tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/self-regulation-33001/articlesSelf-regulation – The Conversation2023-12-21T22:00:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2201402023-12-21T22:00:50Z2023-12-21T22:00:50ZACT’s attempt at regulatory reform in NZ has failed 3 times already – what’s different now?<p>As part of its coalition deal with National, the ACT Party is preparing to resurrect its “regulatory responsibility” legislation for the fourth time. This is despite the idea having been <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/site-search?term=regulatory+standards+bill">consistently rejected</a> since 2007. </p>
<p>As ACT’s coalition partners decide whether to allow its Regulatory Standards Bill to succeed this time, they need to reflect on that historical context. </p>
<p>ACT’s definition of “regulation” goes beyond parliamentary laws to include all forms of regulation at all levels of government. Its bill requires new (and eventually all) such regulation to adhere to principles and processes, also defined by ACT. It would also allow the courts to issue declarations of non-compliance. </p>
<p>The proposal is an extension of the neoliberal rhetoric of “best practice regulation”, including regulatory impact assessments and statements, which has become embedded in government practice since the 1990s. It has been endorsed by both National-led and Labour-led governments.</p>
<p>The 1999-2008 Labour government embraced the notion of “risk-tolerant regulation”. Essentially a market-based approach, it spanned a spectrum from no regulation or self-regulation to co-regulation with government. Hands-on regulation was a last resort.</p>
<p>This minimalist approach assumed businesses would honestly and rigorously monitor themselves, and report on their compliance based on those loosely framed principles. Government agencies, meanwhile, would limit regulation based on risk assessments and cost-benefit analyses.</p>
<p>The risk side has carried a high price over the past 30 years. Light-handed regulation or self-regulation helped deliver the <a href="https://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/2010/02/social-security-and-acc-2/">leaky buildings crisis</a>, the <a href="https://pikeriver.royalcommission.govt.nz/Volume-One---Proposals-for-Reform">Pike River mine tragedy</a>, workplace deaths in forestry and on farms, <a href="https://oag.parliament.nz/2011/treasury/part2.htm">finance company collapses</a>, <a href="https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/rest-homes/investigations">unsafe aged care</a> and <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/improvements-confirmed-adventure-activity-sector">dangerous adventure tourism</a>, among other failures.</p>
<h2>A brief history of ‘meta-regulation’</h2>
<p>The origins of ACT’s latest push for regulatory reform lie as far back as the 1980s and 1990s, when the Labour finance minister, Roger Douglas, and his National Party successor, Ruth Richardson, ushered in core pieces of legislation: the Reserve Bank Act 1989, State Sector Act 1988, Public Finance Act 1989 and Fiscal Responsibility Act 1994. </p>
<p>A Regulatory Responsibility Act was the missing piece. In my 2015 book <a href="https://www.bwb.co.nz/books/the-fire-economy/">The FIRE Economy</a>, I explained its significance as “meta-regulation”. In effect, it was designed to regulate the way governments regulate. It institutionalised a pro-corporate approach of self-regulation, light-handed regulation, or no regulation at all.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nz-election-2023-labour-out-national-in-either-way-neoliberalism-wins-again-214723">NZ election 2023: Labour out, National in – either way, neoliberalism wins again</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The neoliberal Business Roundtable think tank (now the New Zealand Initiative) began pushing the idea of an “economic constitution” in the early 1990s. A 2001 report for the Roundtable by former Treasury director Bryce Wilkinson, titled <a href="https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-media/reports/constraining-government-regulation/">Constraining Government Regulation</a>, contained a draft Regulatory Responsibility Bill. </p>
<p>This required all future laws and regulations to comply with a selective list of libertarian principles. These encompassed aspects of the rule of law, protection of individual liberties and property rights, and restrictions on the imposition of taxes and charges. </p>
<p>It also sought to embed “good law-making processes”, including cost-benefit analyses and prioritising non-regulatory options. Public entities would have to review their relevant laws for compatibility with the principles. </p>
<p>Significantly, it also empowered the courts to review legislation. Individuals could ask the courts to declare that new laws breached these regulatory standards, and after ten years could seek a judicial declaration on pre-existing laws.</p>
<h2>The bill that wouldn’t die</h2>
<p>ACT adopted the Roundtable’s draft bill, which was <a href="https://bills.parliament.nz/v/Bill/f0b2b8de-a5d7-4b33-8c59-e52cedf60493?Tab=history">drawn from the ballot</a> in the name of party leader Roger Douglas after the 2006 election. (Douglas had by then left the Labour Party to co-found ACT in 1993.)</p>
<p>Labour <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/48SCCOregulatoryresp200708101/regulatory-responsibility-bill">blocked the bill at the select committee</a> stage. But the committee’s report created a platform in 2009 for new ACT leader Rodney Hide, then in government as minister for regulatory reform, to set up a <a href="https://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/commissioned-report/report-regulatory-responsibility-taskforce">Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce</a> to advance the bill.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/return-of-the-consultocracy-how-cutting-public-service-jobs-to-save-costs-usually-backfires-218990">Return of the ‘consultocracy’ – how cutting public service jobs to save costs usually backfires</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A renamed <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/49SCCO_SCF_00DBHOH_BILL10563_1/regulatory-standards-bill">Regulatory Standards Bill</a> was introduced in 2011. Constitutional experts attacked its selective principles, and objected that judicial declarations of non-compliance with those principles would potentially involve judges in making political decisions. </p>
<p>The bill was also silent on Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi. The Legislative Advisory Committee opposed it. And the Treasury used the same <a href="https://www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2011-03/ris-tsy-rbr-mar11.pdf">regulatory impact process</a> ACT’s bill championed to oppose it. </p>
<p>Arguing the bill lacked necessary broad-based support, and that compliance costs would exceed benefits, Treasury favoured the alternative of strengthening the parliamentary review process. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20210804_20210804_32">third attempt</a> to introduce the bill, by ACT leader David Seymour in 2021, fell at the first reading, although National (by then in opposition) supported it.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-parties-two-deals-one-government-the-stress-points-within-new-zealands-coalition-of-many-colours-217673">Three parties, two deals, one government: the stress points within New Zealand's 'coalition of many colours'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Time to draw a line</h2>
<p>Considering this history, it is likely the same grounds for opposing ACT’s regulatory responsibility campaign will be rehearsed in select committee once again. </p>
<p>The potentially significant budgetary impacts of a proposed ministry of regulation, reviews and repeals of existing regulation and revisions of the current regulatory toolkit are also uncosted (despite ACT’s insistence on “fiscal responsibility”). </p>
<p>There is some irony, too, in ACT’s <a href="https://www.act.org.nz/act_to_police_red_tape_and_regulation_in_government">election promise</a> to rein in “knee-jerk, populist laws”. The coalition government is implementing its 100-day plan with little pretence of “good regulatory” process, or even select committee hearings. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-neoliberalism-a-political-scientist-explains-the-use-and-evolution-of-the-term-184711">What is neoliberalism? A political scientist explains the use and evolution of the term</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Already, the dual Reserve Bank objectives, fair pay agreements, smoke-free and employment laws – which all originally went through the regulatory impact assessment and statement process – have been repealed under urgency. </p>
<p>The government has also refused to release a <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/calls-for-government-to-publish-suppressed-report-before-forcing-mps-to-vote-on-ditching-ev-subsidies-as-labour-mps-urge-christopher-luxon-to-repay-his-subsidy/QRJCMFLID5HNXF25TCKD7JDSFE/">draft regulatory impact statement</a> for its bill to repeal the Clean Car Discount Act (which has implications for New Zealand’s ability to achieve its climate goals) until after parliament votes.</p>
<p>ACT’s Regulatory Standards Bill may yet meet trenchant and terminal opposition again. But perhaps its introduction will lead to a broader revisiting of the neoliberal model of “meta-regulation”, and how it has served Aotearoa New Zealand over the past 40 years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220140/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Kelsey received a Marsden Fund grant in 2009 to examine embedded neoliberalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, including the neoliberal regulatory regime and the Regulatory Responsibility Bill.</span></em></p>The ACT Party’s Regulatory Standards Bill will likely meet the same opposition it has in the past. And it will be a test of the new government’s commitment to genuine regulatory standards.Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1849002022-06-27T15:35:45Z2022-06-27T15:35:45Z5 ways to support children’s early literacy skills and build family connections this summer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471134/original/file-20220627-12-i5wsh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C43%2C5656%2C3328&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cognitive skills related to overall reading success can be nurtured by engaging in activities that develop social skills and positive self-regulation.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/5-ways-to-support-children-s-early-literacy-skills-and-build-family-connections-this-summer" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>With the end of the school year here, parents, caregivers and educators may find themselves reflecting on <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/teacher-questionnaire-pandemic-yearend-1.6025149">another turbulent year in education</a>. </p>
<p>For researchers of children’s literacy, year-end reflections may prompt discussions of the “<a href="https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/summer-slide.html">summer slide</a>” — children’s loss of knowledge over summer break, particularly in literacy and numeracy — and what can be done to mitigate this learning loss. </p>
<p>Everyday activities that promote early literacy skills can be pursued in ways that don’t involve <a href="https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-blog/2017/july/summer-break-time-to-learn-or-time-to-let-kids-be-kids">imposing rigorous summer academic work</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732216655542">Harnessing children’s interests and experiences</a> and prioritizing their <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373271">social and emotional needs</a> are critical to learning and can nurture early literacy skills.</p>
<h2>Prioritizing family well-being</h2>
<p>Although the maintenance of academic skills gained during the school year is important, discussions of the <a href="https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/summer-slide.html">summer slide</a> should be carefully situated against the current backdrop of pandemic-related <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/covid-parent-burnout">parental burnout</a>, ongoing concerns of <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/voices/learning-loss-while-out-school-%E2%80%94is-it-now-time-to-worry">learning gaps</a> and the need to prioritize <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01744-3">children’s mental well-being</a>. </p>
<p>Within these discussions, a focus on <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1124003.pdf">parental supports and resources</a> must also be included. When parents are supported, they are better able to support their children. This is particularly critical for parents with fewer resources or supports than more advantaged parents.</p>
<p>In the classroom, the most effective way to develop early literacy skills is through <a href="https://journal.imse.com/what-is-the-science-of-reading/">explicit, systematic and evidence-based instruction</a>. At home, these skills can be reinforced in subtle ways that don’t interfere with children’s desire and need to enjoy the summer. </p>
<p>Parents and caregivers can nurture early literacy skills in ways that do not place heavy expectations on the domestic <a href="https://jourms.org/motherhood-and-mothering-during-covid-19-gendered-intersectional-analysis-of-caregiving-during-the-global-pandemic-within-a-canadian-context">responsibilities of parents, often mothers,</a> that have already intensified during the pandemic.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of children are seen running outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470851/original/file-20220624-16-7ui0dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470851/original/file-20220624-16-7ui0dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470851/original/file-20220624-16-7ui0dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470851/original/file-20220624-16-7ui0dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470851/original/file-20220624-16-7ui0dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470851/original/file-20220624-16-7ui0dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470851/original/file-20220624-16-7ui0dn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children’s early literacy skills can be nurtured without interfering with their much-deserved fun in the sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fostering connection, supporting literacy</h2>
<p>The list below details some ways parents or caregivers can foster emotional connection and support early literacy skills when children are home this summer.</p>
<p><strong>1. Offering children space and opportunities for independence</strong>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.02.005">Research shows</a> a connection between children’s self-help skills, self-regulation and reading comprehension. These skills help promote the development of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19455377/">executive functioning skills</a> such as organization of thought and working memory. </p>
<p>These critical skills are required in the process of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12355">reading comprehension and decoding</a> — the process whereby children rely on what they know about <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-topics/phonics-and-decoding">letter-sound relationships to read words</a>.</p>
<p>These activities can look like encouraging independence in daily routines, cooking together or engaging <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-06419-009">in pretend play</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="(A child seen washing dishes)" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470903/original/file-20220625-22-5vtvol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=90%2C597%2C5459%2C3358&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470903/original/file-20220625-22-5vtvol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470903/original/file-20220625-22-5vtvol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470903/original/file-20220625-22-5vtvol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470903/original/file-20220625-22-5vtvol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470903/original/file-20220625-22-5vtvol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470903/original/file-20220625-22-5vtvol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Encouraging independence in daily routines is important.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. Get moving</strong>. Mid-20th century <a href="https://www.ortonacademy.org/resources/what-is-the-orton-gillingham-approach">pioneers of the Orton-Gillingham approach</a>, Dr. Samuel Orton and educator and psychologist Anna Gillingham, highlighted the importance of motor development in learning to read. <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1249558.pdf">Subsequent research</a> also shows a positive correlation between motor development and emergent literacy skills. </p>
<p>Children who engage their bodies while learning sounds of letters <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220608091403.htm">significantly improve their ability to recognize individual letter sounds</a>. This summer, revamp traditional games such as hopscotch, and add letters. Children can be encouraged to identify the letter and/or corresponding sound while hopping along. Practising drawing letters using a range of arm motions can also engage gross motor movement. </p>
