventions could be used to promote prosocial behavior?
  • Then brainstorm for synonyms or related terms. For example:
    interventions . . . techniques . . . . lessons . . . .
    prosocial behavior . . . socialization . . . . conflict management . . . .
  • Connect your related terms together with OR. For example:
    interventions OR techniques OR lessons
    prosocial behavior OR socialization OR conflict management
  • Connect the groups of related terms together with AND. For example:
    ( interventions OR techniques OR lessons ) AND ( prosocial behavior OR socialization OR conflict management )

Search by database

CBCA Complete
Best database for finding education-related articles with a Canadian focus.

ERIC
Education-related articles with a US focus.

PsycINFO
Best database for finding articles or book chapters with a psychological perspective.

Sociological Abstracts
Best database for finding articles with a sociological perspective.

Associations & government information

British Columbia Teachers Federation

British Columbia Ministry of Education includes a link to information about Safe Caring and Orderly Schools.