Unit 5 Education and Health Fall 2023 (student copy) (1)1.pptx

EDUCATION AND HEALTH HTH SCI 1RR3 Land Acknowledgement AGENDA 1. Unit aims 2. Education and health 3. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) 4. Critiques of Canadian ECEC and impact in Ontario 5. Early childhood development 6. Inequities in ECEC 1. Unit Aims • We will explore the associatio...

EDUCATION AND HEALTH HTH SCI 1RR3 Land Acknowledgement AGENDA 1. Unit aims 2. Education and health 3. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) 4. Critiques of Canadian ECEC and impact in Ontario 5. Early childhood development 6. Inequities in ECEC 1. Unit Aims • We will explore the associations between education and health • Learners will explore the importance of early childhood education and how this can impact lifelong health outcomes Key Concepts – Access to early childhood education and care – Educational inequalities – Long-term effects of childhood underinvestment/trauma Key Terms – High quality/affordable/regulated early childhood education and care – Child poverty 2: EDUCATION AND HEALTH WHAT WE KNOW • Higher education is positively associated with better health – Education is correlated with other SDOH such as income, employment security and working conditions • Having more education makes it easier to enact overall change in the employment market – New training opportunities, civic activities and engagement, etc • Education increases overall literacy and health literacy – More skills to adopt healthy behaviours (Raphael, 2020) REMEMBER… Solar, O., & Irwin, A. (2010). A conceptual framework for action on the social determinants of health: Social determinants of health discussion paper 2. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization Press. Women with Bachelor’s degree earn ~ 63% more than women with a high school diploma https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2017036 -eng.htm Men with Bachelor’s degree earn ~ 45% more than men with a high school diploma STATE OF EDUCATION IN CANADA (Raphael, 2020) Education and Health Required media file: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2014, January 8). Education: It matters more to health than ever before [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8N4wka3wak (3 minutes) * see syllabus STATE OF EDUCATION IN CANADA CONT. • 53% of Canadian population has post-secondary education HOWEVER • Children whose parents do NOT have post-secondary education perform WORSE than children of more educated parents * What may reduce this link? = Affordable early childhood education and care programs 3: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE Early Childhood Education and Care • Early childhood experiences shape adult physical and mental health • High quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) – important for the growth, development and health of a child • High costs = barrier to access for many families • Many families do not qualify for subsidies so they must pay out of pocket (Wellesley Institute, 2015) ECEC: POLICY GOALS GOAL ONE – Enhancing children’s well-being, healthy development, and lifelong learning • Quality matters (well-educated staff, size, etc.) GOAL TWO – Supporting parents in education, training, and employment • Childcare allows parents (often single mothers) to upgrade education and/or enroll in education/training (*increase income) GOAL THREE – Strong communities • Ensures that young children learn to respect diversity and develop their own identity • Parents come together to build social networks and support GOAL FOUR – Providing Equity • ECEC basic human right (especially for those with disabilities and women) (Raphael, 2016, chapter 9) POLICY GOAL ONE GOAL ONE – Enhancing children’s well-being, healthy development, and lifelong learning • High quality ECEC should have: • Low staff: child ratios • Staff who have an education in ECEC • Organize children in groups of manageable size • Decent working conditions/wages • Ensure consistent adult and peer groups in well-designed environments • Provide challenging, non-didactic, play-based, creative, enjoyable activities * Needs to be early, intensive, and systematic Childhood Development Required media file: Knowledge Centre (2018). Interview with Dr Jean Clinton: Issues hindering on issues hindering development https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=tMvLctm99q0 (4 minutes) * see syllabus ECEC: CANADIAN CONTEXT • Responsibility for early education is primarily provincial/territorial • Reliance on informal/for-profit childcare until kindergarten, typically paid for by parent fees o Means testing for subsidies (money granted by the government) – access is dependent on the person’s financial ability to pay How Does Learning Happen Belonging • Sense of connectedness to others Well-Being • Physical and mental health and wellness; self-care, sense of self, and self-regulation skills Engagement • State of being involved and focused; children are able to explore the world around them Expression • To be heard as well as to listen; opportunities to explore creativity, and problem-solving Required reading: Ministry of Education, Ontario (2014). How does learning happen? pp. 7-8 4: CRITIQUES OF CANADIAN ECEC & ECEC IN ONTARIO CRITIQUES OF ECEC • No systematic/universal approach – “tangle of programs” – Incoherent development – So many programs with different funding arrangements • Disconnect between ECEC and education system – Canadian responsibility for childcare is private, Kindergarten is a public good (provincial/territorial) – User fees a barrier • Inadequate wages and training – Canadian caregivers receive little public support, few resources, and unacceptably low wages • Lack of systematic attention to monitoring and data collection – No reliable, consistent, comparable data on various aspects of ECEC that can inform policy or improve service provision • Unstable investment and long-term agenda (changes based on which government is in power) (Raphael, 2016) CANADA’S RESPONSE TO THE CRITIQUES • • Government of Canada to provide provinces