<p><strong>3. Visiting a library</strong>. Many public <a href="https://uil.unesco.org/literacy/libraries-and-literacy-using-libraries-support-national-literacy-efforts-uil-policy-brief-6#:%7E:text=Libraries%20provide%20literacy%20resources%20for,facilitating%20intergenerational%20and%20family%20learning.">libraries</a> facilitate free literacy programs that aim to support early literacy skills and also offer <a href="https://www.litworld.org/virtualreadalouds">virtual read-alouds</a> of children’s favourite picture books. When children can select books geared to their own interests, <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading-motivation-what-research-says">it promotes an intrinsic motivation and desire to read</a>. Books can then be enjoyed at home together, which can strengthen <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/fluency-introduction">reading fluency</a>, build <a href="https://www.clel.org/early-literacy/early-literacy-story-times/five-early-literacy-practices/">vocabulary</a> and foster a sense of connection. </p>
<p>Enjoying books together can involve what’s <a href="http://readingtokids.org/ReadingClubs/TrainingModules/ReadingComprehension_PictureWalk908.pdf">known as a “picture walk</a>”: You focus on a book’s pictures, and based on these, invite your child to make predictions about what the story may be about, or engage your child in questions like: What do you think is happening here? Picture walks can also help strengthen <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2021.1888348">background knowledge</a> (a child’s sense of bigger situations or contexts associated with the words) which helps facilitate overall comprehension. </p>
<p><strong>4. Multi-sensory experiences</strong>. Learning that connects and entices children’s senses generates greater neural connectivity and strengthens neural pathways. Engaging multiple neural pathways is beneficial for all readers, and crucial for struggling readers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A chlid's hands seen working on play-dough." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470842/original/file-20220624-18-u2vo4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470842/original/file-20220624-18-u2vo4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470842/original/file-20220624-18-u2vo4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470842/original/file-20220624-18-u2vo4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470842/original/file-20220624-18-u2vo4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470842/original/file-20220624-18-u2vo4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470842/original/file-20220624-18-u2vo4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Multi-sensory experiences can strengthen early literacy skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When children are learning letter names (graphemes) and their sounds (phonemes), a <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/phonics-instruction-value-multi-sensory-approach">multi-sensory approach</a> enhances the neurological pathways involved in <a href="https://keystoliteracy.com/blog/the-role-of-orthographic-mapping-in-learning-to-read">key early reading</a> skills. The skill of <a href="https://heggerty.org/blog/phonological-awareness-and-phonemic-awareness/">phonemic awareness</a> is the ability to understand that spoken words are made up of individual sounds, and is one of the best early predictors for reading success.</p>
<p>Phonemic awareness can be encouraged by making letters with blocks, rocks, sticks, lego or other easy-to-manipulate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-017-9220-9">loose parts</a>, or by tracing letters in sand or dirt outdoors. Invite a child to say the letter sound. If done outdoors, children also reap the <a href="https://childnature.ca/ways-to-invite-learning-literacy-outside/">benefits of engaging in literacy activities while in nature</a>. </p>
<p><strong>5. Literacy on the go:</strong> Letters and text are all around us and this includes the print <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/environmental-print">that appears everywhere in our environments in signs, labels and logos</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A boy is reading a label in a supermarket." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470637/original/file-20220623-51718-u3wkpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C26%2C5937%2C2991&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470637/original/file-20220623-51718-u3wkpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470637/original/file-20220623-51718-u3wkpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470637/original/file-20220623-51718-u3wkpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470637/original/file-20220623-51718-u3wkpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470637/original/file-20220623-51718-u3wkpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470637/original/file-20220623-51718-u3wkpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Literacy on-the-go can look like encouraging children to pay attention to letters and words that appear in labels or logos. (Shutterstock)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Paying attention to this helps children bridge early reading skills. While on an errand, invite your child to identify the letters, sounds and/or words you see. Pointing out letters on license plates can also reinforce <a href="https://abcsofliteracy.com/teaching-letter-recognition/">letter recognition skills.</a></p>
<p>It’s important to undertake these activities with the goal of <a href="https://nurturescienceprogram.org/reading-together-strengthens-emotional-connection/">nurturing emotional connection</a> at the forefront. Parents can also know that during the school year, schools must <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report">provide support for students</a> to help all learners develop their reading skills.</p>
<p>Focusing on social-emotional needs and connection are paramount to enriching a child’s love of literacy at home and school — during all months of the year.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184900/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberly Hillier does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cognitive skills related to early literacy can be nurtured this summer by engaging in activities that develop social-emotional skills and positive self-regulation.Kimberly Hillier, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1685632021-10-04T19:05:47Z2021-10-04T19:05:47ZAustralians need more protection against genetic discrimination: health experts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424401/original/file-20211004-27-12879tt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C558%2C6016%2C3188&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Genomic testing — the ability to read an individual’s genetic code and identify their risk of conditions such as cancer — has opened up huge possibilities in personalised medicine. </p>
<p>But it has also introduced serious ethical challenges. Particularly, there is the danger of life insurance companies using such information to discriminate against those at higher risk of conditions. </p>
<p>Canada, Britain and most European countries have already banned or restricted life insurers from using genetic test results. </p>
<p>Australia’s response so far has been mostly to leave it to industry self-regulation. But our research suggests most health professionals don’t think this is enough. More than 90% <a href="https://jmg.bmj.com/content/early/2021/09/20/jmedgenet-2021-107989.full">of the experts</a> we surveyed agreed more government oversight is required. </p>
<h2>Australia’s regulatory approach</h2>
<p>Australia’s federal Private Health Insurance Act (2017) prohibits health insurers from using genetic information to discriminate against customers. But there is no legal prohibition against life insurers using results to charge people higher premiums or deny them coverage altogether. This applies to death cover, total and permanent disability, critical illness/trauma and income-protection cover. </p>
<p>In 2018 a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Corporations_and_Financial_Services/LifeInsurance">joint parliamentary inquiry</a> recommended a prohibition against life insurers using the outcomes of predictive genetic tests, at least in the medium term. It also recommended the government maintain a watching brief and consider legislation in future. </p>
<p>The federal government did not respond to the inquiry’s report, leaving it to the industry to self-regulate. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-can-be-denied-life-insurance-based-on-genetic-test-results-and-there-is-little-protection-81335">Australians can be denied life insurance based on genetic test results, and there is little protection</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In 2019 the financial services industry’s peak body, the Financial Services Council, introduced a five-year moratorium on insurers using applicants’ genetic test results up to certain financial limits. </p>
<p>Life insurers can only ask for or use genetic test results for policies worth more than A$500,000 for death cover or total and permanent disability cover, A$200,000 for critical illness/trauma cover, and $4,000/month for income protection. </p>
<p>Given the median yearly household income is about <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/finance/household-financial-resources/latest-release#housing-costs">A$122,000</a>, these thresholds are arguably too low to prevent insurers from using genetic test results in many cases.</p>
<h2>Our survey results</h2>
<p>With the moratorium now half over (it will end in 2024), we surveyed health professionals to gauge their views about Australia’s approach. The survey was part of a federal government-funded <a href="https://www.monash.edu/medicine/a-glimmer/home">research project</a> to evaluate the moratorium. </p>
<p>Of 166 respondents, 121 were genetic specialists — geneticists and genetic counsellors who help people make sense of and make decisions about genetic testing. There are 480 such specialists in Australia registered with the <a href="https://www.hgsa.org.au/">Human Genetics Society of Australasia</a>. With genetic testing increasingly being offered outside genetics clinics, we also invited specialists such as oncologists to take part. </p>
<p>Not everyone answered every question, so the following percentages are based on those that answered specific questions. While 93% agreed consumers are better protected under the moratorium, 88% remained concerned about genetic discrimination.</p>
<p>The most common complaints were that the financial thresholds were too low, there was no certainty for patients beyond 2024, and the insurance industry couldn’t be trusted to regulate itself.</p>
<p>More than 90% said the Australian government should introduce legislation to regulate life insurers.</p>
<p>Canada’s <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/G-2.5/index.html">legislation</a>, for example, bans insurers and other service providers from using genetic test results to discriminate against applicants.</p>
<p>The British government, meanwhile, has a hybrid regulatory model. This involves a <a href="https://www.abi.org.uk/data-and-resources/tools-and-resources/genetics/code-on-genetic-testing-and-insurance/">Code on Genetic Testing and Insurance</a> agreed to between the government and life insurance industry. In our survey, 95% said a similar approach is required for Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-new-zealanders-are-vulnerable-to-genetic-discrimination-in-health-and-life-insurance-167783">Why New Zealanders are vulnerable to genetic discrimination in health and life insurance</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Safeguarding Australia’s genomic future</h2>
<p>Genetic technology is transforming health care. Precision medicine relies on genomic testing to personalise therapeutic treatments. Genomic research is also critical to understanding disease, improving diagnostic methods and guiding the selection of the most effective drugs for treatment. </p>
<p>To maximise its potential and ensure public trust in genomics, it seems clear more must be done to prevent genetic discrimination and ensure all Australians — particularly those most at risk from genetic conditions — can benefit from the genomics revolution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Tiller has received funding from the Australian government's Genomic Health Futures Mission, to monitor the effectiveness of the Australian genetics and life insurance moratorium. She is a founding member of the Australian Genetic Non-Discrimination Working Group</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Lacaze has received funding from the Australian government's Genomic Health Futures Mission, to monitor the effectiveness of the Australian genetics and life insurance moratorium. He is a founding member of the Australian Genetic Non-Discrimination Working Group</span></em></p>Australia risks being left behind in the genomic medicine revolution by failing to protect individuals from genetic discrimination.Jane Tiller, Ethical, Legal & Social Adviser - Public Health Genomics, Monash UniversityPaul Lacaze, Head, Public Health Genomics Program, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1649832021-09-09T14:44:40Z2021-09-09T14:44:40Z4 ways white people can be accountable for addressing anti-Black racism at universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419052/original/file-20210902-25-oxa7lm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C529%2C5793%2C3431&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">White folk aren't 'beyond race.' Interrogating Black people's pain at forums supposedly dedicated to undoing racism is part of the problem.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>“I am colonized, and I must live in a world of the colonizer. Although the proverbial shackle has been removed, I am enslaved by systemic barriers. My heart bleeds of pain and anger … My lived experiences will never be based on your level of comfort.”</em> </p>
<p><strong><em>- passage from the author’s journal</em></strong></p>
<p>The recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-lives-matter-movement-uses-creative-tactics-to-confront-systemic-racism-143273">resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement</a> has ignited an ongoing debate on the role of education in the collective awakening or re-awakening on racial injustice. </p>
<p>Post-secondary institutions can provide the space to cultivate new knowledge and critically discuss social inequality. As the new school year begins, many of us are eager to return to our new “normal” as we both adapt to new health measures due to COVID-19 and prepare to discuss various social issues. </p>
<p>Universities are increasingly establishing formal mandates for <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/addressing-anti-black-racism-on-campus/">addressing anti-Black racism on their campuses</a>. In the attempt to acknowledge their diverse student bodies, some professors may be preparing to teach a new <a href="https://www.asccc.org/content/decolonizing-your-syllabus-anti-racist-guide-your-college">“inclusive” syllabus</a>.</p>
<p>As these changes take place, it is critical to speak openly about social accountability.</p>
<h2>Understanding one’s historical social position</h2>
<p>I am a <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/i-cant-breathe-feeling-suffocated-by-the-polite-racism-in-canadas-graduate-schools/">Black PhD candidate</a> in sociology who examines systematic racism embedded in educational institutions. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A woman holds a sign up that says 'I can't breathe.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418101/original/file-20210826-25-oy92d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author Karine Coen-Sanchez at a Black Lives Matter rally in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author provided)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I have found myself both formally and informally called upon to educate white people about anti-Black racism.</p>
<p>On many campuses, Black academics — regardless of whether they are actually studying racism or not — are asked to take on additional labour related to equity work often <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/21/scholars-talk-about-being-black-campus-2020">without compensation or the assurance that recommendations will be heeded and without acknowledgement of the risks</a>.</p>
<p>What are the risks? Black, racialized and Indigenous people are <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566247/white-fragility-by-dr-robin-diangelo">exposed to white denialism</a>, which provokes a narrative of “us versus them.” We are also subject to emotional eruptions where white people are at the centre or put in a position where they are pressed to offer personal antidotes as a testimony to the realities of systemic racism.</p>
<h2>Interconnection of race, power, practices</h2>
<p>It is critical that we pay attention to and recognize what scholars like George J. Sefa Dei, a professor of education, has named <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2018.1427586">the interconnection of race, social powers and cultural practices</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.uua.org/files/pdf/d/diangelo-white_fragility_and_the_rules_of_engagement.pdf">White accountability</a> for addressing and eradicating anti-Black racism isn’t about validating the experiences of the Black communities — it is about understanding facets of one’s own <a href="https://ccrweb.ca/en/anti-oppression">social position</a>. </p>
