RRC initiative trains brains in 40 countries

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This article was published 21/02/2019 (1890 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The developing brains of children around the world are getting a boost from Winnipeg’s Red River College. It’s developed a leading early childhood education resource and research program that’s being shared in 40 countries.

“You can change the trajectory of kids and help the generation that’s raising them,” said Jan Sanderson, research chair at the college’s School of Health Sciences and Community Services.

The college worked with the University of Toronto and the Aga Khan Foundation to create the curriculum for front-line workers, early childhood educators and parents, teaching them how crucial the interactions between preschoolers and caregivers are for brain development.

It’s called the Science of Early Child Development (SECD) and its teachings are being shared from Cross Lake, Man., to villages in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, to Winnipeg’s inner city and soon to refugee camps in the Middle East. It shows the science behind what helps young brains grow and what stunts them.

“We keep talking about trying to break the cycle of poverty,” said Sanderson. “This has a lot of potential.”

The resources that Red River developed are bringing research to life with hundreds of readings, videos, links, questions for reflection, and interactive activities. The teachings are tailored to the culture and the place, including remote areas with no Internet access or electricity.

“A lot of folks have not had any early childhood education training,” said Sanderson. “We go to the communities and assess the strengths and gaps and tailor the training to those communities.” It’s based on the latest research into babies’ brain development and the impact of early experience on well-being.

It starts with the interactions between baby and caregiver during things like meals or diaper changes which are vital for brain growth, said Sanderson. Caring eye contact, gestures and nurturing words are creating healthy connections in the brain. When that doesn’t occur, or the baby is exposed to “toxic stress”, there’s a negative impact on brain development, she said.

“The message being, to childcare providers, every moment in those first 1,000 days matters,” Sanderson said. “Everything positive we can do will be embedded. Conversely, every missed opportunity or inappropriate or negative interaction will leave a mark.” The timing is crucial.

“The years before school are really important,” she said. “When kids are first born, they’re sponges — but that window starts to close pretty early.”

The teachings cover topics such as child rights, literacy and the importance of play for children all over the world.

They’ve partnered with UNICEF China in rural and urban settings to deliver the SECD curriculum and the government of Brazil to set up an early child development home visit program. Red River’s SECD team was taken in boats down the Amazon to access remote villages with a plan to offer common core training for all supervisors, said Sanderson. In April, they’re invited to deliver a plenary talk at the World Forum Foundation Conference in Macau.

The International Rescue Committee approached them about developing early years programming for refugee camps in partnership with Sesame Street.

Closer to home, they’ve worked with Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre to develop a play-based approach to learning in First Nations communities. In Cross Lake, for example, students went from sitting at desks in rooms with Disney characters on the walls to a play-based curriculum that reflects their community – including a pretend Northern Store with groceries on the shelves and pictures of local wildlife on the walls with the Indigenous names for them.

“There’s lots of cultural programming that’s fun and and easy to do,” said Sanderson.

For more, see https://content.scienceofecd.com/mbaccess/

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca