| The Drum Beat – 628 – Communication for Early Childhood Development |
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| This issue of The Drum Beat highlights the latest additions to The CI’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) theme site, a collaboration with the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF). BvLF aims to improve opportunities for children up to age 8 who are growing up in socially and economically difficult circumstances around the world. On this site, you will be able to access the most current resources on early childhood, particularly focusing on early learning, reducing violence, and healthy environments. To learn more about these issues – as well as to access communication-centred ECD images, videos, recent news, and Twitter and Facebook feeds and posts – please c! lick on the links below to read the summaries, including the November issue of Early Childhood Matters on community violence and young children. |
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| IMPROVED PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS |
| 1. Living Conditions: The Influence on Young Children’s Health |
| This edition of Early Childhood Matters looks at the link between children’s living conditions and their health and development and works to identify what can be done. It includes studies done in Uganda, Israel, Brazil, Peru, India, and Europe and projects on advocacy, community construction, community participation, clean air conventions and initiatives, and play space creation. For example, in «Recognising the Importance of the Living Conditions Children Grow up in», Selim Iltus lists reasons that the links from living conditions to child health and development outcomes are unrecognised, such as «the lack of a coordinated effort to communicate the impact of physical factors on children’s health and development in an organised and holistic way.» Iltus suggests that the Child Friendly Cities Self-Assessment tools can support community advocacy for children. [BvLF, Jun. 2012] |
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2. Healthy Environments
by Liz Brooker and Martin Woodhead |
| «Enabling disabled children and their non-disabled siblings and peers to use play spaces together contributes to social inclusion, community building and networking…» This publication examines the linkages between the physical world children inhabit, the quality of their lives, and their well-being. Section 1 draws attention to some key global challenges in providing healthy physical environments – recognising that multisectoral policy responses are needed to ensure adequate housing and improved water and sanitation, as well as recreational spaces. Section 2 explores the opportunities and challenges of living in urban environments. Section 3 reviews a range of such spaces, including «democratic spaces» and «child-friendly spaces» in areas affected by disasters and emergencies. [The Child and Youth Studies Group at The Open University, with BvLF support, Sep. 2012] |
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3. Children’s Right to Play: An Examination of the Importance of Play in the Lives of Children Worldwide
by Stuart Lester and Wendy Russell |
| One chapter in this publication examines the provision of conditions for play to take place – with a focus on advocacy. Key points here include the recommendation that adults work at all levels, from local practices to international law, to ensure that: play is recognised as fundamental to children’s survival, well-being, health and development; all children have time, space, and licence to play; toxic stressors (e.g., neighbourhoods that are environmentally toxic or spaces of oppression and imprisonment) are identified and action taken to reduce these stressors and also to enable children to develop resilience to them through play; and proactive and collaborative action is taken at policymaking and community levels to develop and maintain local environments that support play. [BvLF, Dec. 2010] |
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| 4. Early Childhood Development for Burmese Refugees – WEAVE |
| The overall objective of Women’s Education for Advancement and Empowerment (WEAVE)’s ECD work is to ensure that displaced Burmese children from the ages of 2 to 6 have access to quality early childhood programmes which provide the foundations to develop their physical, emotional, intellectual, and creative potentials. WEAVE trains local teachers so that the community’s skills for supporting schools and children are improved in the long term to increase sustainability of community programmes and decrease reliance on non-governmental organisations (NGOs). [Funded by BvLF] |
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5. Men Who Care: A Multi-Country Qualitative Study of Men in Non-Traditional Caregiving Roles
by Gary Barker, Margaret Greene, Marcos Nascimento, Marcio Segundo, Christine Ricardo, Alice Taylor, Francisco Aguayo, Michelle Sadler, Abhijit Das, Satish Singh, Juan Guillermo Figueroa, Josefina Franzoni, Natalia Flores, Rachel Jewkes, Robert Morrell, and Jane Kato |
| This 5-country (Brazil, Chile, India, Mexico, and South Africa) qualitative study sought to explore men’s involvement in care work related to gender and concepts of masculinity. One suggestion to emerge from the research: Enhance initiatives to change norms and rules in workplaces and other social services spaces (hospitals, schools, daycare centres, and the like) related to men’s and women’s multiple roles as providers and caregivers. [Men and Gender Equality Policy Project (MGEPP), coordinated by Instituto Promundo and the International Center for Research on Women, with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Government of Norway (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Norad), the Ford Foundation, an anonymous donor; portions of the analysis and country-level work were supported by BvLF, UN Women (Chile), and Universidad de Chile, Mar. 2012] |
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6. Increasing Choice or Inequality?