<p>This means understanding the various ways that race or citizenship have shaped access to both material and cultural resources — and shaped what a person takes for granted. For example, white settlers in Canada and other colonial settler societies must acknowledge the harms <a href="https://theconversation.com/reparations-for-slavery-and-genocide-should-be-used-to-address-health-inequities-111320">associated with international colonization and the slave trade and the inter-generational effects</a> on Black, racialized and Indigenous communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-canada-committed-genocide-against-indigenous-peoples-explained-by-the-lawyer-central-to-the-determination-162582">How Canada committed genocide against Indigenous Peoples, explained by the lawyer central to the determination</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In order to undo anti-Black racism and all systematic racism white people need to take accountability for the various ways they experience and exercise privilege. It also means understanding how they may covertly benefit and contribute to the <a href="https://troymedia.com/education/repeating-the-cycle-of-racism-through-education/#.YP8LOo5Kg2w">cycle of racism</a>. </p>
<p>Sefa Dei has advocated <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781402057700">for incorporating Africentric curricula and insights</a> into everyday learning to undo the centring of white perspectives. But a deep incorporation of this knowledge hasn’t happened in universities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A protestor is seen with a megaphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418082/original/file-20210826-547-woqtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protestors at a Black Lives Matter rally are seen outside a police detachment in downtown Toronto last July.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beyond ‘calling out’ & ‘calling in’</h2>
<p>Executive coach Mya Hu-Chan, who helps workplaces address racism,
notes that dialogues about addressing racism often revolve around being <a href="https://www.inc.com/maya-hu-chan/calling-in-vs-calling-out-how-to-talk-about-inclusion.html">called out or called in</a>.</p>
<p>This is a start, but much more needs to be done to create space for <a href="https://www.racialequitytools.org/resources/plan/change-process/accountability">accountability</a> if campuses are truly to become more diverse and inclusive. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/twitter-shaming-wont-change-university-power-structures-142450">Twitter shaming won't change university power structures</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We all have a social responsibility. The notion of community engagement and dismantling institutional racism involves everyone.</p>
<p>White accountability for addressing and eradicating anti-Black racism means understanding and acknowledging that verbal commitments must be also transformed into actions. The actions must be formed, validated and determined in dialogue with the Black community. </p>
<h2>What accountability means</h2>
<p>Accountability requires ongoing dialogue between the privileged and the underprivileged, and challenging the ingrained covert forms of racism embedded in our everyday lives. </p>
<p>Accountability also refers to entering a space with sincere purposes. But sincerity alone isn’t enough. Uniting your intent with action will ultimately determine a person’s level of commitment to anti-racism. By first understanding and recognizing our contribution to the systematic barriers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-06-2020-0158">we shift the conversation from intentions to accountability</a>. </p>
<p>Only when honest, open collaboration takes place can we begin to overcome the ingrained racist structures that shape all our lives.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sign at a demonstration reads 'It's a privilege to educate yourself about racism instead of experiencing it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419125/original/file-20210902-27-c3hlny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need to shift the conversation from intentions to accountability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(James Eades/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Steps to create space for accountability</h2>
<p>Based on my experience and research in the field of educating people about anti-Black racism I propose that creating the space for accountability requires the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Listening, trusting and empathizing with the lived experiences of Blacks or maginalized groups; NOT reacting. It is important that before white people engage in anti-racism spaces with maginalized people, they
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2019.1610048">manage their own defensiveness and become adept at regulating their emotions</a>, including anger. They also need to to be aware of the intrusion of “<a href="https://www.e-ir.info/2020/07/13/de-constructing-the-white-saviour-syndrome-a-manifestation-of-neo-imperialism/">saviour mentality</a>” — the view that white people are especially equipped for and tasked with solving problems. </p></li>
<li><p>Awareness and reflecting <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498506731/White-Self-Criticality-beyond-Anti-racism-How-Does-It-Feel-to-Be-a-White-Problem">on your own social positioning</a>: This means spending time in personal self-reflection and also in community contexts. In seeking to address and eradicate anti-Black racism, white people should seek to talk with other white people seeking to be committed to undoing anti-racism — but also with Black people in diverse spaces that are dedicated to anti-racism work.</p></li>
<li><p>Educating other whites about privilege and accountability. Calling out racist behaviour <a href="https://wearerestless.org/2020/06/12/white-saviour-complex">and white saviourism</a> with resolve <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-media-loves-the-white-racist-story-110952">and humility in acknowledging that you too</a> have had help in unlearning racist behaviours. </p></li>
<li><p>Developing an action plan that is facilitated and guided by the Black community.</p></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-be-a-mindful-anti-racist-147551">How to be a mindful anti-racist</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Objective of equality</h2>
<p>As Malcolm X states: “<a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/speeches-african-american-history/1964-malcolm-x-s-speech-founding-rally-organization-afro-american-unity/">Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today</a>.” </p>
<p>But education needs to happen ethically in a way that respects Black people’s identities and experiences or else we are going the wrong way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karine Coen-Sanchez does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>White denialism of racism provokes a narrative of ‘us versus them.’ Self-reflection and listening are among the ways to be accountable for interrupting and eradicating racism.Karine Coen-Sanchez, PhD candidate, Sociological and Anthropological Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1598822021-06-22T16:42:52Z2021-06-22T16:42:52Z5 ways international students can harness emotional intelligence to deal with COVID-19 stress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407318/original/file-20210619-26-11pzjzv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C137%2C7087%2C4572&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Managing academic expectations, culture shock, language barriers and financial constraints amid concerns about viral safety are some of the intersecting stressors faced by international students.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 has drastically changed education for millions of university students around the world. International students <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0020872820940030">are a vulnerable population group</a> with <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/blogs/interviews-international-students-canada-about-covid-19-situation">unique challenges</a>. Away from their home countries or at a distance from their universities, they have been significantly <a href="https://thepienews.com/news/covid-19-intl-students-particularly-vulnerable/">affected by the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>Beyond concerns about themselves and loved ones due to the virus, international students have worried about things like visa and graduation status, optional practical <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00022-eng.htm">training opportunities being harder to obtain or cancelled</a> or whether to go home (if that is even an option due to <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/04/08/billions-of-dollars-are-at-risk-colleges-and-universities-scramble-to-protect-international-student-sector-amid-covid-19-pandemic.html">border closures</a>). Some have worried about living far from loved ones, having to <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/students-at-several-colleges-and-universities-asked-to-vacate-dorms-over-covid-19-1.4858086">find a place to live if dormitories close</a>, <a href="https://dmjzone.ca/student-houses-struggle-with-pandemic-rules/">self-isolating from roommates</a> if necessary and finances.</p>
<p>My preliminary research has examined the lived experiences of international graduate students in Ontario, and government and university policies pertaining to international students. My findings to date suggest that international students can be better supported by their institutions to cope with their personal and emotional challenges that may become compounded during <a href="https://diverseeducation.com/article/169596">public crises</a>.</p>
<p>I have also explored models that institutions could rely on to support students’ emotional well-being. This has led me to consider how international students might turn to the <a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210110205926261">toolkit of emotional intelligence</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Back of a young person in backpack looking at the sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407316/original/file-20210619-26-1oikddu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407316/original/file-20210619-26-1oikddu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407316/original/file-20210619-26-1oikddu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407316/original/file-20210619-26-1oikddu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407316/original/file-20210619-26-1oikddu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407316/original/file-20210619-26-1oikddu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407316/original/file-20210619-26-1oikddu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The pandemic has been difficult both for international students living away from loved ones and those far from their institutions wondering about interruptions to their programs or research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Matese Fields/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More international connections</h2>
<p>Canada’s <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/education/strategy-2019-2024-strategie.aspx?lang=eng">International Education Strategy (2019-2024)</a> details how government policy has advocated both recruiting international students to study in Canada and sending more Canadian students abroad for exchange programs. </p>
<p>What some scholars call “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2020.1820898">internationalization” of higher education</a> is the process of integrating an <a href="https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v10i1.1893">international, intercultural or global dimension</a> into the purpose, functions or <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344568111_Canada's_Universities_Go_Global">delivery of post-secondary education</a>. </p>
<p>This involves <a href="https://www.collegesinstitutes.ca/what-we-do/international/international-recruitment/">recruiting of international students</a>, developing <a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=2021031012405285">international branch campuses</a>, scholarly <a href="https://doi.org/10.2304%2Frcie.2012.7.1.5">exchange programs</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8905-9_244">developing research and education partnerships</a> between institutions regionally and internationally and changing curriculum to reflect global realities.</p>
<p>According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, there was an <a href="https://cbie.ca/infographic/">increase of 135 per cent international students</a> in Canada between 2010-20. In 2019, there were about <a href="https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5017">1,090,000 full-time and 266,000 part-time international students</a> enrolled in Canadian institutions.</p>
<p>Ninety-six per cent of Canadian universities include internationalization as part of their strategic planning, more than <a href="https://www.univcan.ca/universities/facts-and-stats/internationalization-at-canadian-universities-quick-facts/">80 per cent identify it as one of their top five planning priorities</a>. </p>
<h2>Pandemic challenges</h2>
<p>Every year, many international students are flying to Canada from all over the world to pursue their future academic and career goals in a <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED549823.pdf">multicultural global setting</a>. </p>
<p>However, disorienting experiences are common among most international students. Students report instances of <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJEM-04-2014-0049/full/html">academic differences</a>, <a href="https://www.washington.edu/counseling/resources-for-students/international-students-and-cultural-shock/">culture shock</a>, <a href="http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/a?id=1042">language barriers</a>, <a href="http://plaza.ufl.edu/ffgao/mmc5015/final/financial.html">financial constraints</a> and other challenges. </p>
<p>These experiences often lead to <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2991/jegh.k.201016.001">traumatic effects and psychological reactions</a> such as depression, anxiety and acute stress disorder. International students already face challenges to their mental health, and the COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://www.nafsa.org/ie-magazine/2021/4/6/compounding-stress-pandemics-effects-mental-health">intensified these challenges</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s your ‘EQ’?</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A cartoon of a brain shaking hands with a heart." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407315/original/file-20210619-35539-1acy6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407315/original/file-20210619-35539-1acy6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407315/original/file-20210619-35539-1acy6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407315/original/file-20210619-35539-1acy6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407315/original/file-20210619-35539-1acy6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407315/original/file-20210619-35539-1acy6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407315/original/file-20210619-35539-1acy6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Emotional intelligence or ‘EQ’ challenges the notion that intelligence is all about the brain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>American psychologist <a href="https://www.danielgoleman.info/biography/">Daniel Goleman</a> is a leading expert on <a href="https://www.ihhp.com/meaning-of-emotional-intelligence/">emotional intelligence</a>. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a multifaceted ability that helps individuals to sense, understand, value and effectively apply the <a href="https://www.ihhp.com/meaning-of-emotional-intelligence/">power of emotions</a> as a source of information, trust, creativity and influence. </p>
<p>He developed <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/components-of-emotional-intelligence-2795438">five key emotional intelligence skills</a> that are linked to everything from making decisions to academic achievement.<br>
People may draw on these five aspects embedded within emotional intelligence — self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy and motivation — either as unique components or collectively to cope with everyday life events. </p>
<p>International students can benefit from considering aspects of emotional intelligence both during the pandemic and beyond. </p>
<p>1.<strong><a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-awareness-2795023">Self-awareness</a></strong> is the ability to recognize and understand your own emotions and being aware of the effect of your actions, moods and emotions on other people. <a href="https://www.lockhaven.com/opinion/columns/2020/10/self-awareness-helpful-during-covid-19/">Self-awareness develops as we interact</a>, and it enables us to build complex social relationships. It could help international students take note of their own responses and stressors in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3256415">complex situation such as the pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>2.<strong><a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/how-you-can-practice-self-regulation-4163536">Self-regulation</a></strong> is all about expressing your emotions appropriately and being able to regulate and <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/emotion-regulation-skills-training-425374">manage your emotions</a>.
