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Early childhood development programming for excluded children

Early childhood development programming for excluded children. International Conference The Right to Education for Every Child: Removing Barriers and Fostering Inclusion for Roma Children Belgrade, June 2-3, 2009 Dr. John Bennett Roma Early Childhood Inclusion Project.

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Early childhood development programming for excluded children

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  1. Early childhood development programming for excluded children International Conference The Right to Education for Every Child: Removing Barriers and Fostering Inclusion for Roma Children Belgrade, June 2-3, 2009 Dr. John Bennett Roma Early Childhood Inclusion Project bennett.paris@gmail.com 1

  2. Summary of the presentation • The two major messages of research • The policy implications of these messages • How should countries program for excluded populations and their children? bennett.paris@gmail.com2

  3. What does the research tell us? • Neuroscience research shows that a loving, secure and stimulating relationships with parents and caregivers in the earliest months and years of life are critical for every aspect of a child’s development. • In parallel, educational research from both developed and developing countries suggests that high quality care and education services provide young children, especially those from poor and excluded groups, with a good start in life and education. bennett.paris@gmail.com 3

  4. Implications bennett.paris@gmail.com 4

  5. We need to start earlierEarly childhood is an optimal moment to support sensory, cognitive, social & language development Language Sensing Pathways Higher Cognitive Function (vision, hearing) 9 -3 3 1 0 6 4 8 12 16 -6 Months Years Conception AGE C. Nelson, in From Neurons to Neighborhoods, 2000

  6. Vocabulary 1200 High SES Middle SES 600 Low SES 0 12 16 20 24 26 32 36 Age- Months Vocabulary Growth – First 3 Years Source: B.Hart & T. Risley. Meaningful Differences in Everyday Experiences of Young American Children, 1995

  7. But starting early doesn’t necessarily mean this! bennett.paris@gmail.com 7

  8. Nor even this ! bennett.paris@gmail.com 8

  9. We need to ask Roma mothers what they want • “loving, secure and stimulating relationships” – to support them to provide more secure… • Better pre-natal and post-natal services • Home visiting by trusted nurses or local primary health taken in charge by Roma mothers and NGOs • Information, advice and support about parenting, talking with their children … • Home-based and community-based approaches until children are ready for kindergarten… with flexible rules, good parental involvement

  10. Some Roma attitudes to early childhood services Many Roma families are reluctant – and with reason – to entrust their children to national early childhood services: • They have suffered genocide attempts and still suffer greatly from discrimination • National and municipal services often refuse their children • When accepted, their children have and continue to be placed in special classes • In national services, only weak efforts have been made to acknowledge the culture or language of Roma children or to enhance the self-esteem of Roma children • Like most excluded (from the mainstream economy) groups, Roma women wish to rear their children at home

  11. So, rather than crèche services, something far more comprehensive in accordance with Roma culture and in which Roma parents have agency

  12. At the same time, many urban Roma families wish better access to kindergarten for their children • High quality centre-based programmes enhance the school achievement and behaviour of young children; • These effects are strongest for poor children and for children whose parents have little education; • Positive benefits continue into late elementary school and high school years, although effects are smaller than they were at the beginning of elementary school; • Programmes that are continued into primary school, and that offer intensive early intervention, have the most sustained long-term effects. bennett.paris@gmail.com 12

  13. The RECI Project • A research project sponsored by OSF, the Roma Education Fund and UNICEF • Goals: • To gather data and information about how Roma children are included/not included in national early childhood systems in selected CEE countries • To identify priority concerns and issues for Roma families and children • To emphasise progress achieved and successful practices that can be mainstreamed • Will cover 4 countries – written by mainstream and Roma researchers bennett.paris@gmail.com 13

  14. Thank you ! bennett.paris@gmail.com 14

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