Foreward
Dr. Stuart Shanker
Every Child, Every Opportunity: Curriculum and Pedagogy for the Early Learning Program provides the foundation for a profound educational revolution in Ontario. These are strong words, so it is vital that we understand why they are warranted.
Ontario enjoys one of the finest public education systems anywhere in the world. And yet, despite the strenuous efforts made by generation after generation of teachers, parents, and, of course, students, it has proven to be extremely difficult to change a child’s educational trajectory from her moment of school-entry. That is, based on children’s language, literacy and numeracy competencies from the moment that they enter school we can make fairly strong predictions about their eventual educational attainment, and it turns out to be very difficult to alter these outcomes.
Stuart Shanker is Distinguished Research Professor of philosophy and psychology at York University and director of the Milton and Ethel Harris Research Initiative (MEHRI), a state-of-the-art cognitive and social neuroscience institute at York University.
Dr. Shanker is director of the Council for Human Development, past president of the Council of Early Child Development and director of the Cuba-Mexico-Canada Research Initiative, an international, multi-disciplinary investigation into preventative mental health (funded by the International Development Research Centre of Canada).
Understandably, there is a large contingent that wonders whether the obduracy of this problem is due to the fact that we are starting formal education too late, and that the key to ‘closing the achievement gap’ is to expose children to academic subjects at younger and younger ages. But developmental neuroscience is telling us a very different story. Over the past decade, scientists have begun to acquire a much better understanding of why it has been so difficult to change educational trajectories, and it turns out that the explanation for this phenomenon has little to do with IQ; rather, the reason lies primarily in the child’s ability to self-regulate: to monitor and modify emotions, focus or shift attention, control impulses, tolerate frustration, delay gratification, co-regulate in social interactions (Blair & Diamond, 2008).
Study after study is now telling us that a poor ability to self-regulate impedes a child’s ability to attend to her lessons or develop those positive emotional attributes that promote learning, thereby undermining the teacher-student relationship (Blair, 2002). Not surprisingly, teachers – and peers – respond much more positively to children who are able to control their emotions, which has a profound impact on the continuing development of their self-regulation skills, while those who have difficulty receive much less attention and encouragement.
Thus the obduracy of educational trajectories may be due in no small part to something as basic as the trouble a child has in coping with stress, which can be exacerbated by the very act of coming to school. By Grade 1 it is already difficult to help children master self-regulation skills, possibly because the neural systems that support these competencies are already starting to become entrenched (McCain, Mustard & Shanker, 2008). Furthermore, developmental neuroscience is telling us that we have a special window to enhance the development of self-regulation between the ages of three and five when the part of the brain that supports executive functions is undergoing a critical growth spurt (Posner & Rothbart, 2006).
Recognizing the importance of these scientific advances, the Pascal Report laid out in careful detail how a universal preschool program, taught by educators trained in early childhood development and schooled in the importance of learning-based play, will improve school readiness, precisely because it will enhance the self-regulatory skills that children need in order to flourish in school. To be sure, a child’s engagement with her parents lays the foundation for this development; but interactions with educators and between peers in a preschool setting are vital for its further development.
Thus, expanding the school system to welcome younger children does not mean subjecting them to the rigors of a classroom environment typical of the older grades. The Pascal Report made clear that the goal here is not to replicate the sort of teacher-directed program that characterizes grade school; it is to create an environment of child-directed activity that mobilizes the child’s interest and imagination.
This is precisely the reason why play is so important (Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2009). But as Every Child, Every Opportunity makes clear, this form of learning-based play is something that the framers of this curriculum have thought about very seriously. That is, what is outlined in these pages is a structured approach to preschool learning that is designed to mobilize and enhance children’s interest and curiosity. The thinking here is as old as the cognitive revolution, and indeed, was one of the driving inspirations for that revolution: namely, that the more a child is driven by interest and curiosity the more carefully she attends to her teachers (Bruner, 1966). But a child cannot be trained to be interested and curious. Rather, this foundation for learning throughout the lifespan must be carefully nurtured in the early years (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).
All of the activities and guidelines contained in this curriculum are grounded in this principle. But it isn’t just the children and their parents who will benefit from this approach; importantly, so too will their educators. For recent scientific findings also suggest that, by enhancing children’s ability to self-regulate, those engaged in tutoring these young minds will find their work immensely more rewarding and fulfilling (Mostrangelo, 2009). And this may be the ultimate reason why With Our Best Future in Mind and Every Child, Every Opportunity are ushering in a profound educational revolution in Ontario.
References
Blair, C. (2002). School readiness: Integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualization of children’s functioning at school entry. American Psychologist, 57:2, 111-127
Blair, C., & Diamond, A. (2008). Biological processes in prevention and intervention: The promotion of self-regulation as a means of preventing school failure. Development and Psychopathology 20:899-911
Bruner, J.S., (1966). The Process of Education. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R.M., Berk, L.E. & Singer, D.G. (2009). A mandate for playful learning in preschool: Presenting the evidence. New York: Oxford University Press.
McCain, M., Mustard, J.F., & Shanker, S.G., (2007). Early Years Study II. Toronto, The Council of Early Child Development.
Mastrangelo, S. (2009) "Outcomes for families of children with autism spectrum disorder involved in early intervention." Unpublished doctoral dissertation. York University.
Posner, M.I., & Rothbart, M.K., (2006). Educating the human brain. Washington: American Psychological Association.
Shonkoff, J., & Phillips, D. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Every Child, Every Opportunity
Curriculum and Pedagogy for the Early Learning Program
A compendium report to 'With Our Best Future in Mind: Implementing Early Learning in Ontario'
Table of Contents
- Early development launches children’s trajectories for learning
- Partnerships with parents and communities are essential
- Respect for diversity, equity and inclusion are prerequisites
- A planned program supports early learning
- Play is the means to early learning
- Knowledgeable and responsive educators are essential
- Understand child development
- Involve parents
- Nurturing relationships with children
- Organize the learning environment
- Extend early learning
- Evaluate early learning
- Social: Children are connected with others and contribute to their world
- Emotional: Children have a strong sense of identity and well-being
- Language and Literacies: Children are effective communicators
- Cognition: Children are involved and confident learners
- Physical: Children make healthy choices and master physical skill