The capacity to perceive, understand and regulate one’s own emotions works as an ideal framework to <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jvb.2020.103440">reason about emotions and to use emotions in reasoning</a>. International students who find themselves facing a roller coaster of emotions would be well-served in identifying what positive, healthy activities and practices could help find an equilibrium. </p>
<p>3.<strong><a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-social-intelligence-4163839">Social skills</a></strong> refer to building meaningful relationships with other people. <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/social-isolation-causing-psychological-distress-among-university-students-324910">Social isolation causing psychological distress</a> among university students is common in this pandemic and <a href="https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-student-equity-and-inclusion-supporting-vulnerable-students-during-school-closures-and-school-re-openings-d593b5c8/">social skills are vital for the inclusion of the vulnerable students</a> during school closures. International students might take stock of how their social contexts and networks have changed in the pandemic and take steps to ensure that they are still finding meaningful and mutually supportive social connections.</p>
<p>4.<strong><a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-empathy-2795562">Empathy</a></strong> is about trying to see from others’ points of view and consider how others may be feeling. Being empathetic also allows you to understand the power dynamics that often influence social relationships. International students can benefit from practising empathy with themselves by considering how a caring friend might speak with them. When they are empathetic to others, they are more likely to work on relationships.</p>
<p>5.<strong><a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-motivation-2795378">Motivation</a></strong> is about drawing on emotions in positive ways <a href="https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/daniel-golemans-emotional-intelligence-theory-explained/">to achieve goals, persevering when meeting obstacles and seeking to enjoy the learning processes</a>. Whether international students face pandemic unknowns, grief due to the virus, or socio-economic challenges, looking beyond one’s immediate circumstances to a larger picture is critical. </p>
<p>These five components of emotional intelligence play an important role in handling even the most challenging life situations with <a href="https://positivepsychology.com/importance-of-emotional-intelligence/">ease and compassion</a>. </p>
<p>For international students, especially during the pandemic, emotional intelligence is crucial for managing their adaptive processes and regulating their emotions and is essential for better overall health and well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159882/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rakha Zabin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>International students are a vulnerable population who have faced many stressors in the COVID-19 pandemic. Emotional intelligence can help navigate these.Rakha Zabin, PhD Student, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1548072021-04-01T18:47:32Z2021-04-01T18:47:32Z6 ways to teach kindergarten kids to deal with stress during COVID-19, whether learning online or at school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392920/original/file-20210331-13-1bnod32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=82%2C57%2C5409%2C3696&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With some kindergarten children now participating in online learning, questions persist about how they will learn the competencies needed to help them flourish both socially and academically.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has been anxiously waiting for it to end. While managing uncertainty and lockdowns, school boards have had to transition from in-person and classroom settings to offer <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7332973/coronavirus-ontario-schools-online-learning/">online learning</a>. </p>
<p>In this past difficult year, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/covid-19-pandemic-stress-depression-jennifer-moss-1.5628852">stress levels in many people</a> have <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/covid-continues-take-heavy-toll-canadians-mental-health">increased</a>. Supporting children’s self-regulation is one focus of kindergarten education, including
<a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/wellbeing.html">Ontario’s full-day kindergarten</a>. </p>
<p>Self-regulation is how we manage the everyday stressors of life including all our energy and emotions. Developing self-regulation <a href="http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesKIN/Video/Guides/ELK-VideoGuide_SelfReg.pdf">is central to a child’s capacity to learn</a> and is critical for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3204_2">both social relationships and academic knowledge in years to come</a>.</p>
<p>For children enrolled both in online kindergarten or in-person learning due to the pandemic, the need to continue to learn self-regulation has never been more important</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child holds a picture book in front of a computer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392901/original/file-20210331-17-k31u1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C278%2C5955%2C3700&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392901/original/file-20210331-17-k31u1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392901/original/file-20210331-17-k31u1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392901/original/file-20210331-17-k31u1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392901/original/file-20210331-17-k31u1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392901/original/file-20210331-17-k31u1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392901/original/file-20210331-17-k31u1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children enrolled in both online and in-person kindergarten learning will benefit when trusted adults help them learn how to regulate their feelings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shuttertstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>In the classroom</h2>
<p>As a doctoral researcher specializing in self-regulation in kindergarten, I think of the many children who rely on the school environment to thrive. I am examining how teachers can promote self-regulation in Ontario kindergarten classrooms when they document various steps in a child’s play-based learning. </p>
<p>Documentation involves gathering children’s learning from multiple artefacts (such as notes, observations, photos, videos, voice recordings, work samples and interactions with children). Educators then analyze and interpret these artifacts in collaboration with children, parents and family members <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.05.003">to gain insight to determine next steps for learning</a>.
This process is <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/cbs_pedagogical.pdf">known as pedagogical documentation</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kindergarten-scrapbooks-arent-just-your-childs-keepsake-theyre-central-to-learning-117066">Kindergarten scrapbooks aren't just your child's keepsake — they're central to learning</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Educators <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016/self-regulation-and-well-being">support self-regulation</a> in many ways in the classroom. Educators might provide a quiet space for children to be in if they need to get away from the crowded or noisy environment; they may lead children in grounding practices like deep breathing or other use other creative strategies tailored to their particular class. Their support for children’s self-regulation is also seen when they support <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016/play-based-learning-culture-inquiry">children’s play-based learning</a> including documenting children’s play-based inquiries — what interests children, and how they are processing questions and ideas.</p>
<p>Each classroom is unique with children who experience different stressors. Documenting children’s inquiries helps educators to understand each child.<br>
This, in turn, allows them to help children with their self-regulating abilities. Adjustments can be made to the environment through attention to factors like lighting and classroom organization, or helping the child directly. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-team-approach-makes-full-day-kindergarten-a-success-113339">A team approach makes full-day kindergarten a success</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Janette Pelletier, a professor of applied psychology and human development, looked at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-gain-learning-boost-from-two-year-full-day-kindergarten-79549">impact on full-day kindergarten versus half-day kindergarten</a>; her research found that children in full-day kindergarten were more able to self-regulate compared to those in half-day kindergarten.</p>
<h2>6 critical elements</h2>
<p>Stuart Shanker, professor emeritus of philosophy and psychology at York University, is one of Canada’s leading experts and seminal authors on the <a href="https://self-reg.ca/">topic of self-regulation</a>. He has identified six critical elements that can be helpful for both children and adults:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>When one is feeling calmly focused and alert, the ability to know that one is calm and alert.</p></li>
<li><p>When one is stressed, the ability to recognize what is causing that stress.</p></li>
<li><p>The ability to recognize stressors both within and outside the classroom (or current environment).</p></li>
<li><p>The desire to deal with those stressors.</p></li>
<li><p>The ability to develop strategies for dealing with those stressors.</p></li>
<li><p>The ability to recover efficiently and effectively from dealing with those stressors.</p></li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mother and child putting face masks on." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392902/original/file-20210331-19-1gokdnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392902/original/file-20210331-19-1gokdnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392902/original/file-20210331-19-1gokdnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392902/original/file-20210331-19-1gokdnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392902/original/file-20210331-19-1gokdnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392902/original/file-20210331-19-1gokdnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392902/original/file-20210331-19-1gokdnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Learning how to regulate stress means both recognizing what is causing stress and how to develop strategies to deal with it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>When kindergarten is online</h2>
<p>These six critical elements have been adapted in many kindergarten classrooms.
However, with some kindergarten children enrolled in online learning, questions arise about how to support children during these unprecedented times.</p>
<p>The story of the child who cried <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/25/us/covid-distance-learning-frustration-trnd/index.html">during online learning went viral</a>. We also heard about the teacher who was <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/ontario-online-learning-january-1.5862211">overly stressed and felt like a failure</a>. Beyond this, some parents are juggling to put food on the table and to support their children while working from home.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, there can be many stressors hindering children from learning. These may include the noise level in the home, difficulty accessing the internet, sensitivity to light and prolonged screen time or not having enough space in their learning area. </p>
<p>Being perceptive to supporting children’s self regulation means if such stressors are identified early, efforts can be made to respond. For example, parents could mitigate issues with noise by giving the child headphones to connect more directly with the teacher and peers online, or a quiet space to aid their learning.</p>
<h2>Parents’ self-regulation</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316404/self-reg-by-dr-stuart-shanker/"><em>Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child and You Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life</em></a>, Shanker writes that how a parent regulates their own emotions and stressors is an invitation for a child: children are vulnerable to negative emotions that can drain their energy. Sometimes, it can be difficult or impossible for the child to become calm: when a child’s “emotional brakes” wear out, they can no longer get themselves to stop. When this happens at home (for instance, during an online class), children may express negative emotions. </p>
<p>Each child may require different strategies to manage their stress level. <a href="https://self-reg.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/1_4_Domain_Stress_Examples_V2.pdf">Stress is communicated</a> through facial expressions, actions and tone of voice. Some might want a massage, a bath, music, drawing, outdoor time or may need to sleep in a calm environment. When children express negative emotions — what may otherwise be seen as acting out — adults are encouraged to look at children’s stress levels rather than seeing a behavioural issue. If adults approach the situation wrongly by giving a “time out,” or punishments, this may increase children’s stress.</p>
<h2>Other tips to support children</h2>
<p>Give your children a chance to reflect through writing, drawing or speaking at school and home. It is important to remember that self-regulation does not happen overnight. </p>
<p>Self-regulation takes practice and is a process.</p>
<p>For both parents and teachers, it is essential to listen to children and be the external regulator for them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154807/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niluja Muralitharan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many kindergarten classrooms draw on six principles for helping children to manage the everyday stressors of life, and parents can too.Niluja Muralitharan, PhD Student, Education, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1481542020-11-19T19:28:46Z2020-11-19T19:28:46Z4 tips for college students to avoid procrastinating with their online work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369889/original/file-20201117-17-1y0yojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5455%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Time management and supportive learning environments are keys to avoiding procrastination. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/bored-exhausted-african-american-woman-falling-royalty-free-image/1127950018?adppopup=true">fizkes/ iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you take classes online, chances are you probably procrastinate from time to time.</p>
<p>Research shows that <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-0663.99.1.12">more than 70%</a> of college students procrastinate, with about 20% consistently doing it all the time.</p>
<p>Procrastination is putting off starting or finishing a task despite knowing that it will seriously compromise the quality of your work – for instance, putting off a major class project until the last minute.</p>
<p>In fact, research has shown that procrastination can be a harmful behavior that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.038">lowers a student’s grades</a>.</p>
<p>Now that so many colleges and universities are <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/17/colleges-end-person-instruction-early-due-covid-19-spread">operating remotely because of the COVID-19</a> pandemic, we worry that students are more prone to procrastinate because they have less access to campus facilities and structured support from instructors. We raise these concerns as researchers who study students’ <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cBsh7i4AAAAJ&hl=en">motivation and engagement</a> and their <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=A_y6nEsAAAAJ&hl=en">procrastination in online learning</a>.</p>
<p>As professors, we’ve also heard our fair share of explanations and excuses for why students missed deadlines. Everything from “my computer doesn’t work” to “my Wi-Fi went dead.” We even had one student claim that “Grandma died” in one course and that “Grandpa died” in another course. We also have had students claim that their roommate deleted their homework.</p>
<p>Whether you see those reasons as valid or not, none of them really gets at why students procrastinate and end up in those kinds of situations in the first place. With that in mind, here are four tips that can help students deal better with the root causes of procrastination when it comes to online coursework.</p>
<h2>1. Manage motivation</h2>
<p>One of the main reasons students procrastinate is that they do not see their coursework as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2014.10.012">relevant</a> to what they’re doing now or expect to do later on. When students find that their academic tasks are interesting, important and useful, they are more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2190/7BAK-EGAH-3MH1-K7C6">try harder to get them done</a> and less likely to <a href="http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1565872460207536">put them off</a>.</p>
<p>Remote learning can make students feel <a href="https://doi.org/10.46627/silet.v1i2.38">bored and frustrated</a>. Therefore, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1041608016300905">finding ways to stay motivated</a> can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1041608017302248?casa_token=jRn5aLqwA_EAAAAA:Pl3xnbkG7llxOvII1vRTkr6OhZwdjB4KbxKyujIsL8BiPLHsSWLoDbOGK4uMWFogD4zgzJRhpw">prevent procrastination</a>.</p>
<p>Remind yourself of the practical value of your academic tasks. Figure out the reasons you’re studying something in the first place. </p>
<p>For instance, instead of viewing the completion of an assignment as a way to fulfill course requirements, you can think about how to turn your coursework into something related to your life or career goals. For a computer science student, a programming assignment could be made a part of your portfolio to help secure an internship or even a job – as some of our own students have done. A research report could be turned into an academic journal article to enhance your profile when applying for graduate school in the future.</p>
