1. Early Childhood Development LESSONS FROM RUSSIA 2007-2014 Nico van Oudenhoven International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI), Netherlands Childhood: policy, methodology and practice Early Childhood Care and Education Conference Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation Sochi, 20-22 October, 2014

2. Early Teachers Ivan Pavlov Lev Vigotsky Alexander Luria Alexander Zaporozhets

3. World Bank’s collaboration with Governments of Khanty Mansiysk and Yakutia New Teachers Elena Yudina Alexandre Asmolov Tigran Shmis Nikolay Veraksa

4. Other Teachers The Children The Parents The Teachers The Policy makers

5. Lesson One Russian Kindergartens are among the very best in the world, for many reasons. But…

6. Very good, but… Have been good for so many years without hardly having changed Tendency to avoid hot topics such as: Exclusion of special groups Child abuse Domestic violence

7. And the remedy… Experiment, reflect, investigate Engage in local, national and international debates (but from a position of strength) Validate knowledge of all stakeholders

8. Lesson Two In Early Childhood education there is the potential of a ‘golden triangle’ between Formal Nonformal and Informal approaches

9. Formal ECD: needed for all children

10. Informal ECD: extremely powerful

11. Informal ECD: So Rich, So Meaningful

12. Lesson Three: Culture versus Early Learning World-wide stress on turning children at ever younger ages into early learnings Schoolification of education Schoolification of young boys and girls Creation of one-dimensional children: consumers

13. Scene on the West Bank, Palestine

14. Burmese refugees in Thailand

15. Preschool in Yakutia

16. Question 1: would you rather (A) be rich, or (B) be a famous, dancer, musician, artist?

17. Question 8: Would you rather See pre-school or kindergarten children playing, enjoying nature, singing, painting, dancing, drawing pictures?OR See pre-school or kindergarten children learning how to read, write and to work with numbers?

18. What does research and experience tell us? Culturised ECD,works: soothing and healing bridge building strengthening cognitive functions strengthening social skills improving motivation stronger coping mechanisms

19. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXynrsrTKbI

20. Lesson Four: How to see our children? (a work in progress) What do young boys and girls tell us? What do we expect from them? What do we wish them to become? When do children become adults? What rights do they have and why?

21. What we WISH our children to be 1.Enjoys good physical health 2.Is curious and takes initiatives 3.Is intelligent 4.Is kind to other people 5.Loves animals 6.Plays a lot 7.Is obedient 8.Speaks more than one language 9.….

22. What we EXPECT our children to become 1.Healthier Less healthyAs healthy 2.WealthierLess wealthyAs wealthy 3.TallerLess tallAs tall 4.More friendsFewer friendsAs many friends 5.More educatedLess educatedAs educated 6.More sexually activeLess sexually active As sexually active 7.More childrenFewer childrenAs many children 8.….

23. Russian ECD: the best of all! www.youtube.com/watch?v=99kjy2qXEUE