by Natilia Streuli, Uma Vennam, and Martin Woodhead |
| This study recommends advocating for a major reform of early childhood services, «specifically strengthening and universalising quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Andhra Pradesh [India] to smoothen children’s transitions to, and through, primary school.» To strengthen ECCE, it is recommended that the Integrated Childhood Development Services (ICDS) programme, amongst other things, develops a more comprehensive, child-centred vision for early childhood and primary education. [BvLF, May 2011] |
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| Early Childhood Matters, the journal of BvLF, is now available online! |
| Designed for an international audience of practitioners and policymakers, this publication tackles contemporary themes in early childhood, with contributions from both BvLF-supported projects and outside experts drawn from the fields of practice, policy, and academia. Published twice per year, Early Childhood Matters is available in PDF format and online in both English and Spanish. Click here for access. |
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| QUALITY EARLY LEARNING TO SCALE |
| 7. Early Learning: Lessons from Scaling Up |
| This edition of Early Childhood Matters looks at the question of how to scale up early learning provision without sacrificing quality. Articles consider lessons that can be learned from national-level experiences in South Africa, Kenya, the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Macedonia, Cuba, Chile, and Peru, as well as examining lessons at an organisational level. For example, in «Can Mobile Technology Really Make Kids Smarter?», Cynthia Chiongr examines early research on this question: «as smartphones, tablet computers and other such devices increasingly penetrate even poorer communities, what is their potential to support children’s learning?» [BvLF, Nov. 2011] |
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| 8. ‘play and learn with miffy’ – Early Childhood Development Co-Creation |
| Venezuelan designers associated with the Butterfly Works project visited Amsterdam, Netherlands, to finish the first book of yoyo, yoyo llega (there comes yoyo), accompanied by an instruction folder for its use in ECD. «By implementing specially developed reading programmes, such as an additional inlay which functions as a HowTo suggestion, play and learn with miffy will stimulate the themes addressed in the books and more important guide the stimulation of reading to or with children by parents or caregivers.» The goal is to contribute children’s literature that offers «safe and secure surroundings to learn the first adventures» in ECD. |
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| 9. Young Children in Cities: Challenges and Opportunities |
| This edition of Early Childhood Matters looks from various different angles at young children’s experiences of growing up in urban settings. It includes studies of: the situations of ethnic groups such as the Roma; Mexican border-dwelling children; slum-dwelling children in Delhi, India; urban caregivers in need of care; children in urban emergencies; and child-friendly city efforts. For example, in «Inspiring Slum Children through Education: A Story from Delhi», Geeta Dharmarajan reflects on education services provided by Katha and explains how Katha’s model of classroom education, combined with community-focused projects, teaches children to think for themselves and contribute to strengthening their society. [BvLF, Nov. 2010] |
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10. The Impact of a Caribbean Home-Visiting Child Development Program on Cognitive Skills
by Wendy Janssens and Cristina Rosemberg |
| This is a study of the impact of the Roving Care Givers programme of St. Lucia, part of a longitudinal impact evaluation of a home visiting programme for vulnerable families of very young children. When the data analysis is performed by birth cohort, the study finds «strong and significant effects on the cognitive development of children aged between 6 and 18 months at program start, but not for the older birth cohort aged 18 to 30 months.» This suggests that a home-visiting intervention that aims to enhance appropriate parenting practices in this respect may therefore opt to enrol caregivers as soon as possible after birth of their child and potentially even earlier during the prenatal stage. [Funded by BvLF, Aug. 2009] |
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11. Strengthening the Care Environment for Children in Central America
by Julio Cesar Cano Bran |
| This paper describes the experiences and lessons learned among 5 NGOs that rely on support, care, and education programmes to carry out work among children aged 0-6 years and their families and communities living under conditions of poverty and marginalisation in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Models of positive childhood environments described here are distinguished by «their holistic vision of the initiatives, the innovative nature of the approach to education and care, and the reliance on inter-institutional co-ordination in the delivery of goods and services for children.» In one programme, children aged 4 to 6 who have demonstrated leadership qualities are asked to participate in after-school events in which messages related to the rights of the child are communicated. The teachers rely on learning games, such as puppet shows, games in groups, or the telling of fables or fairy tales.! Children choose the activity and decide how to carry it out. Children who have taken part in these events then supervise similar events in their respective childcare centres. [BvLF, Dec. 2009] |
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| PLEASE ENGAGE FURTHER IN THE CI’S ECD PROCESSES: |
- Visit our ECD theme site
- Lend your voice to The CI’s Development Networks conversation: the space for people using media and communication strategies and capacities to ensure effective ECD can share, debate, and advance improved action towards that common goal.
- Subscribe to DB CLICK: Children, which updates you on recent children- and youth-related initiatives including programme activities, evaluation and research results, books and materials, and other information recently placed on The Communication Initiative website. Send an email tochildren@comminit.com requesting to «Subscribe: Children».
