Course Overview资料文件与下载

ABOUT THE COURSE 

Children are the common basis for all dimensions of sustainable development. No advances in sustainable development will occur in coming decades without multiple generations contributing to societal improvement. Moreover, beyond sheer survival, children have a right to thrive, develop to their full potential, and live in a sustainable world.

Around the world, governments, organizations, and communities are working to improve the life chances of young children, from universal prekindergarten programs in the United States, to the Integrated Child Development Services in India, to the Madrasa Early Childhood Program in East Africa. In spite of these efforts, it is currently estimated that 250 million children under the age of 5 worldwide are failing to meet their development potential.  

A range of powerful risk factors lead to this incredible loss of human potential. Malnutrition, lack of access to clean water and sanitation, lack of stimulation and learning opportunities, and many other challenges result in high odds of early mortality, school failure, early pregnancy, joblessness, and costly disease.  The levers for change rest in local and community strengths that promote resilience, as well as national and global action. Recognizing the interconnectedness of poverty reduction, health, education, agriculture, energy, gender equality, social inclusion, and development within planetary boundaries should place children and an inter-generational vision of development at the heart of the work of the 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Goals. 

This course draws from research in neuroscience, psychology, economics, anthropology and program implementation and evaluation in order to discuss Early Childhood Development and explore its role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Completing the course will lead to understanding: 

• The way in which children grow during this most rapid phase of development (physical, social, cognitive, emotional).

• How the environment interacts with the body to build brain architecture and influence children's growth and development.

• Milestones of child development, what is it that children know and can do at birth, by the second year, by preschool age.

• How child development and its contexts vary across cultures and societies.

• How can programs and policies support children's development?

• How can they best be implemented to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals related to children and youth?

• How can innovation push forward the field of ECD program development and how can you participate?

Join Professor Hirokazu Yoshikawa (New York University, Global TIES for Children), along with Professors Jack Shonkoff (Harvard Center on the Developing Child), Catherine Tamis-LeMonda (New York University), Aisha Yousafzai (Harvard Chan School of Public Health) and UNICEF Senior Advisor and Chief of Early Childhood Development Pia Rebello Britto for the newest course offering of the SDG Academy!

Course Structure and Requirements 

The course is structured around a series of pre-recorded chapter videos, readings, quizzes, discussion forums, and other activities. Each of these course components can be completed at a time that is convenient for the student, prior to the last date of the course. The material for each week are made available each Monday, and once the material has been opened, it remains open for the duration of the course. There are no written assignments for this course.

In addition to the asynchronous components of the course, the instructors will hold real-time Q & A sessions through YouTube to encourage students to ask questions and engage directly with the instructors. These sessions will be announced 1-2 weeks in advance. The estimated time commitment to complete all course components is 4-6 hours per week, though this depends heavily on the student and his/her objectives in taking the course.

All students who successfully complete the course will be eligible to purchase a verified certificate of completion, signed by the instructors. In order to successfully complete the course, students must score an average of 70% or higher on the quizzes, all of which are multiple choice.  While this course is not credit granting, we encourage students to work with their own institutions to explore the option of granting credit for online coursework. 

This course was made possible by a generous gift from the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation. Funding from the NYU Abu Dhabi Research Institute to the Global TIES for Children Center at New York University supported Prof. Yoshikawa’s work on this course.

Contact Information

If you have any additional questions on the course structure or requirements, please email the Course team at [email protected]. For technical questions about the platform, contact EdX.