Karen Valentin

Pædagogisk antropologi kombinerer, som navnet siger, de to videnskabelige discipliner pædagogik og antropologi. Antropologi beskæftiger sig med de sociale og kulturelle sammenhænge, der former og formes af specifikke menneskers liv forskellige steder i verden. Det samme gør den pædagogiske antropologi, men her er interessen især rettet mod pædagogiske forhold i bred forstand, dvs. de forventninger og anvisninger, som påvirker og rammesætter folks handlinger og betydningsdannelse. Pædagogisk antropologi - tilgange og begreber giver en indføring i den store variation af tilgange, perspektiver og genstandsfelter, som karakteriserer pædagogisk antropologi som forsknings- og fagområde i dag. Bogens forfattere trækker på en lang række teoretiske inspirationer og traditioner, og de vægter forskellige tematikker og begreber i deres analyser. Det er imidlertid kendetegnende for dem alle, at de er optaget af at belyse menneskers handlinger, opfattelser og relationer i pædagogiske sammenhænge. Bogen afrundes med et perspektiverende efterord af Steen Nepper Larsen. Bogen giver en indføring i de mange aspekter af pædagogisk antropologi, som spiller en stadig større rolle i undersøgelser og studier af pædagogik. Den henvender sig til studerende på universitetsniveau og på de pædagogiske professionsuddannelser. Pædagogisk antropologi – tilgange og begreber er redigeret af Eva Gulløv, Ida Wentzel Winther og Gritt B. Nielsen, der alle forsker og underviser på DPU, Aarhus Universitet.

Raised by her Puerto Rican family in America and in a Spanish-speaking evangelical church, issues of identity, faith, and family traditions were at the forefront of the author's upbringing. With humor and touching tributes, she recounts the clashing and blending of cultures, traditions embraced and rejected, and the unbreakable faith passed from generation to generation. Her narratives celebrate the Latino-American Protestant experience-distinct from Catholics. Her insights on faith, family bonds, struggles, love and joy strike a chord with readers from all cultures.

My journey from newlywed, to mother of two, to single mom - trying to heal - and become the mother God made me to be Karen lived an adventurous single life but longed for a family of her own. After years of maintaining her vow of purity and waiting for a man who shared her Christian faith, she fell in love with her best friend and co-worker. They married. She bore two sons. They divorced. With humor, honesty and raw emotion, Valentin tells her story of wrestling between God's will and her own, with visions of happily ever after. In the midst of her weakness and grief, she experiences God's strength and restoration like never before. Through her family and friends, mission workers, the pastor of Graffiti Church, and her two beautiful boys, God turns her ashes to beauty and her sorrow into joy. THE MOTHER GOD MADE ME TO BE contains a discussion guide for book clubs and church groups. karenvalentin.com