<h2>2. Manage goals, tasks and time</h2>
<p>College life can get hectic. Many college students must juggle coursework, social events and work commitments at the same time. <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-2909.133.1.65">Getting more organized</a> helps stave off procrastination. This means breaking long-term goals into smaller short-term, challenging and clear goals and tasks.</p>
<p>The reason this technique works is that procrastination is directly related to an individual’s <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/full/10.5465/AMR.2006.22527462?casa_token=z3rky_w4kkUAAAAA%3ASvKRFFdr7H-CACuzH0q7hnOibo2_J71L4t-iUJegIVyP1vxXLApXV_dqKFQHsaxCLOrbPpg2Flyw">preference and desire</a> for working on a task. When a goal is too large, it becomes not immediately achievable; therefore, you will see this task as less desirable and be more likely to put it off.</p>
<p>By breaking a large long-term goal into a series of smaller and more concrete subgoals, you will see the project as <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1990-97846-000?cid=SEM_DIR0016&con=13833&pkw=morningstar25252525252525252520direct&elqCampaignId=6282&prd=cloud&cap=research252525252525252520portal&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9KfZioi33AIVyLTtCh07gw7KEAAYASAAEgLGF_D_BwE">easier to complete</a> and, more importantly, your perceived distance to the finishing line will shorten. This way, you are more likely to perceive the project as <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/full/10.5465/AMR.2006.22527462?casa_token=z3rky_w4kkUAAAAA%3ASvKRFFdr7H-CACuzH0q7hnOibo2_J71L4t-iUJegIVyP1vxXLApXV_dqKFQHsaxCLOrbPpg2Flyw">desirable</a>, and you will be less likely to procrastinate.</p>
<p>Second, you need to plan your time daily by listing tasks based on their importance and urgency, estimating how much time you need to complete each task, and identifying concrete steps to reach daily goals. That is, tell yourself that in the context of X, I will need to do Y to accomplish Z.</p>
<p>It is also important to plan your time according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980309600625">how and when you prefer to study</a>. For example, you may concentrate the most late at night, your memory may work the best in the early mornings, or you may collaborate better during the day.</p>
<p>In addition, you should use tech tools, such as calendar and task-management apps, to plan your time and monitor how much you’re getting done.</p>
<h2>3. Create a good learning space</h2>
<p>Another important way to avoid procrastination is to make sure that your <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-31043-001">learning environment</a> is supportive for learning.</p>
<p>During the coronavirus pandemic, students are usually learning from home, but sometimes they study wherever they happen to be, even at picnic tables in public parks. These places may not be best suited for academic activities.</p>
<p>These environments have many characteristics that may be more interesting and less emotionally draining than academic tasks. Therefore, students could <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-2909.133.1.65">drift away</a> from academic tasks and wind up instead chatting with friends or watching sports. This is why <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101872">choosing or creating a good place to study</a> can help people stop procrastinating.</p>
<p>Try to set up your surroundings in a way that suits your learning habits, including where you put tables and chairs and how you use lighting and block out noises. For example, some students may enjoy learning in a quiet and dark space with a spotlight. Others may learn best when they use a standing desk next to a bright window and constantly play soft background music.</p>
<h2>4. Get a little help from friends</h2>
<p>Friends and classmates can <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1220909">help one another stop procrastinating</a>. <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-45259-006">Colleagues and other contacts</a> can hold one another accountable and help one another meet deadlines. This is particularly important for anyone who struggles <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0033-2909.133.1.65">with self-control</a>. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-008-9367-7">Research</a> also has shown that having supportive friends and other peers can boost self-confidence and make tasks seem more valuable and interesting.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students are physically isolated from most of their friends and classmates. The social support that students normally receive in face-to-face settings, such as after-class chats and study groups, has also been moved to virtual spaces. That is, it’s still available, but mainly through virtual means, such as instant-messaging apps, online collaboration tools or video conferencing software. Used wisely, these tools can help students work with friends to overcome procrastination and make the classwork more enjoyable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148154/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kui Xie receives funding from Institute for Educational Sciences, Spencer Foundation, Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Department of Higher Education, and Ohio Mayfield School District.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shonn Cheng does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More than 70% of college students engage in some form of procrastination, research shows.Kui Xie, Cyphert Distinguished Professor; Professor of Learning Technologies; Director of The Research Laboratory for Digital Learning, The Ohio State UniversityShonn Cheng, Assistant Professor of Instructional Systems Design and Technology, Sam Houston State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1455542020-09-11T07:42:56Z2020-09-11T07:42:56ZAre your devices spying on you? Australia’s very small step to make the Internet of Things safer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357407/original/file-20200910-23-1cxqjyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C57%2C5520%2C2974&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From internet-connected televisions, toys, fridges, ovens, security cameras, door locks, fitness trackers and lights, the so-called “Internet of Things” (IoT) promises to revolutionise our homes.</p>
<p>But it also threatens to increase our vulnerability to malicious acts. Security flaws in IoT devices <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3464277">are common</a>. Hackers can exploit those vulnerabilities to take <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/10/vibrator-phone-app-we-vibe-4-plus-bluetooth-hack">control</a> of devices, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/leemathews/2017/07/27/criminals-hacked-a-fish-tank-to-steal-data-from-a-casino/#36f0856d32b9">steal or change data</a>, and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephsteinberg/2014/01/27/these-devices-may-be-spying-on-you-even-in-your-own-home/#6823a7fcb859">spy on us</a>. </p>
<p>In recognition of these risks, the Australian government has introduced a new <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/reports-and-pubs/files/code-of-practice.pdf">code of practice</a> to encourage manufacturers to make IoT devices more secure. The code provides guidance on secure passwords, the need for security patches, the protection and deletion of consumers’ personal data and the reporting of vulnerabilities, among other things.</p>
<p>The problem is the code is voluntary. Experiences elsewhere, such as the United Kingdom, suggest a voluntary code will be insufficient to deliver the protections consumers need. </p>
<p>Indeed it might even increase risks, by lulling consumers into a false sense of security about the safety of the devices they buy. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-internet-of-things-16542">Explainer: the Internet of Things</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Many IoT devices are insecure</h2>
<p>IoT devices designed for consumers are generally less secure than conventional computers. </p>
<p>In 2017 the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network commissioned researchers from the University of New South Wales to test the security of 20 <a href="https://accan.org.au/files/Grants/UNSW-ACCAN_InsideJob_web.pdf">household appliances</a> capable of being connected and controlled via wi-fi. </p>
<p>These included a smart TV, portable speaker, voice assistant, printer, sleep monitor, digital photo frame, bathroom scales, light bulb, power switch, smoke alarm and Hello Barbie talking doll. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357574/original/file-20200911-22-vkf634.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357574/original/file-20200911-22-vkf634.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357574/original/file-20200911-22-vkf634.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357574/original/file-20200911-22-vkf634.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357574/original/file-20200911-22-vkf634.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=715&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357574/original/file-20200911-22-vkf634.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=715&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357574/original/file-20200911-22-vkf634.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=715&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Devices tested by UNSW researchers for the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://accan.org.au/files/Grants/UNSW-ACCAN_InsideJob_web.pdf">Inside Job: Security and privacy threats for smart-home IoT devices, 2017</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While some devices (including the Barbie) were found to be relatively secure in terms of confidentiality, all had some form of security flaw. Many “allowed potentially serious safety and security breaches”.</p>
<p>What this could potentially mean is that someone could, for example, hack into a household’s wi-fi network and collect data from IoT devices. It might be as simple as knowing when lights are switched on to determine when a home can be burgled. Someone with more malicious intent could <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-10-flaw-hackers-smart-ovens.html">turn on your oven</a> while shutting down smoke alarms and other sensors. </p>
<h2>Risks to consumers, and society</h2>
<p>Factors leading to <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/DeakinLawRw/2017/3.html">poor security in IoT devices</a> include manufacturers’ desires to minimise componentry and keep costs down. Many makers of consumer goods also have little experience with cyber-security issues. </p>
<p>Allied with the fact many consumers <a href="https://accan.org.au/files/Grants/UNSW-ACCAN_InsideJob_web.pdf">aren’t technologically savvy</a> enough to appreciate the risks and protect themselves, this creates the prospect of IoT devices being exploited. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-privacy-paradox-we-claim-we-care-about-our-data-so-why-dont-our-actions-match-143354">The privacy paradox: we claim we care about our data, so why don't our actions match?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On a personal level, you could be <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/d3akpk/smart-home-technology-stalking-harassment">spied on and harassed</a>. Personal pictures or information could be <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/140207trendnetcmpt.pdf">exposed to the world</a>, or used to extort you. </p>
<p>On a societal level, IoT devices can be <a href="https://elie.net/static/files/understanding-the-mirai-botnet/understanding-the-mirai-botnet-paper.pdf">hijacked</a> and used collectively to shut down services and networks. Even compromising one device may enable connected infrastructure to be hacked. This is a rising concern as more people connect to <a href="https://www.iotworldtoday.com/2020/03/24/cybersecurity-crisis-management-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/">workplace networks</a> from home. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman using a smarthome app on her phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357623/original/file-20200911-16-14r5yhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357623/original/file-20200911-16-14r5yhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357623/original/file-20200911-16-14r5yhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357623/original/file-20200911-16-14r5yhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357623/original/file-20200911-16-14r5yhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357623/original/file-20200911-16-14r5yhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357623/original/file-20200911-16-14r5yhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many consumers don’t fully appreciate the security risks from IoT devices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Voluntary codes of practice</h2>
<p>In recognition of these threats, IoT security “good practice” guidelines have been proposed by standards bodies such as the <a href="https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/nist-cybersecurity-iot-program">US National Institute of Standards and Technology</a>, the <a href="https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/103600_103699/103645/01.01.01_60/ts_103645v010101p.pdf">European Telecommunications Standards Institute</a> and the <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc8520/">Internet Engineering Task Force</a>. But these guidelines are based on voluntary action by manufacturers.</p>
<p>The UK government has already <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proposals-for-regulating-consumer-smart-product-cyber-security-call-for-views/proposals-for-regulating-consumer-smart-product-cyber-security-call-for-views">concluded</a> the voluntary code of conduct it <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/773867/Code_of_Practice_for_Consumer_IoT_Security_October_2018.pdf">established in 2018</a> isn’t working. </p>
<p>Britain’s Minister for Digital Infrastructure, Matt Warman, said in July:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Despite widespread adoption of the guidelines in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-consumer-iot-security">Code of Practice for Consumer Internet of Things Security</a>, both in the UK and overseas, change has not been swift enough, with poor security still commonplace.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The UK is now <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-regulatory-proposals-on-consumer-iot-security">moving</a> to impose a mandatory code, with laws requiring manufacturers to deliver reasonable security features in any device that can connect to the internet.</p>
<h2>A case for co-regulation</h2>
<p>There is little reason to believe Australia’s voluntary code of practice will prove any more effective than in the UK.</p>
<p>A better option would have been a “<a href="http://rogerclarke.com/DV/CACM99.html#RegF">co-regulatory</a>” approach. Co-regulation mixes aspects of industry self-regulation with both government regulation and strong <a href="http://rogerclarke.com/EC/AIR.html#CRF">community input</a>. It includes laws that create incentives for compliance (and disincentives against non-compliance) and regulatory oversight by an independent (and well-resourced) watchdog.</p>
<p>The Australia government has, at least, described its new code of practice as “a first step” to improving the security of IoT devices.</p>
<p>Let’s hope so. If the UK experience is anything to go by, its next steps will include dumping a voluntary code for something with a greater chance of delivering the safety and security consumers – and society – need.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145554/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kayleen Manwaring has previously received funding from iappANZ. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Clarke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia’s new voluntary code of practice to make IoT devices more secure may expose consumers to greater risks.Kayleen Manwaring, Senior Lecturer, School of Taxation & Business Law, UNSW SydneyRoger Clarke, Visiting Professor, Comp Sci at the ANU, and Law, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1345792020-03-24T23:08:02Z2020-03-24T23:08:02Z‘Quiet kindness’ can bolster well-being during coronavirus pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322729/original/file-20200324-136168-1ni8i0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C889%2C3262%2C1793&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We’re best able to tailor our acts of kindness to the needs of those around us when we see from others' points of view.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Anastasiia Pyvovarova /Unsplash)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’ve learned a lot from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/kindness-what-ive-learned-from-3-000-children-and-adolescents-113705">thousands of public school students I’ve asked about kindness</a>. </p>
<p>As a researcher at the University of British Columbia, a great deal of my time is spent asking children, adolescents and even university students what it means to be kind and how they demonstrate kindness. Children can be kind in predictable or anticipated ways (for instance, holding a door open for a stranger) but I’ve also learned that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573519885802">they’re kinder than we might think</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573517732202">their kindness takes many forms</a>. </p>
<p>As our society navigates this coronavirus pandemic and we hear with <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/covid-19-ontario-reports-78-new-cases-the-most-in-one-day-so-far">increasing emphasis how important it is to stay home</a>, I reflect on what might be gained by remembering <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v43i2.18576">what I came to define as “quiet kindness.”</a> </p>
<p>Such acts of kindness don’t draw attention to the initiator or aren’t announced to the recipient, who may very well remain unaware of the kindness performed on their behalf. For children, an act of quiet kindness does not garner the attention of any adults who might typically encourage or reinforce kindness.</p>
<h2>Self-regulation</h2>
