Overview

Topics covered include:

Magnitude of the problem of poor child development in low and middle income countries (LMIC)

Risk and protective factors for child development in LMIC

Evidence-based early childhood interventions in LMIC. –What works? For whom does it work? How and why does it work?

Factors to be considered in scaling up effective early childhood interventions in LMIC.

Factors to be considered in the design and adaptation of early childhood interventions for use in low resource settings: why, where, with whom, what, how and for how long

Evaluating the effectiveness of early childhood interventions.

Critical reading of global early childhood intervention literature

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -(C) Blogs and assignments: student provided an adequate response but answers were largely based on lecture and workshop material and essential reading, with no real development of arguments, critical evaluation or evidence of study beyond the basics (basics = lecture material and essential reading). Structure and organisation of material was adequate. -good -(B)Good would be approximate to the B grades:Blogs and assignments: Student provided a comprehensive response. Material was well organised and well-structured. There was clear evidence of a good understanding of the material, and that a deeper understanding of material presented in lectures and workshops had been achieved due to relevant further reading and self-study. There was some evidence of appropriate critical evaluation and discussion and some evidence of novel synthesis between psychological principles and the field of global early child development. -excellent -(A) Excellent would approximate to the A grades:Blogs and assignments: Student provided a comprehensive and accurate response, with sound clarity of argument and expression. Distinction level answers evidenced a depth of insight into material presented in lectures and workshops and relevant further and additional reading. Appropriate critical evaluation of evidence and discussion of material supported all responses. Novel application of psychological understanding to global child development issues was clearly evident throughout responses and was relevant, appropriate and interesting.

Learning Outcomes

• Apply behaviour change principles to the process of designing, implementing, evaluating and disseminating early childhood programmes in LMIC.

• Critically evaluate and respond to literature describing early childhood interventions in LMIC.

• Understand the factors affecting wide-scale dissemination of effective programmes and how these affect intervention design and implementation.

• Understand the key considerations in designing and implementing early childhood interventions for use in low resource settings.