Background
Research and learning is key to awareness-raising and advocacy as it can improve public policy making by enriching the amount and quality of information available to policy makers- even without forming an explicit position on any given issue.
New knowledge can also serve to clarify public issues, weigh the merits of various options, firm up the case for the solution that works best and mobilise constituencies.
The Learning Community Programme is CCSI’s response to the need for policy and programme developers and implementers to base their efforts on verifiable evidence, evidence of the realities within our Caribbean families and communities, and of best practices within and outside the region which should be promoted for the benefit of our children.
To counteract an evident lack on substantive data about the (cost)-effectiveness of quality support services in the Caribbean, CCSI launched a longitudinal impact study of which initial findings demonstrate that the RCP type of service yields significant benefits for children and parents and the return on investment in ECD are large. The various conclusions will be used to underscore the quest for more accessible ECD and family support services and demonstrate how important ECD is in the context of economic growth and poverty reduction.
The Learning Community Programme aims to:
- upgrade knowledge on ECD and parenting-related issues
- raise awareness and knowledge on ECD for policy makers, practitioners and the larger public
- document and disseminate findings to a wide cross-section of Caribbean stakeholders
- Provide materials relevant to national and local advocacy for ECD services and interventions
- Guide an internship/research and documentation agenda related to the objectives of the Learning Community networks
Activities/Outputs (2010-2011):
- Publication of Literature Review 2008 and Summary Report of event for dissemination
- A CCSI Journal series on themes of sponsored CCSI research
- Gender and the Young Child
- Mothers and Fathers of Young Children
- Learning environments of young children
- To be determined by emergent research 2010-2011
- A minimum of three (3) evidenced based Policy Briefs related to new/emergent research during year.
- Target young scholars/researchers to analyse RCP Impact Study Data Sets for possible new/emerging research areas
Who is Involved
Implementers:
- Regional and international researchers with a focus on parenting and early childhood development, especially from the Caribbean and the Diaspora
- Caribbean and other university student interns
This project is substantially informed by the literature review and the “Caribbean Child-Rearing Practices” researchers meeting held in Dominica in May 2006 under CCSI’s aegis.
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For further information, contact:
Mrs. Janet Brown
Coordinator |
