Early Childhood Development:

What does it have to do with Sustainability and Harmony?

Sheldon Shaeffer

Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Early

Childhood Development

Manila, The Philippines

December 3, 2014

Provocations

• Why do so few governments recognise the

global definition of early childhood as

covering the ages 0-8 – and therefore

ignore the important transition to and early

success in primary school?

• For example, why do Grade 1 classes (part

of ECD) usually have the least experienced,

least trained teachers and the highest pupil-

teacher ratios? (And why is Grade 6 the

opposite?)

• Why are there so few early primary grade

teachers/specialists at this conference?

Provocations

• Since the impact of good early childhood

development programmes on the health,

education, and economic futures of

children is so clear, why do governments

(and development agencies) spend so little

money on them?

• Why do governments especially often

ignore the educational and development

needs of children aged 0-3 – and

therefore do so little to identify and meet

the special needs of these children?

I. Why Invest in Early Childhood

Development (ECD)? (preaching to the

converted!)

II. Global and Regional Status of ECD

III. Global 2015 ECD/ECCD/Pre-primary

Education Goals

IV. Early Childhood Development,

Sustainability, and Harmony

V. Conclusions – and the Delors Report

Outline

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I. ECD 101: Why Invest in it?

Why Invest in ECD?

• Based on evidence from neuroscience,

genetics, and population studies, early

childhood is the most important

developmental phase in the human lifespan.

• Preventive early interventions yield higher

returns compared to later remedial services.

• The growing number of orphaned and extremely

vulnerable children leads to intergenerational

consequences of higher rates of fertility, infant

mortality, and unemployment -- and lower levels

of education, health and nutrition.

The Brain Development Argument

• The most rapid period of brain

development (80%) occurs in the first

few years of life; the influence of a child’s

early environment on brain development is

long lasting.

• A nurturing and stimulating environment

and the quality of early experience

enhance the number of brain cells, the

number of connections among them, and

the way these connections are "wired” – and

can mitigate some developmental delays

and disabilities.

The Economic/Poverty Reduction Argument

• Providing quality care and education

opportunities for young children and their

families, especially the most at risk, is the

most powerful strategy in breaking the

intergenerational cycle of poverty.

• Returns on investment in ECD accumulate

and help offset disadvantage and inequality.

• Public investment in ECD provides the

greatest returns: 8:1 for ECD programmes

compared to 3:1 for primary and secondary

education and 1:1 for adult training.

The Health Argument

Investments in ECD:

• lower health costs for young children and

their mothers

• reduce the number of high-risk parents

both in this generation and in the next

• reduce the rate/severity of developmental

delays and disabilities

• reduce costs of nutritional rehabilitation

services for children 0-3 because of fewer

low birth-weight and pre-term infants

The Education Argument

• Early learning begets later learning and

success - as early failure breeds later failure.

• Usually excluded learners – e.g., girls, ethnic

minorities, children with special needs -- who

enroll in ECD programmes are more likely to

enter school at the appropriate age than

those who do not.

• Good quality ECD results in cost-savings

and increased efficiency in primary education:

higher enrolment and attendance

lower repetition and drop-out rates

less remedial and special education

higher educational attainment

ECD Increases the Sustainability

and Equity of Development

• Thus, interventions in ECD have

sustainable, long-term effects on the

development of human capital, social

cohesion (harmony!), and economic success.

• The most disadvantaged children – due to

disability, poverty, ethnicity, gender, or

remoteness – experience the most dramatic

gains from ECD programmes – but are least

likely to be enrolled.

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II.ECD 102: Global and

Regional Status of ECD

Global and Regional Trends:Gross Enrolment Ratios in pre-primary

education

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Progress Made

• Clearer understanding about the definition and

need for more holistic, integrated ECD

• A steady increase in national ECD policies or

policy frameworks, many with stronger inter-

sectoral coordination efforts and mechanisms

• Increasing access to ECD services for

vulnerable/disadvantaged children

• The development of comprehensive

standards, regulations, guidelines, and

training for ECD programmes

• More national/sub-regional ECD curriculum

frameworks and early learning standards

• A greater concern for the “quality imperative”15

Challenges Remaining (1)

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• Failure to understand the definition of ECD as

covering children 0-8

• Inadequate training, certification, incentives,

and status for ECD practitioners

• Inadequate attention to equity – access for

marginalised and disadvantaged groups

• Limited public funding for ECD, costs to

families, and poor financial planning for

effective programmes

• Few standardised indicators, measures, and

assessment tools, especially for social and

emotional, moral and spiritual development;

creativity and problem-solving -- and harmony

and sustainability

Challenges Remaining (2)• Poor governance and the lack of

participation leading to fragmented programme

planning, implementation, and coordination

• Inadequate regulation and supervision of

expanding private ECD services

• The lack of relevant and accurate data

especially in regard to vulnerable groups

• The lack of systemic linkages between

ECD/pre-primary education and the primary

school curriculum and teaching methods

• The lack of mother tongue for initial literacy

• Inadequate monitoring and evaluation of

ECD policies and programmes 17

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III. Global 2015 ECD/ECCD/Pre-

primary Education Goals

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IV. ECD 201: Early Childhood

Development, Sustainability,

and Harmony

The Neglected Power of ECD

The arguments above – from the perspective

of neuroscience, health, economics/poverty

reduction, and education – neglect the

power of ECD to promote less obvious

and less measurable outcomes which are

equally (if not more) important in influencing

future individual and national development.