- Send us information about your communication-centred ECD work at any time:children@comminit.com
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| REDUCING VIOLENCE |
| 12. Hidden Violence: Protecting Young Children at Home |
| These Early Childhood Matters articles are grouped together due to the shared observation that violence is often hidden: «This invisibility, and the deeply entrenched social norms and taboos that allow it to be perpetuated, speak to the injustice that violence in young children’s lives represents.» Several articles stress the need for good data on how many young children are affected by violence and for better evidence about what works to tackle violence in the home. A variety of initiatives and strategies are highlighted, such as the Together for Girls Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa, the multicountry Optimus study on child sex abuse, the Violence Prevention Alliance, the Child Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group, and the Africa Child Policy Forum and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative. [BvLF, Jun. 2011] |
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13. Stopping It before It Starts: Strategies to Address Violence in Young Children’s Lives
by Michael Feigelson |
| This document advocates for systematic and reliable measures of the effect of violence on young children. It presents evidence that violence in young children’s lives can be prevented through programmes such as home visitation, family strengthening, women’s economic empowerment, alcohol regulation, and efforts to change social norms. It examines policy windows to achieve impact at scale on violence against children, asserting that leaders need to engage more effectively in areas of social policy such as social protection, employment, women’s rights, and public security. The document suggests that more sophisticated communications strategies can drive sustained public political engagement and gain new champions for violence prevention. [BvLF, Aug. 2012] |
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| 14. Community Violence and Young Children: Making Space for Hope |
| This edition of Early Childhood Matters looks at the effects of community violence on young children. Articles explore: the idea that violence should be thought of as a public health problem analogous to infectious disease; examine from a scientific perspective the impacts on children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development of growing up in a violent community; share first-hand insights from children and caregivers; and explore various interventions, from the favelas of Recife, Brazil, to the inner cities of Chicago, Illinois, United States (US), and Glasgow, Scotland, which are offering a tangible sense of hope. [BvLF, Nov. 2012] |
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15. Bridges to Adulthood: Understanding the Lifelong Influence of Men’s Childhood Experiences of Violence
by Manuel Contreras, Brian Heilman, Gary Barker, Ajay Singh, Ravi Verma, and Joanna Bloomfield |
| «Adult men who were victims or witnesses of domestic violence as children, for instance, likely come to accept violence as a conflict resolving tactic not only in intimate partnerships but also in their wider lives….More efforts to encourage and support men to be involved, nonviolent fathers and communicative and equitable partners in their intimate and co-parenting relationships are needed….Ways to implement such approaches inevitably vary by context, but could include: school-based education for boys on relationship and caregiving skills; prenatal courses for fathers (and mothers); and premarital courses for men.» [International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and Instituto Promundo, funded by BvLF, Apr. 2012] |
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16. Defending Children’s Rights Means Defending Their Mothers, Too
by Mallika Dutt and Michael Feigelson |
| This article describes the dilemma of children being exposed to violence against their mothers, both its frequency and its results, and advocates for what makes violence-free relationships more possible. It was written to honour International Child Rights Day, November 20, by taking the «opportunity to reflect on the health, safety and essential human rights of India’s next generation». One factor that supports violence-free relationships for women is prioritising education. Women with opportunities for education are more likely to be free from and more likely to protect girl children from: early marriage, genital mutilation, and sex-selective elimination. [Breakthrough and BvLF, Nov. 2012] |
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| 17. Hidden Violence (Geheim Geweld) |
| This film portrays the long-term impact of child abuse through interviews with two adults who wish to break through taboos and encourage advocacy and vigilance on the issue of child protection. They describe the lack of safety, security, and love that brings about a long search for processing, recognition, and acceptance. «Hidden Violence” is a full film production, which can also be used as educational material. The film is intended, through the candid testimony of all involved, to reinforce the urgency of the issue of child abuse. [Funded by BvLF and Foundation Anton Constandse, Jan. 2011] |
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| This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries. |
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| The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership – Partners: ANDI, BBC Media Action, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Breakthrough, Calandria, DFID, FAO, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI), Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, Oxfam Novib, PAHO, The Panos Institute, Puntos de Encuentro, The Rockefeller Foundation, SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, STEPS International, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, The Wellcome Trust, World Health Organization (WHO), W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
Chair of the Partners Group: Garth Japhet, Founder, Soul City garth@heartlines.org.za
Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com |
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| The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries. |
| Please send additional project, evaluation, strategic thinking, and materials information on communication for development at any time. Send to drumbeat@comminit.com
The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners. |
Blog de Octavio Islas 
Effective. I agree.
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