When does development begin and what sorts of things determine whether children will learn with ease or have difficulties?
Let's go back to the start. The combination of genes from a child's father and mother provide a unique genetic pattern and, from that moment, provided there are no accidents during the time of cell division or negative influences passed through the placenta (eg German measles in the mother affecting hearing and vision in the child), the 'nature' side of development is set. Already certain characteristics are in place, such as eye colour, body-build and temperament. Some of these attributes can be changed by experiences, but new learning or moments of stress can cause the inherited traits to emerge once more.
Some features are not amenable to change - the child who wants to be a jockey but grows to six feet tall just has to accept the body-build that was inherited. Growth patterns can only be minimally affected by diet, whereas the weight factor can vary a great deal depending on the quantity and quality of nutrition children have.
Unfortunately, the genetic pattern may contain difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism or debilitating illnesses such as haemophilia.
And, after conception, accidents in cell division can happen which can cause Down's syndrome or even conjoined twins. So, even before we are born, to some extent the die is cast.
What happens before we are born? How can that process affect how we learn?
Some time during the first 24 to 36 hours after conception, cell division begins and tendrils are formed which implant these divided cells into the uterine wall. This is the start of the embryonic stage. As the placenta and other support structures are formed, the embryo is separating itself into specialist groups of cells for hair and skin, sensory receptors, muscles, nerve cells and circulatory systems. By the eighth week the embryo is one-and-a-half inches long and has a heart and a basic circulatory system; and by 12 weeks the sex can be determined, eyelids and lips are there, and feet have toes and hands have fingers. For the rest of the period of gestation, the development of the systems continues. The nervous system is one of the least well-developed systems at birth, but maturation is clearly at work. The baby doesn't consciously learn to do certain things; there is an inbuilt pattern of changes that are the same for all children in every culture.
Even in the womb, babies are developing a whole series of primitive reflexes that will be important for survival at birth and during the first few weeks of life. They are controlled by the brain stem, a vital area that controls breathing and the heartbeat. If these reflexes remain active beyond six to 12 months, however, then that shows a structural weakness within the central nervous system.
One of the reflexes that impacts on children's attitudes and ability to learn is the Moro reflex. It becomes active at nine weeks in utero; it is fully present at birth but should be inhibited, ie washed away, by two to four months so that more sophisticated reflexes can emerge. The Moro reflex triggers an involuntary reaction to any 'threat', eg a sudden loud noise, bright light or sudden movement. It consists of an outward lift of both arms out from the body and the head thrown back. There is a sudden intake of breath and a rise in blood pressure and the face reddens, showing a release of adrenaline and cortisol into the system. This is a 'fight or flight' response to keep the baby safe. But if this persists, the child will be in a constant state of alert, stressed and tense, waiting for something horrible to occur. They may respond by being aggressive or run from the scene. They are constantly on edge and prone to allergies.
How could we observe this in the nursery?
At nursery, children with a retained Moro reflex will find it hard to settle and listen calmly to stories, or even instructions about activities, apprehensive that some sudden change will occur. They may be hypersensitive to noises and, as many books and games have noises as part of their make-up, these may be avoided too. Some children are unable to cut out noises in the environment and will cover their ears. The normal busy-ness of the day upsets them. The colours of the plastic toys, the smell of soap or chemicals in the toilets, flickering strip lights or humming radiators, even seams in socks, can all be sources of disquiet for the Moro retentive child.
What are the most important factors affecting development and learning in the environment?
The experiences and opportunities the child encounters. At birth, the child already has 100,000 million brain cells, which means the brain is already three-quarters the weight of an adult brain. What is different is that vital connections between the cells have not yet been made. While this limits what the baby can do, it also provides flexibility so connections develop as a result of the baby's experiences. This is the first relationship between nature, ie what children are born with, and nurture, ie what they come to know as a result of interactions with their family, their environment and their cultural traditions. It is important to understand the interaction of nature and nurture, because only then will the way babies change over time be fully understood.
Understanding the nature/nurture debate is important for organising the best kind of education. If the children's environment makes a difference, then early intervention programmes should compensate for less-advantaged homes where resources and/or support may be limited.
While some early intervention programmes help disadvantaged children begin their formal education on a level with their peers, follow-up evaluations have found that the initial gains were sometimes lost. Was it possible that children could learn by rote without having the skills to retain their new understandings or apply them in new contexts? Or perhaps their home environment was so different that the new learning was not important there? Or perhaps the intervention assumed one kind of difficulty and did not meet the range of problems that were present?
You said temperament was inherited and could be modified by environmental factors. How can the temperament of young children affect the way they learn?
Some babies seem to be born with calm and sunny natures, while others are fractious and irritable. The fact that two such temperaments can exist in the same family indicates temperament is innate, dependent on nature rather than nurture or environmental influences. The interesting thing is how a baby's temperament influences their carer, either to keep communicating by smiling and cooing, or to give up and withdraw, possibly feeling inadequate for not making the baby smile. So the inborn bias to behave in a certain way has long-lasting social or intellectual consequences. As interactions build up over time, the shy, introverted baby becomes the oversensitive or withdrawn child.
'Resilience' and 'vulnerability' are another set of constructs. In the same situation, resilient children will focus on the positive elements and be ready to try again, while the vulnerable ones will dwell on the negative points and become downhearted and sad. It is not difficult to imagine the devastating effect of teasing or bullying on vulnerable children, who find it impossible to laugh off hurtful remarks.
Yet another set of temperamental characteristics are 'impulsiveness and reflectiveness'. The impulsive child acts immediately without regard for the consequences, while the reflective child, pondering on the possibilities, may not get round to acting at all. The impulsive child will finish early, with many slips, because he does not listen to instructions properly; the reflective child finds too many confusing possibilities and so finishes late, if at all.
In general, environmental influences are not strong enough to overcome the effects of innate characteristics. Children with ADHD show extreme examples of this, although it has to be remembered that these disorders have a neurological basis - they are not just restless children uninterested in what they have to do.
It must be remembered that these characteristics are on a continuum, with no exact cut-off points to differentiate between those who have one characteristic or another. Children described as introverted can become more confident when support is given, but without repeated reinforcement, they tend to lack self-belief in their own abilities. The important point is that these inherited traits are relatively stable, especially in new situations, and they influence how children respond to tasks, to offers of friendship, to the chance to take risks.
Christine Macintyre was formerly senior lecturer in child development, play and special needs at Edinburgh University. She now works as an early education consultant.