and territories with $1.2 billion for early learning and child care programs Three-year bilateral agreements (Government of Canada, Government of Nunavut • In September 2017, Nunavut signed a three-year, $7 million bilateral agreement with the federal government as part of the Federal-Provincial/Territorial Early Childhood Learning and Care Agreement (ECLC) • Funding will be used for the development of standardized program materials to help support the delivery of consistent, high-quality instruction in early years programs • Resources will be available in all official languages and will reflect Nunavut, life in the North and the Inuit culture. IMPACT IN ONTARIO http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/CentresofExcelle IMPACT IN ONTARIO Started in 2018 (Combines four programs): • Ontario Early Years Centres • Parenting and Family Literacy Centres • Child Care Resource Centres • Better Beginnings, Better Future IMPACT OF PROVINCIAL ELECTION on ECEC https://www.flare.com/news/doug-ford-changes-for-ontar ECEC: HOW ARE WE DOING? https://theconversation.com/canada-must-invest-more-in-early-childhood-education-sa ys-new-report-89694 SOURCE http://ecereport.ca/media/uploads/2021-overview/ overview2020_final2.pdf FUNDING http://ecereport.ca/media/uploads/2021-overview/ overview2020_final2.pdf http://ecereport.ca/media/uploads/2021-overview/ overview2020_final2.pdf ACCESS http://ecereport.ca/media/uploads/2021-overview/ overview2020_final2.pdf ACCESS (Raphael, 2020, p. 33) LEARNING ENVIRONMENT EFFECTS OF COVID ON ECEC https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2021/04/budget-2021-acanada-wide-early-learning-and-child-care-plan.html 5: EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT Why Study Early Childhood Development? • Early childhood experiences have immediate and long lasting biological, psychological, and social aspects on health • The quality of early child development is shaped by economic and social resources available to parents, which is primarily through employment (Raphael, 2020) BARTLEY TYPOLOGY Materialist Political economy Life course Cultural/Behavioural Psychosocial (Raphael, 2016, p. 220) EARLY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES • Early childhood experiences have strong immediate and longer lasting biological, psychological, and social effects upon health Latency effects Pathway effects Cumulative effects LATENCY EFFECTS • Early childhood experiences predispose children to either good or bad health • Specific exposures during pregnancy and early childhood (poor maternal diet, risk behaviours, exposure to stress, etc) • e.g., low birth weight (predictor of incidence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in later life) and adverse childhood events (e.g., trauma) latency effects pathway s effects cumulati ve effects PATHWAY EFFECTS • Exposures to risk factors at one point in time may not have immediate health effects, but can later lead to situations that do have health consequences • e.g., Lack of readiness to learn when children enter school (may not be an immediate health issue, but can lead to experiences later in life that are harmful such as lower educational latent effects pathway s effects attainment and paid employment CAN BE INTERRUPTED IF HIGH QUALITY ECEC IS PROVIDED cumulati ve effects CUMULATIVE EFFECTS • The longer children live under conditions of material and social deprivation, the more likely they are to show adverse developmental and health outcomes • Accumulation of advantage or disadvantage over time – manifests in a range of indicators of health • “Learned helplessness” – *strong determinant of health* - children may feel unable to act effectively on the world latent effects pathway s effects cumulati ve effects REQUIRED MEDIA FILE: Burke, N. (2022). Understanding ACEs. TED talk. Understanding ACEs with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris - YouTube (7 minutes) *see syllabus 6: INEQUITIES IN ECEC EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT (EDI) EDI: physical health and well-being; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognition; communication skills and general knowledge • “Countries with higher average achievement tend to have lower levels of inequality in children’s reading scores. Bringing the worst-performing students up does not mean pulling the best-performing students down.” DRIVERS OF EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY AMONG CHILDREN: 1. PARENTAL EDUCATION – Lower education = lower pre-school attendance and less post-secondary education 2. MIGRATION BACKGROUND – First generation immigrant children do less well than non-migrant children 3. GENDER – Girls have higher reading levels than boys 4. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SCHOOLS – rich/poor go to different schools https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/an-unfair-start-inequality-children-education_37049-RC15EN-WEB.pdf “By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes” ~ Global Goals for Sustainable Development 2015, Goal 4.1 • *Out of 41 countries – based on gaps in reading scores. Ranking based on reading inequalities at age 15. • “The average dualincome families in wealthy nations spend approximately 15 per cent of their net income on childcare. In Canada, this figure is as high as 22 per cent on average, with the United Kingdom having the highest figure with 33.8 per cent.” (2016 OECD Study) •https://www.ctvnews.ca/features/analysis-daycare-fees-continue-to-rise-across -canada-1.3940099 WHAT CAN CANADA DO? 1. Improve services – focus on quality 2. Change behaviours – too simplistic and stigmatizing 3. Strengthen environments – community advocacy (force vs. persuade government) 4. Strengthen environments – healthy public policy (**most effective) CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 1. What surprised you the most about the link between early childhood education and care and health? 2. How would the provision of highquality, regulated, and affordable childcare impact some of the issues identified in the readings?