A global call to action for early childhood

Early child development: A powerful equaliser
31
In this report we provide a framework
(see figure 1) for understanding the
environments that play a significant
role in providing nurturant conditions
to all children in an equitable manner.
The framework acts as a guide to
understanding the relationships
between these environments,
putting the child at the centre
of her or his surroundings. The
environments are not hierarchical,
but rather are truly interconnected.
At the most intimate level is the
family environment. At a broader
level are residential communities
(such as neighbourhoods), relational
communities (such as those based on
religious or other social bonds), and
the ECD service environment. Each of
these environments (where the child
actually grows up, lives, and learns)
is situated in a broad socioeconomic
context that is shaped by factors at the
regional, national, and global level.
The framework affirms the importance
of a life course perspective in decision
making regarding ECD. Actions taken
at any of these environmental levels
will affect children not only in the
present day, but also throughout their
lives. The framework also suggests that
historical time is critically influential
for children: large institutional
and structural aspects of societies
(e.g., government policy-clusters,
programmes, and the like) matter for
ECD, and these are built or dismantled
over long periods of time.
While genetic predispositions and
biophysical characteristics partially
explain how environment and
experience shape ECD, the best
evidence leads us to consider the child
as a social actor who shapes and is in
turn shaped by his or her environment.
This is known as the “transactional
model,” which emphasises that
the principal driving force of child
development is relationships. Because
strong nurturant relationships can
make for healthy ECD, socioeconomic
circumstances, despite their
importance, are not fate.
The family environment is the primary
source of experience for a child, both
because family members (or other
primary caregivers) provide the largest
share of human contact with children
and because families mediate a child’s
contact with the broader environment.
Perhaps the most salient features of
the family environment are its social
and economic resources. The gradient
effect of family resources on ECD is
the most powerful explanation for
differences in children’s well-being
across societies.
Children and their families are also
shaped by the residential community
(where the child and family live) and
the relational communities (family
social ties to those with a common
identity) in which they are embedded.
Residential and relational communities
offer families multiple forms of
support, from tangible goods and
services that assist with child rearing to
emotional connections with others that
are instrumental in the well-being of
children and their caregivers.
“Relational community” refers to the
adults and other children who help
form a child’s social identity (tribal,
ethnic, religious, language/cultural).
Often, this is not a geographically
clustered community. Relational
communities provide social networks
and collective efficacy, including
instrumental, informational, and
emotional forms of support. However,
discrimination, social exclusion, and
other forms of subjugation are often
directed at groups defined by relational
communities. The consequences of
these forms of discrimination (e.g.,
fewer economic resources) can result
in discernable inequities. Moreover,
relational communities can be
sources of gender socialisation, both
equitable and non-equitable. Relational
communities are also embedded in the
larger sociopolitical contexts of society;
as such, reciprocal engagement with
other relational groups, civil society
organisations, and governmental
bodies is a means of addressing the
interests and resource needs of their
members.
The availability of ECD programmes
and services to support children’s
development during the early years
is a crucial component of an overall
strategy for success in childhood. ECD
services may address one or more
of the key developmental domains
(i.e., language-cognitive, socioemotional,
and physical development).
The quality and appropriateness of
services is a central consideration in
determining whether existing ECD
programmes improve outcomes for
children. Some principles of ECD
programmes and services are readily
transferable between places; however,
many programme features require
tailoring to the social, economic, and
cultural contexts in which they are
found. Health care systems (HCSs)
are key to providing many important
ECD services. The HCS is in a unique
position to contribute to ECD, since
HCSs provide facilities and services
that are more widely accessible in
many societies than any other form of
human service, are already concerned
with the health of individuals
and communities, employ trained
professionals, and are a primary point
of contact for child-bearing mothers.
The influence of the regional and
national environments is fundamental
in determining the quality and
accessibility of services and resources
to families and communities. These
environments are also salient for
understanding the levels of social
organisation at which inequalities in
opportunity and outcome may be
manifest, and the levels of organisation
at which action can be taken to
ameliorate inequities.
COORDINATORS’ NOTEBOOK: ISSUE 29