Total Environment Assessment Model for Early Child Development

Spheres of
Influence:
The Individual
of the environment on micro-physiological
processes. (Many avenues of research have
been pursued in this regard. In particular,
many investigations have focused on measurement
of blood pressure and cortisol levels
in response to socioeconomic conditions) [21].
Finally, the common understanding of the
environments that are thought to be pertinent
to children’s well-being still remains quite
narrow. Future research must attend to the
roles of environments (and their features)
more broadly defined. There is a particular
dearth of information regarding regional,
national, and global environments. The
critical roles of factors operating at these larger
geo-political levels is well illustrated by the
analysis of the Convention of the Rights of the
Child presented below.
Two key integrated solutions are proposed
here to resolve these issues. First, that explicit
measures of biological embedding (rather than
solely functional outcomes) become of equal
priority in future research endeavors regarding
child development. Second, that research
attend to the broader environment as a context
that influences early child development. The
collective body of knowledge would benefit
from comprehensive studies that incorporate
both multiple geo-political contexts and
collect information on neurophysiological
development (as well as functional outcomes
of development) for children across these
contexts.
Though ideal, this of course would be a
costly and logistically burdensome undertaking.
A more intermediate approach might be to
encourage smaller studies in different locales
(e.g. different regions and nations) to attempt
such ventures, so that a basis for comparison is
established for outcomes related to biological
embedding and functional aspects of development
across various societies.
crc & gc7 Challenges Remain
There remain multiple challenges to the
Convention and its General Comment. Most
notably the question remains, to what extent
do the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and the General Comment mirror the huge
variety of “childhoods in a multicultural
universe in need of exploration” [202].
24
In addition, the relationship between
enforcement of the crc, possible resultant
sanctions on countries in violation of the convention,
and the possible ill-effects of these
sanctions on ecd is perplexing. How to hold
countries responsible for upholding children’s
rights without in turn negatively affecting
children’s development, remains an important
question.
Summary/Framing the
Remainder of the Volume
In keeping with the central importance of
biological embedding and the influence of
many and varied environmental factors
for this process and for ecd more broadly,
team-ecd provides a framework that uses
a ‘cell-to-society’ approach to early child
development. The basic premise is that the
process of biological embedding and of early
child development in the physical, language/
cognitive, and socio-emotional domains
is affected by variations in many aspects of
environmental conditions and defined at
many levels of societal aggregation.
The child as an agent with a voice to
contribute is an integral part of this approach.
team-ecd draws on theoretical and empirical
understandings in a broad array of disciplines
to conceptualize the environments that are
significant for children, the ways in which
these interact with one another, and in turn
how they influence early child development.
key messages: the individual child
1. Health, nutrition, and well-being of the
mother are significant for the child’s
development.
2 . Three broad domains of development—physical,
social–emotional and
language–cognitive—are interconnected
and equally important.
3. Children shape their environments as well
as being shaped by them.
4 . Social determinants shape brain and
biological development through their
influence on the qualities of stimulation,
support, and nurturance available to
the child.
5 . Play is critical for a child’s overall
development.