Early Childhood Matters 2018 - Advances in early childhood development
Omschrijving
Early Childhood Matters aims to elevate key issues, spread awareness of promising solutions to support holistic child development and explore the elements needed to take those solutions to scale. It is published annually by the Bernard van Leer Foundation. The views expressed in Early Childhood Matters are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Bernard van Leer Foundation. Work featured is not necessarily funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation.
Towards nurturing care: advancing early childhood development in 2018
The launch of the Nurturing Care Framework at the World Health Assembly in May represents a critically important step in the continuing efforts to shine a spotlight on the needs of young children and families. Simply put, the call for nurturing care underscores the fact that young children need responsive caregiving, good health and nutrition, safety and security, and opportunities for early learning. The core elements of nurturing care build on what we have known for years about the nature of child development: that physical, social, emotional and cognitive development are integrated and indivisible, one domain of development influencing the other.
This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the first issue of Early Childhood Matters. In 1998, after publishing more than 80 editions of an in-house newsletter addressed solely to Foundation projects and staff, the Bernard van Leer Foundation published a more outwardly facing publication addressed primarily to the practitioners in the field of early childhood development (Van Gendt, 1998: 3–4).
Since the publication of that first issue, there have been significant advances in both our understanding of the science of child development and the importance of investing in the early years. While we now have much more information on ‘why’ early childhood matters, we are still seeking answers to the ‘how’. How can we assure ‘effective’ services and policies? – a theme that was discussed some two decades ago.
The key elements of good programming that were included in the very first article of Early Childhood Matters, by Judith Evans (1998: 8–11), have stood the test of time. In her article ‘Effectiveness: the state of the art’ she listed key principles to achieve maximum benefits. These included, among others: building on what exists, being flexible, developing programmes with families and with an understanding of the wider community, reflecting diversity, providing equity in access, assuring quality, and being cost-effective. Moreover, the article pointed out that effectiveness calls for a multidimensional approach that combines health, nutrition, education, and social actions. This same comprehensive strategy has been the hallmark of good programming from the establishment of Head Start in the 1960s to the recent launch of the Nurturing Care Framework. Now we have to move to bring these concepts to scale, particularly for the youngest children around the world.
