Developmental Psychology on Nick Wang

Expert Interview: Angel Lai Hor Yan

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 12:11:00 +0000

We went to Polytechnic University today to interview Angel Hor Yan Lai, a Ph.D. candidate in Social Work specializing in Childhood Poverty and Youth Development. She also has a master in Child Development specializing in Clinical Developmental Psychology. Since 2007, Angel has worked across the globe, from India to the United States, for the betterment of child and youth development. Most recently, she helped launched a mentoring program for disadvantaged primary school aged children in the low-income, new immigrant district of Hong Kong. She’s continuing to examine the longitudinal effects of mentoring quality on the development of adolescents with Polytechnic University’s Network for Health and Welfare Studies.

Angel isn’t an expert on parents so we didn’t get to ask our prepared questions about parents, nevertheless her personal experiences with disadvantaged children is very relevant to our research. One of the biggest issues with the current education system is that it has become more advantageous for the privileged. The wealthier you are, the more you can afford your children to go to extracurricular activities, the better your children’s chances of getting into good schools. The poor just doesn’t get a break, it used to be that you can use education to raise your children out of the poverty cycle, but now even that path no longer leads people up.

I was reminded of this child development theory from Harvard and I showed it at the meeting.

A Theory of Change - Building Adult Capabilities to Improve Child Outcomes

It has been a fruitful meeting with a passionate expert. I’m sure we will work together again in the near future. (If not our early childhood team, then Sarah’s secondary school children team.)

Expert Interview: Angel Hor Yan Lai

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 13:00:00 +0000

I was reminded of this child development theory from Harvard - A Theory of Change - Building Adult Capabilities to Improve Child Outcomes (above video) and I showed it at the meeting.

It has been a fruitful meeting with a passionate expert. I’m sure we will work together again in the near future. (If not our early childhood team, then Sarah’s secondary school children team.)