Past Events
- The IoI in association with the European Dana Alliance for the Brain presents
- Children and their brains
- the science and politics of early years development
- Venue: Dana Centre, 165 Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London SW7
- Date: February 3, 2005
- Time: 6.30 - 9pm
- Tickets: Free, but booking required
- Booking: Call 020 7942 4040 or email tickets@danacentre.org.uk
- For further information please contact Claire Fox at the Institute of Ideas, or Elaine Snell at the European Dana Alliance for the Brain.
An evening symposium and a debate on neuroscience and infant development organised by the Institute of Ideas in association with the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, brings together a panel of speakers who will look a the issues afresh with differing perspectives. The event will examine exactly what neuroscience can and cannot tell us about infant development and the political and social context in which these findings are being interpreted.
Neuroscience is beginning to yield tremendous gains in helping us understand how children develop. Exciting new insights are having an effect in the spheres of politics and education policy. In America, both the Democrats and Republicans have drawn on new brain research to inform policies relating to families and children. At a conference on early child development and learning at the White House in 1997, then First Lady Hillary Clinton noted that ‘everything we do with a child...determine(s) how their brains are wired’. In 2001 her successor Laura Bush hosted a White House 'Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development'. At this she claimed science confirms, ‘What a child experiences from day one to grade one has a direct and profound impact on his future’. In the UK, Minister for Children Margaret Hodge cites scientific evidence for a range of early years initiatives such as SureStart Schemes and Early Excellence Centres. In education, debates about learning styles, creativity and assessment techniques all claim the credibility of evidence from brain science.
- Is neuroscience being hijacked by politicians, and is scientific evidence thereby being over-claimed for - or even misrepresented - in the policy arena?
- Is neuroscience really overturning old theories of learning and development, or is it being used to give credibility to fashionable theories of questionable benefit to children’s education?
-Is there a danger of being overly deterministic about developments in early years?
6.30 - 7.30pmExamining the evidence and the context of the debate
- Professor Guy Claxton
- University of Bristol; author of Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: Why Intelligence Increases When You Think Less
- Professor Norbert Herschkowitz
- paediatric neuroscientist, Switzerland; author of A Good Start in Life: Understanding Your Child's Brain and Behaviour from Birth to Age 6
Chair
- Wendy Earle
- resources editor, British Film Institute; Institute of Ideas Education Forum
7.45 - 9pmPanel debate, followed by audience discussion
- Rebecca Abrams
- family advice columnist, Daily Telegraph; author of several books, including Three Shoes, One Sock and No Hairbrush: Everything You Need To Know About Having Your Second Child
- Dr Helene Guldberg
- associate lecturer in child development at the Open University and managing editor of the online publication spiked; author of The Myth of Infant Determinism
- Bill Lucas
- patron of the Campaign for Learning; author of Power up your mind, Help your child to succeed and Be Creative and Discover your hidden talents (forthcoming)
- Dr Helen Penn
- Professor of Early Childhood at the University of East London and research fellow at the Institute of Education, London University; author of Understanding Early Childhood: Issues and Controversies
Chair
- Claire Fox
- director, Institute of Ideas