These include what are often called

“transversal” or 21st century skills, values,

attitudes, and behaviours…essential for a

sustainable and harmonious future.

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“Transversal” 21st Century Skills/Values

• moral education – e.g., character education, values education, democracy education

• international and intercultural education –

global citizenship

• critical thinking, teamwork, problem-solving

• creativity, innovativeness, entrepreneurship

• media, ICT, and financial literacy

• sustainability – environmental, economic,

and social-cultural

• harmony – social cohesion, peacebuilding,

and the celebration of diversity and difference

Developing these skills and values must start

with ECD. 2

2

1) ECD and Sustainability

ECD is essential to creating a sustainable

future – to ensuring sustainable

development -- development that can:

• “meet the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs”

Brundtland Report of the World Commission on

Environment and Development, 1987

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Sustainable Development

Three Pillars of Sustainable Development

• Environment – awareness of the richness of our natural resources and of the fragility of the physical environment

• Economy – a sensitivity to the limits and potential of economic growth and to its impact on society and on the environment

• Society – an understanding of social institutions and their role in change and development

…with Culture – ways of behaving, believing, and acting, unique to every context -- as an underlying and critical dimension

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What is Education for

Sustainable Development?

ESD is about learning rather than teaching.

It requires:

•reforming the structure and nature of basic

education – starting from ECD

•reorienting existing education programmes –

including ECD

•developing public awareness about what

sustainability means -- through ECD

•building capacity within education systems and

across all ESD partners – including those

focused on ECD

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• Environment – e.g., preservation of the

environment, conservation of natural

resources and biodiversity, “green”

consumerism, climate change, disaster

prevention and response

• Economic – the existence of (and the need

to reduce) disparities and inequalities

• Socio-cultural – human/child rights, gender

equality, the importance of cultural and

linguistic diversity

And this takes us to “harmony”…

ESD in ECD Programmes

2) ECD and Harmony

ECD is equally essential to creating a

harmonious future – but what is “harmony”?

Definitions:

•agreement in action, feeling, opinion;

conformity, consistency, consonance

Dutiful children are their parent's pride; a

family in harmony can accomplish anything.Chinese Proverb

•(as in music) the need and respect for

diversity and difference, peace, amity, and

the lack of conflict

In other words, unity and social cohesion

derived from (not repressing) diversity… 27

“Harmony” in ECD Programmes

Ensuring that even young children:

•are sensitised to peacebuilding and conflict

resolution, human rights, and gender equality

•understand, respect, and even celebrate

differences (not merely tolerate) – in terms of

sex, (dis)abilities, culture, language, economic

status, religion, sexual orientation, etc.

•learn to appreciate, rather than fear,

differences and to recognize bias and

stereotypes when they see them

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V. Conclusions:

Rediscovering the Delors Report

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ECD programmes can – and must – promote

sustainability and harmony because they are,

by definition:

• interdisciplinary and holistic

• concerned with skills, values, and

behaviours – not only “knowledge”

• focused on equity, the appreciation of

difference, collaboration and interaction,

and problem solving

• locally, culturally, and linguistically relevant

So Why ECD, Sustainability

and Harmony?

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The Delors Report:

The Four Pillars of Learning

In order to help modern society cope with the

challenges in the world around it, the Delors

report, Learning: The Treasure Within,

recommended four pillars of learning:

•Learning to know – acquiring the

instruments of understanding, or learning

how to learn

•Learning to do – applying learned

knowledge in daily life, to be able to act

creatively and responsibly in one’s

environment

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• Learning to be -- acquiring universally

shared values, developing self-

knowledge, becoming immersed in one’s

own culture and its wisdom

• Learning to live together (HARMONY) --

promoting social cohesion and peaceful

coexistence; being able to celebrate

diversity in people and in their histories,

traditions, beliefs, values, and cultures

The Delors Report:

The Four Pillars of Learning

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The Fifth Pillar?

But building a sustainable future requires a

“fifth”, more proactive pillar – learning to

transform society, change the world, and

live SUSTAINABLY

• to work toward a rights-based, gender-

neutral, non-discriminatory society

• to act to achieve social solidarity and

international understanding

• above all, to live sustainably

Conclusion

• The promotion of sustainability and

harmony, beginning with young children,

is an imperative for the future of the

globe.

• The ARNEC community – and beyond –

must ensure that the skills, values,

attitudes, and behaviours which promote

sustainability and harmony are:

reflected in all early childhood

development programmes

successfully transmitted to all young

children. 34