conference learning report

Conference Learning

Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development

“Early Experiences Matter: Policies and Practices for Ensuring Holistic Development for

Very Young Children”8-10 November 2011

Singapore

Brenda LisenbyChief Rapporteur

“…having so many topics to cover in a short conference can be overwhelming and difficult to digest…but it is a reflection of the holistic nature of early childhood development as all five topics are interrelated and none can work in isolation…”

Ms Anupama Rao SinghRegional Director

UNICEF East Asia Pacific Regional Office

Learning Strands

• Policy status and development• Capacity building and professional development• Programmes and services for very young children

and their families• Community involvement and support for families• Cross sectoral responsibility for promoting

holistic development

Plus the underlying theme of research to support evidence based practice

Conference Objectives

• Provide a forum to widen and enrich regional understanding of research

• Provide opportunities for participants to share policy tools and experiences

• Facilitate debate on strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities for improved policy and programming

• Promote networking, build stronger partnerships• Create opportunities for professional

development and learning

Concurrent Sessions 1-1, 1-2

• traditional child rearing practices in Bangladesh were examined in regards to gender equity, parenting styles and impact on children

• Father’s literacy level and involvement resulted in better literacy; father’s involvement increases as the child gets older; and first child in the family gets better stimulation (Pakistan)


Focusing on Cambodia and the Philippines,these two presentations gave examples of the formation of national policies:

• The functionality of those policies at different levels

• The gaps in implementation• The reasons for inefficiency of the plans and

implementations

Concurrent Session 1-5ARNEC 2011 Noteworthy Practices• Healthy Start by Consuelo Fdn, Philippines• Hands to Hearts International, India• Mobile Creches, India• Human Development Programme, Pakistan• Community Based ECD, Thailand• A New Day for Kids (ANDK), Cambodia

Concurrent Session 1-6

Workshop—review of training provided to workers in poor resource communities to identify special needs and provide interventions (Delhi):

• Training module presented and discussed• Role plays of caregiver and community worker• Small group case study discussion


• Building communities for change by using Sesame Street programming (Mumbai)

• Piloting a programme in Pakistan for reaching the under threes: Releasing Confidence and Creativity


Early childhood development and education, home-based and center-based:

• Educarers can provide models of good practice

• Learning is not fragmented and should not negate cultural practices

• Ongoing research needed• Policies and practices need to promote

multicultural awareness within the community

Concurrent Sessions 2-5, 2-6Two very different topics:• Need of government policy to allocate

resources to very young children during natural disaster or emergency situation (proposal from Bangladesh)

• Issue of quality and relationship to accreditation, and the need to base policy and programmes on philosophy of child development rather than learning or schooling (Singapore)


East Asia-Pacific Scale Development• Review of ELDS (Early Learning Dev’t Standards)

from various countries, selection of 100 indicators (from1738)

• Piloted in Fiji, Mongolia, and China• Sample other countries, dev age-based norms• Purpose of scale: not pedagogical ass’t or

programme evaluation, but for capturing child dev’t across a population age group


Examined parent education and support programmes in Bangladesh and Shanghai:

• Service-based model• Community-based model• Need to ensure whichever model, that

programmes are acceptable, accessible, and sustainable

Concurrent Session 3

Capacity Building in ECD, participants interested in the following areas as related to CB:

• Global perspectives & success stories• Policy advocacy• Tools models and approaches• Training-practice in-service• Perspectives from Canada, Pakistan,

Singapore, Bangladesh, & Australia


Examined models of early intervention in several contexts:

• Early intervention services in Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal were analysed using the Tanahashi Model

• Case study of a mobile playgroup called PlayLinks in Australia


Play!• Guiding principles for good toys discussed• Participants chose toys from a selection—all

chose home-made toys over commercial toys when divided into groups to explore, learn and practice with the new toys

Concurrent Session 4 Advocacy

Overview of innovative advocacy strategies in the region:

• Mongolia—parent’s club• Bhutan—strengthening the case for ECD• Singapore—understanding men’s perspectives• Sri Lanka—ECCD in emergency situations• Nepal—using ELDS in advocacy

Morning Sessions Today

• Capacity building of ECCD workers• ECD leadership• Exclusion of marginalized & its impact• Child protection• Disaster risk reduction for very young children

Afternoon Sessions Today• Training certification in Singapore• Capacity building of health workers and

parents, Thailand• Pilot project in China for holistic ECD• ECD Observations from Hong Kong• Family and community based support for ECD

in the Philippines and Sri Lanka • Workshop for a development appraisal tool

used in Pakistan

Common Themes of the Week

• Evidence based ECD practice• Culturally and contextually appropriate ECD

policies, programmes, and interventions• The need for an effective communication

platform to share ECD knowledge and experience• The need to find effective ways to influence

national ECD policy and the global agenda• The need to develop a range of entry points to

serve very young children and their families when confronted with the reality of various sectors providing services in isolation

Thank you!

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