<p>Quietly kind acts contrast what psychology researchers Gustavo Carlo and Brandy Randall termed “<a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/psychfacpub/70/">public pro-social behaviours</a>,” which are conducted
in front of an audience to gain approval.</p>
<p>I arrived at a definition of quiet kindness after examining younger children’s (kindergarten to Grade 3) drawings and explanations of how they were kind, and older students’ (grades 4 to 7) written descriptions. They shared acts of kindness like leaving money in the vending machine for the next patron, not laughing at a joke or insult if it’ll cause someone around them to suffer — or as one middle school student described — not asking “for so much stuff.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322561/original/file-20200324-155666-16gi92v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322561/original/file-20200324-155666-16gi92v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322561/original/file-20200324-155666-16gi92v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322561/original/file-20200324-155666-16gi92v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322561/original/file-20200324-155666-16gi92v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322561/original/file-20200324-155666-16gi92v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322561/original/file-20200324-155666-16gi92v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Not ask for so much stuff’ is one child’s act of kindness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(John-Tyler Binfet)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of these quiet acts reflect <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0098628311430172">self-regulation, a hot-topic concept among educators</a>. Children’s self-regulation relates to children and adolescents taking responsibility for their language and actions by self-governing. </p>
<p>For example, one student described an act of kindness within the context of his family: to self-restrain and enact less aggression toward his brother. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322560/original/file-20200324-155702-65804z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322560/original/file-20200324-155702-65804z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322560/original/file-20200324-155702-65804z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322560/original/file-20200324-155702-65804z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322560/original/file-20200324-155702-65804z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322560/original/file-20200324-155702-65804z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322560/original/file-20200324-155702-65804z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t punch little brother (Charlie).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(John-Tyler Binfet)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These acts of quiet kindness require what <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0786-1">psychologists call “perspective-taking”</a> — the ability to gain perspective by putting oneself in the shoes of the other. It has been argued that perspective-taking <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2019.1632785">is a key prerequisite to being kind</a>. </p>
<p>Certainly, we’re best able to tailor our acts of kindness to the needs of those around us when we see from others’ points of view. In doing so, we can reflect upon how our kindness might support those around us. </p>
<h2>Done on the downlow</h2>
<p>During this time of coronavirus social distancing and quarantine, we’ve ample time to reflect on the needs of others. I hear the call: “But what about MY needs?!” as I think about <a href="https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/sudbury-costco-runs-out-of-toilet-paper-1.4848454">people standing in line for toilet paper at Costco</a>. </p>
<p>One antidote to maintaining our well-being during this unprecedented time might be to reflect on others’ needs and devise ways to be quietly kind? We know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.02.014">being kind to others is a guaranteed way to bolster our well-being</a>. </p>
<p>We feel better when we’re kind to others and the added bonus is that we make others feel better too. </p>
<p>It could be as simple as the student’s example below who said “not leaving his stuff laying on the floor” was an act of kindness for his mom and himself. I hope these examples might inspire us to consider a variety of ways to be quietly kind. Maybe this means sharing space more mindfully right now with those we live with or being more diligent with social distancing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322563/original/file-20200324-155683-wmceeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322563/original/file-20200324-155683-wmceeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=127&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322563/original/file-20200324-155683-wmceeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322563/original/file-20200324-155683-wmceeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=127&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322563/original/file-20200324-155683-wmceeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=159&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322563/original/file-20200324-155683-wmceeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=159&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322563/original/file-20200324-155683-wmceeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=159&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Not leave my stuff laying on the floor in my room,’ is one student’s act of kindness for his mom and himself.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(John-Tyler Binfet)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kindness need not be delivered like a Broadway production, with ample fanfare and attention drawn to the initiator. It can be done on the down-low, respond to the needs of those around us and be quietly delivered.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134579/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John-Tyler Binfet receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>One way to maintain our well-being might be to reflect on others’ needs and devise ways to be quietly kind.John-Tyler Binfet, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1217852019-08-14T21:34:24Z2019-08-14T21:34:24ZA day at the beach: Deep learning for a child<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288069/original/file-20190814-136217-qej3jx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Memories and the experiences gained through play are foundational to one's lifelong learning. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The beach offers a wide open playscape where children are fuelled by curiosity. Whether at the beach or elsewhere outdoors, it helps to take a moment to see the world through the lens of a child who is discovering the world anew, and slow down to be present. </p>
<p>Part of what happens through children’s play is the exhilaration of making choices. These choices, and their consequences, are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187704281403571X">part of the child’s emerging sense of agency and identity</a>.</p>
<p>Children’s inquisitive minds crave opportunities that allow them to become designers, builders, mathematicians and innovators of their world. </p>
<p>Sand sculptures crumble, but both memories and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/children1030280">experiences gained through play are foundational to one’s lifelong learning</a>. As a parent or guardian, you can support the deep learning that happens through play throughout your child’s day, and later when you revisit treasured memories. </p>
<h2>Wide-open choices</h2>
<p>The beach landscape is ever-changing, presenting challenges to overcome — and endless choices with which to experiment. Children’s author Douglas Wood beautifully narrates the precious thrill a child experiences in his book <em>No One But You</em>; he explores moments where children come to <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/HowLearningHappens.pdf">understand themselves and how they are uniquely connected to the world</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=696&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287877/original/file-20190813-9431-khdywl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘No One But You’ by Douglas Wood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Candlewick Press)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Design choices stretch beyond the horizon. Pools that children dig in the sand are tubs for dollies, watering holes for dinosaurs or giant castle moats. For children, the goal isn’t always a finished project. A child may be challenging themselves to dig deeper, pile higher or make winding paths for water longer. </p>
<p>Experiencing setbacks is a natural part of life, and when children try again or try something in a new way, they build their perseverance in addition to developing self-regulation. Learning and life are all about overcoming challenges, so understanding <a href="https://www.pearsoncanadaschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS1vM5">how to regulate oneself is foundational</a> for psychological, physical, behavioural and educational well-being. </p>
<p>Stuart Shanker, professor emeritus at York University in psychology and philosophy, and an expert in self-regulation, summarizes self-regulation as “<a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/shanker.pdf">the way in which people manage stresses in their lives</a>.” </p>
<p>When a child is filling and building, chasing seagulls and otherwise exploring the varied terrain of the beach, they are managing stresses that come into play. Sand castles may falter at an unanticipated time, waves may wash away a sandy message, wind and rain might dampen a plan and bridges may collapse. </p>
<p>The unpredictability of problem-solving lends itself to challenges, successes and failures. </p>
<h2>Multisensory pathways</h2>
<p>When children can run their fastest, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13502930701321733">managing the varied risks</a> and stressors of the terrain, they stumble, roll and recover, realizing their physical capabilities. They are developing <a href="https://sportforlife.ca/portfolio-view/developing-physical-literacy-a-guide-for-parents-of-children-ages-0-to-12/">physical literacy</a>, building their motivation, confidence, competence and disposition to pursue being active. </p>
<p>The beach is an an organic symphony of sound with the wind whistling, the waves lapping and the birds calling. The open sky, always changing, invites the clouds to be watched. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287881/original/file-20190813-9442-qie9c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Wave’ by Suzy Lee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chronicle Books)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Suzy Lee’s wordless book <em>Wave</em> captures the rich drama and choreography of a child’s play day on the beach. </p>
<p>The beach presents a plethora of <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/cognitive_development_and_sensory_play">sensory choices</a> with which to contend. Through these sensory engagements a child <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/">builds multisensory brain pathways</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2004.5.1.10">explores ways to live as part of the ecosystem</a>.</p>
<p>Imagination is ignited when children explore the variety of textures, shapes and sizes of nature’s gifts. Pebbles, shells, sand grains and sticks offer multiple possibilities for being <a href="https://activeforlife.com/making-use-of-loose-parts/">manipulated and moved</a>. Mixing in a little water adds even more choice of colour and texture to the malleable medium. </p>
<h2>Supporting learning with talk</h2>
<p>Undoubtedly there will be conversations carried by the breeze. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I did it! I DID IT! It’s flying!!!”</p>
<p>“Hey Wave! You can’t catch me!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-professor-james-britton-1428143.html">late great British language theorist</a> James Britton discussed how <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Language_and_Learning.html?id=YDgmAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">literacy floats on a sea of talk</a>.</p>
<p>As adults around children, we can listen to and observe children’s rich talk. In a play-based learning environment, educators of young children support learning through talk. For example, the adult can linger on the sidelines, and without interrupting children’s play, when the opportunity opens up, the adult can help name what the child is demonstrating. Or alternately, the adult can invite the child to talk about their ideas. For example: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“You’ve really worked hard to dig that deep hole! I see how you worked together to keep the water out. Your faces sure look proud and you didn’t give up even when it was tricky, you tried again.”</p>
<p>“This looks very exciting! Can you tell me about what you are building?!”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287879/original/file-20190813-9419-i4s2a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Picture the Sky’ by Barbara Reid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(North Winds Press)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Barbara Reid’s book <em>Picture the Sky</em> illustrates how the sky can evoke observation and conversation, and demonstrates how <a href="https://www.literacytoday.ca/primary/talk/the-role-of-talk-in-learning/">building on children’s talk leads to greater capacities to read the world</a>. </p>
<p>Adults may notice that children are engaging in early mathematics experiences in ways that matter to them. You can help to name the math that comes to the surface in moments that won’t disrupt the flow of children’s play. For example: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“That hole looks even bigger! I wonder how many buckets of water it might take to fill it? Shall we count them together?”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mucking around with a problem and making possible solution choices can lead to powerful learning.</p>
<h2>Leaving the beach and at home</h2>
<p>Even under the open sky, children are experiencing patterns as time passes and the sun’s position and shadows change.</p>
<p>Inevitably, the beach day must come to an end. This transition can be a stressor because <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/ResearchBriefs.pdf">the child is leaving something they have been enjoying</a>.</p>
<p>Letting the child know it will be <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/sep2018/reducing-challenging-behaviors-during-transitions">time to leave</a> - for example, by setting a stopwatch alarm with your child — and talking about what needs to be done to clean up, creates time to prepare for the transition and opportunity to take ownership of a tidying role.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287889/original/file-20190813-9419-6z2sac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Day at the Beach’ by Tom Booth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Simon and Schuster)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At home, in the days that follow, you can connect with your child as you revisit their play memories. </p>
<p>Tom Booths’ book <em>Day at the Beach</em> is sure to spark recollections of these shared moments. It explores how children find purpose and challenge themselves beyond what they know, learning along the way. </p>
<p>Making choices, encountering unexpected challenges and social experiences all help to build far more than sand castles! </p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121785/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Through a play day filled with choices at the beach with supportive adults, unexpected challenges and social experiences all help children to build far more than sand castles.Lotje Hives, Research Collaborator, Part-time Instructor, Schulich School of Education, Nipissing UniversityTara-Lynn Scheffel, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Education, Nipissing UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1175652019-06-12T11:30:10Z2019-06-12T11:30:10ZCompanies’ self-regulation doesn’t have to be bad for the public<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278726/original/file-20190610-52758-189aq1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C162%2C5184%2C3282&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Managing a shared resource doesn't have to involve fences.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sheep-new-zealand-421561492">Caroline Ryan</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If Boeing is allowed to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/how-the-faa-allows-jetmakers-to-self-certify-that-planes-meet-us-safety-requirements/2019/03/15/96d24d4a-46e6-11e9-90f0-0ccfeec87a61_story.html">certify that a crash-prone aircraft is safe</a>, and Facebook can <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/07/opinion/zuckerberg-privacy-facebook.html">violate users’ privacy expectations</a>, should companies and industries ever be <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/the-administration/436328-corporate-self-regulation-is-failing">allowed to police themselves</a>? The debate is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tech-antitrust-legal-explainer/explainer-should-big-tech-fear-u-s-antitrust-enforcers-idUSKCN1T62K3">heating up</a> particularly in the U.S. tech sector with growing calls to regulate – or even break up – the likes of <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-retail-chief-says-scrutiny-is-warranted-but-companys-breakup-is-not-2019-06-05">Google, Apple and Amazon</a>. </p>
