Title: Participation for all - waiting until school entry is too late
1Participation for all - waiting until school
entry is too late
- 2008 Curriculum Association Conference
- Melbourne, November 10, 2008
- Professor Frank Oberklaid
- Director, Centre for Community Child Health
- Royal Childrens Hospital Melbourne
2Outline of presentation
- Brain development research - the science tells us
that the early years are critical in shaping a
childs future learning and behaviour - Life course research - what happens in the early
years has consequences right through the life
course into adult life - For many children, the developmental trajectory
is set before they start school - Australian data
show that many children are already in trouble or
vulnerable at school entry - The participation agenda has to begin in the
early years, well before children start school
3The importance of skills in the modern economy
- A large body of researchshows that skill
begets skill that learning begets learning. The
earlier the seed is planted and watered, the
faster and larger it grows. Environments that do
not stimulate the young and fail to cultivate
both cognitive and non-cognitive skills place
children at an early disadvantage. - (James Heckman, 2006)
4The importance of skills in the modern economy
- Once a child falls behind, he or she is
likely to remain behind. Remediation for
impoverished early environments become
progressively more costly the later it is
attempted in the life cycle of the child. The
track record for criminal rehabilitation, adult
literacy and late teenage public job training
programs is remarkably poorImpoverished early
environments are powerful predictors of adult
failure on a number of social and economic
dimensions. - (James Heckman, 2006)
5Ability gaps open early in life
- Ability gaps between advantaged and other
children open up early before schooling
begins.Conventional school based policies start
too late to completely remedy early deficits,
although they can do some good. Children who
start ahead keep accelerating past their peers,
widening the gapEarly advantages accumulate, so
do early disadvantagesThe best way to improve
the schools is to improve the early environments
of the children sent to them. (Heckman J.
Masterov DV, 2005)
6The research
- 3 research themes
- Brain development
- Life course
- Economics of human capital formation
- 3 research disciplines
- Neuroscience
- Developmental psychology
- Economics
- Multitude of published studies by researchers
from varied professional/disciplinary backgrounds
7What the research tells us
- The early years of a childs life are critical in
impacting on a range of outcomes through the life
course - The environment experienced by a young child
literally sculpts the brain and establishes the
trajectory for long term cognitive and
social-emotional outcomes - If we want to improve outcomes in school and in
adult life we have to focus on the early years -
this has profound implications for public policy - Investing in early childhood is a sound economic
investment (the best investment society can
make)
8Neuroscience of brain development
- Brain is not mature at birth (cf other species)
- The brain organises itself through the
interaction of genes responding to the local
environment - a dance between biology and
experience, between nature and nurture - Brain is changed by experiences
- The quality of the relationships a young child
has with caregivers programs social-emotional
function - Adversity impacts on brain development
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12Brains are built over time
- Brain architecture and skills are built in a
hierarchical bottom-up sequence - Foundations important - higher level circuits
that process complex information are built on
lower level circuits that process basic
information - Skills beget skills - the development of higher
order skills is much more difficult if the lower
level circuits are not wired properly - Plasticity of the brain decreases over time and
brain circuits stabilise, so it is much harder to
alter later - There is constant pruning of circuits that are
not used - It is biologically and economically more
efficient to get it right the first time
13Human brain development - synapse formation
Language
Sensing Pathways (vision, hearing)
Higher Cognitive Function
Conception
-6
-3
0
3
6
9
1
4
8
12
16
Months
Years
AGE
C. Nelson, in From Neurons to Neighborhoods, 2000.
14The importance of relationships
- Nurturing and responsive relationships build
healthy brain architecture that provides a strong
foundation for learning, behaviour and health - The relationships a young child has with their
caregiver(s) literally sculpts the brain and
determines the development of circuits - When protective relationships are not provided,
levels of stress hormones increase - this impairs
cell growth, interferes with formation of healthy
neural circuits, and disrupts brain architecture
15Adversity
- Research on the biology of stress in early
childhood helps explain some of the underlying
reasons for differences in learning, behaviour
and physical and mental health - Any adversity or stress that impacts on the
parents may affect their relationship with their
young child and thus has the potential to have a
negative impact on brain development - e.g.
