Global Child Development

The Global Childhood Initiative has three strategic objectives that are used to build a portfolio of activity.

      Early childhood Development

      Child Mental Health

      Children in Crisis and Conflict Situations

Applying the Science of early childhood in Brazil

The Center aims to use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families in Brazil.

This project represents a unique opportunity for the Center to work with Brazilian scholars, policymakers, and civil society leaders to adapt the Center’s programmatic model for the local context in order to catalyze more effective policies and programs that will, ultimately, foster a more prosperous, sustainable, and equitable society.

Together, these organizations will engage in the following activities:

       Building a scientific agenda and community of scholars around early childhood development;

       Synthesizing and translating scientific knowledge for application to social policy. This will include working with the Center’s longtime partner organization, Frameworks Institute, to effectively communicate the science of child development in the Brazilian cultural context;

       Strengthening leadership around early childhood development through an executive leadership course for policymakers;

       Translating and adapting the Center’s existing print and multimedia resources for a Brazilian audience.

Articles on Early childhood Education

"Protecting Brains, Not Simply Stimulating Minds"

In an August 19 commentary in Science, Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff makes the case for scientists, practitioners, and policymakers to work together to design and test creative new interventions that mitigate the harmful effects of significant adversity in early childhood. As Shonkoff states in the commentary, "New strategies will be needed to strengthen the capacities of parents and providers of early care and education (beyond the provision of additional information and supports) to help young children cope with stress."

"Building a Foundation for Prosperity on the Science of Early Childhood Development"

Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff authored this article in the Winter 2011 issue of Pathways, a publication from the Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality. In the article, Shonkoff describes how poverty harms the cognitive development of children and impairs the biological “memories” created by gene-environment interactions, and discusses what can be done to break this entrenched cycle.

"Science Does Not Speak for Itself: Translating Child Development Research for the Public and Its Policymakers"

Science has an important role to play in advising policymakers on crafting effective responses to social problems that affect the development of children, according to this article co-authored by Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff and Susan Nall Bales, a contributing member of both the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs.  The article, which appears in the January/February, 2011, issue of Child Development, describes the work of a multi-year collaboration and underscores the need to view the translation of science into policy and practice as an important academic endeavor in its own right.

"Neuroscience and the Future of Early Childhood Policy: Moving from Why to What and How"

This article, by Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff and Pat Levitt, science director of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, advocates for greater synergy between neuroscience and innovation in early childhood policy to improve life outcomes for children experiencing significant adversity. As the authors state, “Neuroscience can play an important role in catalyzing the creative, new thinking needed to shape a new era of policies.”  The article appears in the September 9, 2010, issue of Neuron