<p>It turns out to be possible, at least sometimes, for companies and industries to govern themselves, while still protecting the public interest. Groundbreaking work by <a href="http://www.aei.org/publication/elinor-ostrom-and-the-solution-to-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/">Nobel Prize-winning political economist Elinor Ostrom</a> and her husband Vincent found a solution to a classic economic quandary, in which people – and businesses – self-interestedly enrich themselves as quickly as possible with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ablj.12116">certain resources</a> including <a href="http://bierdoctor.com/papers/Rader_derived_data_abstract_May_2017.pdf">personal data</a>, thinking little about the secondary costs they might be inflicting on others.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278729/original/file-20190610-52771-1j02bnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278729/original/file-20190610-52771-1j02bnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278729/original/file-20190610-52771-1j02bnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=892&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278729/original/file-20190610-52771-1j02bnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=892&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278729/original/file-20190610-52771-1j02bnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=892&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278729/original/file-20190610-52771-1j02bnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1121&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278729/original/file-20190610-52771-1j02bnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1121&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278729/original/file-20190610-52771-1j02bnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1121&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elinor Ostrom in 2009, when she won the Nobel Prize in Economics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nobel_Prize_2009-Press_Conference_KVA-30.jpg">Holger Motzkau/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the director of the <a href="https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/research/internet-cybersecurity/index.html">Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance</a>, I have been involved in numerous projects studying how to solve these sorts of problems when they arise, both online and offline. Most recently, my <a href="https://illinoislawreview.org/print/vol-2017-no-2/when-toasters-attack/">work</a> has looked at how to manage the massively interconnected world of sensors, computers and smart devices – what I <a href="https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/solutions/industries/docs/gov/everything-for-cities.pdf">and others</a> call the “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3266188">internet of everything</a>.” </p>
<p>I’ve found that there are ways <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/002081898550789">companies can become leaders</a> by <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2573787">experimenting with business opportunities</a> and collaborating with peers, while still working with regulators to protect the public, including both in the air and in cyberspace.</p>
<h2>Tragedy revisited</h2>
<p>In a classic economic problem, called “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons">the tragedy of the commons</a>,” a parcel of grassland is made available for a community to graze its livestock. Everyone tries to get the most benefit from it – and as a result, the land is overgrazed. What started as a resource for everyone becomes of little use to anyone. </p>
<p>For many years, economists thought there were only two possible solutions. One was for the government to step in and limit how many people could graze their animals. The other was to split the land up among private owners who had exclusive use of it, and could sustainably manage it for their individual benefit.</p>
<p>The Ostroms, however, found a third way. In some cases, they revealed, <a href="http://www.aei.org/publication/elinor-ostrom-and-the-solution-to-the-tragedy-of-the-commons/">self-organization can work well</a>, especially when the various people and groups involve can <a href="https://www.iucn.org/downloads/policy_matters_19_preface__introductions_and_chapters_1_5.pdf">communicate</a> effectively. They called it “polycentric governance,” because it allows regulation to come from more than just one central authority. Their work can help determine if and when companies can effectively regulate themselves – or whether it’s best for the government to step in.</p>
<h2>A polycentric primer</h2>
<p>The concept can seem complicated, but in practice it is increasingly popular, in federal programs and even as a goal for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/10/07/internet-operations-chief-snowden-disclosures-make-my-job-easier/">governing the internet</a>. </p>
<p>Scholars such as Elinor Ostrom produced a broad swath of research over decades, looking at <a href="https://books.google.hr/books/about/Polycentricity_and_Local_Public_Economie.html?id=iBZ32c7KLWUC&redir_esc=y">public schools and police department performance</a> in Midwestern U.S. cities, coastal overfishing, forest management in nations like Nepal, and even <a href="https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol37/iss3/7">traffic jams</a> in New York City. They identified <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1304697">commonalities among all these studies</a>, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/ostrom_lecture.pdf">including</a> whether the group’s members can help set the rules by which their shared resources are governed, how much control they have over who gets to share it, how disputes are resolved, and how everyone’s use is monitored.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T6OgRki5SgM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom explains her work in a 2010 lecture.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All of these factors can help predict whether individuals or groups will successfully self-regulate, whether the challenge they’re facing is <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=1494833">climate change</a>, <a href="https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1888&context=aulr">cybersecurity</a>, or anything else. <a href="http://escotet.org/2010/11/interview-with-nobel-laureate-elinor-ostrom/">Trust is key</a>, as Lin Ostrom said, and an excellent way to build trust is to let <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2490">smaller groups make their own decisions</a>.</p>
<p>Polycentric governance’s embrace of self-regulation involves relying on <a href="https://www.ubs.com/microsites/nobel-perspectives/en/laureates/elinor-ostrom.html">human ingenuity</a> and collaboration skills to solve difficult problems – while focusing on practical measures to address specific challenges.</p>
<p>Self-regulation does have its limits, though – as has been clear in the revelations about how <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/faa-let-boeing-self-regulate-software-believed-737-max-crashes-2019-3">the Federal Aviation Administration allowed Boeing</a> to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/faa-let-boeing-self-regulate-software-believed-737-max-crashes-2019-3">certify the safety</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/03/boeing-downplayed-737-max-software-risks-self-certified-much-of-planes-safety/">of its own software</a>. Facebook has also been heavily criticized for failing to block an <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebooks-biggest-fails-before-cambridge-analytica/">anonymous horde</a> of <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-passwords-plaintext-change-yours/">users across the globe</a> from <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebooks-social-responsibility-should-include-privacy-protection-94549">manipulating people</a>’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/technology/facebook-regulation-ftc-fine.html">political views</a>.</p>
<p>Polycentric regulation is a departure from the idea of “<a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2012/06/14/jeffrey-weiss-elinor-ostroms-enduring-trust-in-the-commons">keep it simple, stupid</a>” – rather, it is a call for engagement by numerous groups to grapple with the complexities of the real world. </p>
<p>Both Facebook and Boeing now need to convince themselves, their employees, investors, policymakers, users and customers that they can be trusted. Ostrom’s ideas suggest they could begin to do this by engaging with peers and industry groups to set rules and ensure they are enforced.</p>
<h2>Governing the ‘internet of everything’</h2>
<p>Another industry in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annashedletsky/2018/08/06/why-industrial-iot-is-usually-a-failure-and-how-to-fix-it/#2fe576d042ed">serious need of better regulations</a> is the smart-device business, with tens of billions of connected devices around the world, and little to no <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/Passcode-Voices/2016/1026/Opinion-How-to-fix-an-internet-of-broken-things">concern</a> for user security or privacy.</p>
<p>Customers often buy the cheapest smart-home camera or digital sensor, <a href="https://www.schneier.com/books/click_here/">without looking at competitors’</a> security and privacy protections. The results are predictable – hackers have hijacked thousands of internet-connected devices and used them to attack the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davelewis/2017/10/23/the-ddos-attack-against-dyn-one-year-later/#4765cbe51ae9">physical network of the internet</a>, take control of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30575104">industrial</a> equipment, and spy on private citizens through their smartphones and <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/woman-claims-hacker-used-baby-monitor-to-spy-on-her-in-her-bedroom-2018-06-07">baby monitors</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278730/original/file-20190610-52789-1oe6wxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278730/original/file-20190610-52789-1oe6wxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278730/original/file-20190610-52789-1oe6wxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278730/original/file-20190610-52789-1oe6wxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278730/original/file-20190610-52789-1oe6wxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278730/original/file-20190610-52789-1oe6wxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278730/original/file-20190610-52789-1oe6wxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278730/original/file-20190610-52789-1oe6wxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Who else might be watching this view, over the internet?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-baby-monitor-security-538634722">Saklakova/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some governments are starting to get involved. The state of California and the European Union are exploring laws that promote “<a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/california-law-iot-devised-to-have-reasonable-security-feature">reasonable</a>” security requirements, at least as a baseline. The EU is encouraging companies to band together to establish <a href="https://iapp.org/news/a/will-the-gdpr-incite-sectoral-codes-of-conduct/">industry-wide codes of conduct</a>. </p>
<h2>Getting governance right</h2>
<p>Effective self-governance may seem impossible in the “Internet of everything” because of the scale and variety of groups and industries involved, but polycentric governance does provide a useful lens through which to view these problems. Ostrom has asserted this approach may be <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1304697">the most flexible and adaptable way</a> to manage rapidly changing industries. It may also help avoid conflicting government regulations that risk stifling innovation in the name of protecting consumers without helping either cause. </p>
<p>But success is not certain. It requires active engagement by all parties, who must share a sense of responsibility to the customers and mutual trust in one another. That’s not easy to build in any community, let alone the <a href="https://www.digitalistmag.com/digital-economy/2018/07/20/digital-transformation-modern-form-of-creative-destruction-06179806">dynamic tech industry</a>.</p>
<p>Government involvement can help build bridges and solidify trust across the private sector, as happened with cybersecurity efforts from the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2446631">National Institute for Standards and Technology</a>. Some states, like <a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ohio-law-creates-cybersecurity-safe-harbor-for-businesses/">Ohio</a>, are even rewarding firms for using appropriate self-regulation in their cybersecurity decision-making.</p>
<p>Polycentric governance can be flexible, adapting to new technologies more appropriately – and often more quickly – than pure governmental regulation. It also can be more efficient and cost-effective, though it’s not a cure for all regulatory ills. And it’s important to note that regulation can spur innovation as well as protect consumers, especially <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-simple-rules-of-disciplined-innovation">when the rules are simple</a> and outcome focused.</p>
<p>Consider the North American Electric Reliability Council. That organization was originally created as a group of companies that came together voluntarily in an effort to protect against blackouts. NERC standards, however, were eventually made legally enforceable in the aftermath of the <a href="http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059985876/print">Northeast blackout of 2003</a>. They are an example of an organic code of conduct that was voluntarily adopted and subsequently reinforced by government, consistent with professor Ostrom’s ideas. Ideally, it should not require such a crisis to spur this process forward. </p>
<p>Ultimately, what’s needed – and what professor Ostrom and her colleagues and successors have called for – is more experimentation and less theorizing. As the 10-year anniversary of Ostrom’s Nobel Prize approaches, I believe it is time to put her insights to work, offering industries the opportunity to self-regulate where appropriate while leaving the door open for the possibility of government action, including antitrust enforcement, to protect the public and promote <a href="https://ndias.nd.edu/news-publications/ndias-quarterly/the-meaning-of-cyber-peace/">cyber peace</a>.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=thanksforreading">Thanks for reading! We can send you The Conversation’s stories every day in an informative email. Sign up today.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117565/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Shackelford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A Nobel Prize-winning political economist found a way to promote good governance and protect users without the need for heavy-handed government regulation.Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Director, Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1137092019-03-26T22:34:28Z2019-03-26T22:34:28ZKindergarten classes are too big for teachers to effectively assess students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265634/original/file-20190325-36267-1lddt9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Helping children think self-reflexively about their choices when they play is part of assessment in kindergarten. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent educational reforms have led to two fundamental changes in kindergarten classrooms. </p>
<p>Firstly, there has been a surge of play-based learning. Play, now shown to be <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rev3.3097">beneficial both for academic skills and for socio-personal development</a>, has been repositioned in many kindergarten policies as the dominant approach for teaching and learning.</p>
<p>Play-based learning is rooted in a history across
traditions of early primary education such as <a href="http://www.ccma.ca/what-is-montessori">Montessori</a>, <a href="https://www.reggioalliance.org/">Reggio Emilia</a>, <a href="https://www.early-education.org.uk/about-froebel">Froebel</a> and the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42643342?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">British Infant School tradition</a>. </p>
<p>Play is further supported as a basic right of all children by the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>. With Canada’s adoption of this in 1991, Canadian educators had empirical, historical and philosophical grounds for play as a basis for classroom learning.</p>
<p>At the same time, the accountability movement has made its way into kindergarten. This movement results in a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10643-010-0429-6">dramatic increase in academic standards expected of kindergarten students</a>, and the coupled need for teachers to assess and report achievement of curriculum standards.</p>
<p>Both play-based learning and the value of assessment are independently supported by research arguing their value. Yet little research has explored what happens when schools implement these changes simultaneously. </p>
<p>In our three-year study, we found that many teachers <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00220671.2015.1118005">report assessment as one of the primary challenges within the current context of play-based kindergarten education</a>.</p>
<h2>Asking probing questions</h2>
<p>Today, Ontario kindergarten teachers are mandated to use multiple forms of assessment. Overall, these practices have two purposes: firstly, to report on student learning of curriculum expectations through graded report cards; and secondly, to provide feedback to help students <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0969595980050102?src=recsys">become independent learners, which is a fundamental goal for kindergarteners</a>. </p>
<p>Providing feedback happens when teachers engage with children through teacher-led instruction or play-based learning. </p>
<p>For example: a teacher intentionally lingers near children at play. Two children can’t agree on an imaginary scenario, such as whether they are firefighters at a fire or adventurers riding horses to save a runaway train. The teacher asks probing questions to help children solve their own conflicts and imagine a story line. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265656/original/file-20190325-36256-kysjpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers stressed that assessing children while they played was essential.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the same time the teacher is intentionally assessing children’s collaboration and their ability to use existing story structure knowledge. </p>
<p>Thus we can see how assessment — asking probing questions in this case — supports child development. Children are learning to compromise and come to a mutually agreeable consensus. They are also developing the ability to reflect critically on their own thinking.</p>