effects of rapid social change
16Disordered brain circuits
- Problems in childhood
- Beginning of pathways to problems later in life
- Evidence that many problems in adult life have
their origins in pathways that begin in childhood
17Worrying problems in childhood
- Child abuse and neglect
- School readiness - many children vulnerable
- Poor literacy and school achievement
- Mental health problems - ADHD, conduct disorders,
aggressive and anti-social behaviour - Obesity
18Even more worrying problems in adult life
- Mental health problems
- Family violence and aggressive/anti-social
behaviour - Crime
- Poor literacy - skills shortages
- Welfare dependency
- Substance abuse
- Obesity and its associations
19The developmental trajectory and life course
Outcome
Risk factors
Protective factors
Age
20Risk and protective factors
- Child
- Parents
- Parenting style
- Family environment
- Community and cultural
- School
- Life events
21Risk and protective factors
Risk Factors Child Family Community School
Protective Factors Child Family Community School
Outcome
Negative vulnerability
Positive resilience
22Poverty and health (0-3 years)
- Less likely to
- Be breast fed
- Be fully immunised
- Receive well child care
- Have regular and consistent access to health
services
- More likely to have
- Low birth weight
- Developmental delay
- Higher incidence of SIDS
- Higher injury rate
- Suboptimal growth
- More frequent hospitalisations
- Behavioural disorders
23Vocabulary growth - first 3 years
Vocabulary
High SES
1200
Middle SES
600
Low SES
0
12
16
20
24
28
32
36
Age - Months
B Hart T Risley 1995
24Making a difference
- Address risk factors and emerging difficulties
before they become entrenched problems - Goal is to diminish or remove risk factors and
strengthen protective factors, so improving
chances of good outcome - The earlier the better - more leverage in younger
years
25Intervention effects and costs of
social-emotional mental health problems over time
(Bricker)
High
Cost
Intervention effectiveness
Low
Time
26Rates of return to human development - Investment
across all ages
8
Pre-school Programs
6
School
Return Per Invested
4
R
Job Training
2
Pre-School
School
Post School
0
6
18
Age
Pedro Carneiro, James Heckman, Human Capital
Policy, 2003
27Cost benefit analysis
- In contrast to significant benefits from
model preschool interventions, later remediation
efforts have been shown to be consistently less
effective. School age remedial programshave a
poor record of success. Similarly public job
training programs, adult literacy services,
prisoner rehabilitation serviceshave yielded low
economic returns. Such investments are purely
political and not supported by any worthwhile
research. - - Knudsen EI, Heckman JJ, Cameron JL,
Shonkoff JP (2006) - Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences
28Implications for policy
- Positive relationships and quality learning
experiences are pivotal to brain development -
this promotes cognitive, language, social and
emotional development - Resources need to be focused on providing parent
information, family support, and high quality
early learning and care settings for ALL children
- universal services - Targeted services for at risk children and
families who have additional needs that go
beyond the universal services - The research is clear that attempts at later
remediation are less effective (and cost
effective) than prevention
29Implications of the science of early childhood
- Parents and families
- Communities and the built environment
- Child care
- Education
- Child protection system
- Services
- Business
- Media
- An expanded view of building infrastructure
30Child care
- Early learning environment - not child minding
- Reconceptualise the critical period 0-5 years and
merge child care and preschool into high quality
learning environments - Provide universal access to all children,
especially disadvantaged - cost and availability
should not be a barrier - Quality vital - staff ratios, physical amenities,
and especially expertise of caregivers
31Education
- Education begins at birth, not when children
start school - remove distinction between child
care and preschool - Match early learning opportunities to needs of
children and families (what is rationale for 4
preschool sessions per week?) - Major investment in physical facilities and
re-design of teacher education - Schools as core social centres linked closely
with their communities - Schools linked to early years services
32Reconceptualise school readiness
- Children ready for school schools ready for
children communities that support ECD - Need to do a lot of work in all 3 areas
- Australian data about children (not) being ready
for school
33Australian Early Development Index (AEDI)
- A population based measure (developed in Canada)
which provides information about childrens
health and wellbeing - 100 questions covering 5 development domains -
language and cognitive skills emotional
maturity physical health and well-being
communication skills and general knowledge and
social competence - Teachers complete the AEDI on each child in their
first year of full-time schooling - Results are provided at the postcode, suburb or
school level and not interpreted for individual
analysis
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35MARIBYRNONG Geographic Area, Victoria
5 km West of Melbourne
Proportion of children vulnerable on one or more
domains
Prepared by AEDI National Support Centre, GIS
Source AEDI
Communities Data 2005
36MARIBYRNONG Geographic Area, Victoria
5 km West of Melbourne
Proportion of children vulnerable on two or more
domains
Prepared by AEDI National Support Centre, GIS
Source AEDI
Communities Data 2005
37Standard school model
Curriculum teaching
Governance
38New school model
Curriculum teaching
Address barriers to learning
Governance
39Three groups of children
- No barriers to learning - will do well regardless
- Severe barriers - generally have access to
special services and picked up well before start
school - Subtle to moderate barriers - may elude early
detection, and intervention often delayed until
problems entrenched and difficult to treat
40What are the barriers to learning?
- Developmental weaknesses - language, memory,
visual-motor integration, etc - Problems of attention and behaviour
- Disadvantaged environmental circumstances in the
early years
41Building infrastructure - human capital
- The implications of this rapidly evolving
science for human capital formation are striking.
The workplace of the 21st century will favor
individuals with intellectual flexibility, strong
problem solving skills, emotional resilience, and
the capacity to work well with others in a
continuously changing and highly competitive
economic environment. In this context, the
personal and societal burdens of diminished
capacity will be formidable, and the need to
maximize human potential will be greater than
ever before. - - Knudsen EI, Heckman JJ, Cameron JL, Shonkoff
JP (2006) - Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences
42The knowledge gap
- Major challenge is to close the gap between
what we know and what we do
43The challenge and the mission
- If we want to
- Improve educational outcomes
- Increase participation and promote social
inclusion - Increase productivity and have a skilled
workforce - then waiting until school entry is too late
44Conclusion
- These implications for policy and practice
are striking in their simplicity, the extent to
which they reflect common sense, and their solid
grounding in the science of early childhood and
brain development. Closing the science-policy gap
as it affects the future of our children, and
therefore our society, should be an important
priority for all who are engaged in public life. - - National Scientific Council on the developing
Child, 2004
45- frank.oberklaid_at_rch.org.au
- www.rch.org/ccch