(Clockwise from top left) Professor Tan Oon Seng, Professor Richie Poulton, Professor Catherine McBride, Associate Professor Kenneth Poon and Professor Marinus van IJzendoorn.
The Centre for Research in Child Development (CRCD) held a webinar entitled “Research in Child and Human Development: Some Important Lessons for Policy and Practice” on 26 August 2021. The webinar was attended by some 200 Singapore and overseas participants, including key personnel, leaders in research, policy staff, teachers, teacher trainers, content specialists, school leaders and university students.
CRCD Centre Director Professor Tan Oon Seng welcomed the participants and delivered the opening address. Elaborating on the importance of research in child development, Professor Tan identified five emerging trends impacting how child development research could translate into interventions, programmes, policies and practices in Singapore.
Professor Richie Poulton, NIE’s 12th CJ Koh Professor and Director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit at the University of Otago, New Zealand, was among the webinar presenters. Citing the Dunedin Longitudinal Study involving 1,037 individuals followed from birth to age 45, he explained how the pernicious effects of low childhood self-control can reach well into midlife. The study results showed that children with better self-control aged more slowly in their bodies and showed fewer signs of aging in their brains. Professor Poulton concluded his presentation by examining the study findings from a policy and resource allocation perspective.
Professor Catherine McBride, a developmental psychologist from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, spoke about the importance of social impact in academia. She gave examples of how she has used her work to create social impact, and the resulting benefits on her research. She also addressed some of the challenges of creating social impact through research, and concluded that the effectiveness of the social impact could depend on factors such as research locality, one’s age, flexibility, comfort level with social media.
Professor Marinus van IJzendoorn, a visiting professor at University College London and human development expert, shared his knowledge on the replication crisis and translation caution in research. He suggested useful solutions for the replication crisis, and emphasised the role of meta-analysis in deriving robust applications for policy and clinical practices.
The Q&A session was moderated by Associate Professor Kenneth Poon, CRCD Co-Director and Associate Dean of Education Research at NIE. Discussion topics ranged from the shortening of pathways for translating research, the reliability of meta-analyses for decision-making in policy and practice, the adequacy of preschools in developing children from at-risk backgrounds, and the key drivers for better life outcomes.
Professor Tan Oon Seng concluded the webinar by reminding everyone to be “MAD” about early childhood research, i.e. to have “Multiple” perspectives on research and child development, “Aletheia” (or data authenticity) in the work we do, and more “Dialogue” amongst researchers, practitioners and policy makers.