<p>When assessment is recorded and shared, parents and teachers can identify for students where they are and where they need to go with their learning. Educators and parents can then help provide children with strategies for this. </p>
<p>All assessment practices are meant to <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growsuccess.pdf">continuously monitor student development and learning towards provincial standards, both academic and socio-personal</a>. </p>
<h2>Teacher challenges</h2>
<p>In our three-year study in Ontario play-based kindergarten classrooms, through a series of initial and follow-up interviews and classroom observations, we explored teachers’ perspectives and intentions about how they fulfil their mandates to assess children. </p>
<p>Teachers overwhelmingly described their intentions to practise child-centred assessment. Further, they stressed that play opportunities were purposefully designed to address curriculum expectations and that assessment in these contexts was essential. But our observations revealed that teachers were not always systematically doing this. </p>
<p>Instead, teachers used a traditional approach of creating multiple centres to engage the majority of children in play-based learning activities — for instance, at a sand table or an imaginary play setting like a restaurant. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265874/original/file-20190326-36252-fgh7sp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers lacked time to systematically assess children while they played.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Teachers then assessed the literacy or math skills of individual children, or small groups. An overwhelming majority of teachers in our study (95 per cent) indicated that they used such teacher-led stations because they lacked sufficient time to systematically assess children in all areas of the curriculum while they played.</p>
<p>This challenge was primarily due to large class sizes with up to 30 children. It was compounded by perceived pressure to cover and report on curriculum expectations in order to prepare children for Grade 1.</p>
<p>Over half the teachers (55 per cent) felt pressured to capture the multitude of learning moments occurring simultaneously among children in a busy classroom environment.</p>
<p>Teachers also recognized that a significant portion of their time was spent on <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growingsuccessaddendum.html">pedagogical documentation — the practice of systematically collecting evidence on individual student learning throughout play and learning periods</a>. </p>
<p>This practice is part of Ontario’s play-based kindergarten policy, and involves ongoing gathering and interpretation of various evidence of student thinking, learning and performance including photographs, videos, work samples, conversations and observations.</p>
<p>The addition of pedagogical documentation has not fundamentally changed how assessment operates in play-based kindergarten classrooms. Rather, as teachers work to navigate the assessments required by academic curriculum expectations and the learning potential within play-based contexts, teachers perceive more assessment work.</p>
<h2>Class size impacts teachers’ assessment capacity</h2>
<p>Assessing children one-on-one or in small groups served to resolve an additional challenge that 75 per cent of the teachers identified: a large proportion of children did not have the self-regulation to play for extended periods of time without adult support and supervision. They had issues with sharing their emotions, controlling their bodies and playing in socially appropriate ways with friends and resources. </p>
<p>While teachers’ strategies of creating the assessment stations appeared to be an effective and necessary approach, it meant that assessment was not fully integrated or responsive to play-based learning. </p>
<p>This observation led us to highlight an irony: despite many children entering kindergarten not having the necessary self-regulation to play independently for long periods of time, due to class size, teachers are unable to fully leverage <a href="https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/assessment-as-learning/book238890">the power of both play and assessment to develop children’s self-regulation</a>.</p>
<p>Teachers in our study described the need to assess a diversity of academic and learning skills in multiple spaces for so many children as an impossible juggling act. </p>
<p>And, many acknowledged they did not have time to collect, let alone engage in, in-depth analysis of much of the assessment information collected. </p>
<p>Our findings suggest to us the need for administrators and teacher professional development programs to support teachers’ broader assessment literacy: in kindergarten, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09695940903319646">assessment is optimally not an add-on to teaching and learning, but part of everyday practices that combine both child-led and teacher-directed practices woven into play-based learning</a>. </p>
<p>Importantly, our findings also suggest that teachers want to practice child-centred assessment, which effectively nurtures academic and socio-personal development, but report they cannot because of large class sizes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113709/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher DeLuca receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Pyle receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Student assessments help children develop self-regulation skills, but teachers don’t have the time when class sizes are large.Christopher DeLuca, Associate Professor in Classroom Assessment and Acting Associate Dean, Graduate Studies & Research, Faculty of Education, Queen's University, OntarioAngela Pyle, Assistant Professor, Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Study, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, OISE, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1094512019-01-14T08:27:02Z2019-01-14T08:27:02ZWant to be happier? Try getting to know yourself<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253410/original/file-20190111-43538-b0vc9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/black-woman-afro-hairstyle-doing-yoga-788029807?src=wma2qNqp12UTiTQr6VZzWQ-1-22">javi_indy/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The unexamined life is not worth living, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_unexamined_life_is_not_worth_living">said the Greek philosopher Socrates</a>. He was reflecting on the expression “Know Thyself” – an aphorism inscribed on the <a href="https://www.ancient-greece.org/architecture/delphi-temple-of-apollo.html">temple of Apollo at Delphi</a> and one of the ultimate achievements in ancient Greece.</p>
<p>While we walk around the world more or less successful in our endeavours, many of us sometimes have the nagging feeling that we don’t truly know ourselves. Why do we really feel and behave the way we do? While we have some ideas about who we are, our understanding of ourselves is often patchy and inconsistent. So, is self-knowledge something we should strive for, or are we better off living in blissful ignorance? Let’s examine the research.</p>
<p>By <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/self-knowledge/">self-knowledge</a>, psychologists mean having an understanding of our feelings, motivations, thinking patterns and tendencies. These give us a stable sense of self-worth and a secure grip on our values and motivations. Without self-knowledge we cannot have an internal measure of our own worth. </p>
<p>This leaves us vulnerable to accepting others’ opinions of us as truths. If a co-worker decides (and acts as if) we are worthless, we may swallow their verdict. We end up looking out to the world, rather than into ourselves, in order to know what we should feel, think and want.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253409/original/file-20190111-43525-wn4shg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253409/original/file-20190111-43525-wn4shg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253409/original/file-20190111-43525-wn4shg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253409/original/file-20190111-43525-wn4shg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253409/original/file-20190111-43525-wn4shg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253409/original/file-20190111-43525-wn4shg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253409/original/file-20190111-43525-wn4shg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Delphi, Greece.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edward Knapczyk/wikipedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is an advantage to learn how to recognise our feelings. The experience of sadness, for example, could be the result of bad news, but it could also be caused by a predisposition to feeling sad resulting from childhood trauma or even just the <a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/can-microbes-encourage-altruism-20170629/">bacteria</a> in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19490976.2018.1460015">our gut</a>. Recognising true emotions can help us to intervene in the <a href="http://atlasofemotions.org/">space between feelings and actions</a> – knowing your emotions is the first step to being in control of them, breaking negative thought patterns. Understanding our own emotions and thinking patterns can also help us more easily empathise with others. </p>
<p>Self-awareness also allows us to make better decisions. In <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20152338?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">one study</a>, students who scored higher on “metacognitive awareness” – the ability to reflect on personal thoughts, feelings, attitudes and beliefs – tended to make more effective decisions when it came to playing a computer game in which they had to diagnose and treat virtual patients in order to cure them. The authors argued that this was because they could set more well defined goals and make strategic actions.</p>
<h2>Getting to know yourself</h2>
<p>So how can we learn to know how we feel? People can have different ways of thinking about themselves. We can think about our history, and how past experiences have made us who we are. But we can also brood about negative scenarios in the past or future. Some of these ways of thinking about ourselves are better for us than others. Unfortunately, many of us tend to ruminate and to worry. That is, we focus on our fears and shortcomings, and as a result we become anxious or depressed.</p>
<p>The best way to start would be talking with an insightful friend or a trained therapist. The latter is especially important in cases where a lack of self-knowledge is interfering with our mental health. Putting words to feelings and being asked follow-up questions can really help us to understand who we are. Reading about <a href="https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Intuition-Pumps-and-Other-Tools-for-Thinking-Audiobook/B00CLG3RWO?source_code=M2M14DFT1BkSH082015011R&ds_rl=1235779">useful ways of thinking</a> can also help us to navigate our lives better. </p>
<p>In addition, there are several other traditions throughout history that have explored ways of getting to know ourselves. Both <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo5503948.html">Stoic philosophy</a> and <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/DUNTAU">Buddhist traditions</a> valued self-knowledge and developed practices to nurture awareness of mental states – such as meditation.</p>
<p>Nowadays, mindfulness meditation has <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/12/why-google-target-and-general-mills-are-investing-in-mindfulness">gained traction</a> in psychology, medicine and neuroscience. Meditation and emotion regulation training can reduce negative feelings, rumination and anxiety. They also <a href="https://1ammce38pkj41n8xkp1iocwe-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Contemplative-emotion-training-reduces-negative-emotional-behavior-and-promotes-prosocial-responses.pdf">increase positive emotions</a>, improve the ability to recognise emotions in others, and protect us from social stress. Therapies that integrate mindfulness have been shown to be reliable in helping to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735815000197">improve mental health</a>, specifically the outcomes of depression, stress and anxiety. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/95143875" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Imagine sitting by the side of a busy road, with the passing cars representing your thoughts and feelings.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By just sitting for a little while and watching our thoughts and feelings from a distance, as if we’re sitting by the side of the road and watching cars go by, we can get to know ourselves better. This helps us practice the skill of not thinking about the past or future, and we can be in the present a little bit more. We can learn to recognise the feelings that certain events and emotions trigger in us at the moment, and to create a space in which we can decide how to act (as some responses are more constructive than others). </p>
<p>Imagine, for example, that you have plans to go for a bike ride with a friend tomorrow and you’re very much looking forward to this. In the morning, your friend cancels. Later in the day, a colleague asks you for help with a problem, and you feel annoyed and snap at them – telling them you don’t have time for it.</p>
<p>Maybe you felt annoyed with the colleague, but the real reason was that you felt disappointed with your friend, and you now feel that you may not be as important to them as they are to you. If we’re more self-aware, we’re more likely to have the chance to pause and realise why we’re feeling the way we’re feeling. Rather than taking it out on our colleague, we can then realise that we are overreacting or identify whether there are any problems in our relationship with our friend.</p>
<p>It is fascinating that almost 2,500 years after the construction of the temple of Apollo, the quest to know ourselves better is still equally important.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109451/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niia Nikolova does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If you develop an awareness of how you feel you are more likely to be able to change negative thinking patterns.Niia Nikolova, Postdoctoral Researcher of Psychology, University of Strathclyde Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1050562018-10-19T08:44:52Z2018-10-19T08:44:52ZWhy journalists in South Africa should do some self-reflection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241224/original/file-20181018-67185-wv0tdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Media should be held to the same accountability standards they demand, especially from public representatives. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is fitting that the <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2018-10-13-we-got-it-wrong-and-for-that-we-apologise/">apology</a> by the editor of Sunday Times, South Africa’s biggest newspaper, for its serious lapses in editorial independence and judgement came at the start of a week in which the country celebrates <a href="https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/government-commemorates-media-freedom-day">Media Freedom Day</a>. </p>
<p>Also known as <a href="http://www.saha.org.za/news/2011/November/a_black_wednesday_for_apartheid_sa_and_a_black_tuesday_for_democratic_sa.htm">“Black Wednesday”</a>, the event commemorates the day, in 1977, when the apartheid government arrested, detained and banned anti-apartheid activists and shut down three newspapers. The attack on the media was sustained throughout the 1980s, including two <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/state-emergency-south-africa-1960-and-1980s">States of Emergency</a> which severely curtailed freedom of speech.</p>
<p>When celebrating Media Freedom Day in post-apartheid South Africa, it is customary to recall the resistance offered by critical newspapers during apartheid, and rejoice in the freedom now entrenched in the <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/constitution-republic-south-africa-1996-1">Constitution</a>. The vital work done by today’s investigative journalists to expose corruption, <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2018-09-14-00-definition-of-state-capture">state capture</a> and corporate malfeasance is <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-investigative-journalists-helped-turn-the-tide-against-corruption-in-south-africa-93434">rightly féted</a>. </p>
<p>But often forgotten or underplayed is the shadowy side to media history – and contemporary parallels.</p>
<h2>The historical resonances</h2>
<p>Sunday Times editor Bongani Siqoko was apologising for the excesses of his immediate predecessors. These included false allegations about a police “hit squad” in the KwaZulu-Natal province. Another was about a “<a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2018-10-16-the-sars-rogue-unit-not-unlawful-says-judge-robert-nugent/">rogue unit” at the South African Revenue Services</a>. The apologies stemmed from the fact that the journalists who wrote the articles had not done the proper checks on their sources. And that they were led by the nose to further the agendas of particular politicians wanting to weaken state institutions.</p>
<p>There are historical resonances. The most egregious example of media capture during apartheid was the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/information-scandal">“Information Scandal”</a> in which the then governing National Party attempted to buy the Rand Daily Mail newspaper in order to provide propaganda. When that failed it launched The Citizen, using a secret slush fund. </p>
<p>The Nationalist government could also count on the support of the Afrikaans media, especially the media giant Naspers. As former editor and journalism professor Anton Harber has <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-10-08-ton-vosloos-book-has-lessons-for-todays-political-journalists-who-actively-take-sides/">pointed out</a>, the </p>
<blockquote>
<p>gravest sin of the Afrikaans media was not what it said but what it systematically hid from its public: the forced removals, the prison torture, the slave working conditions, the censorship, the petty segregation, the daily humiliations – all the conditions that defined apartheid and made it so horrifying to the rest of the world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Naspers <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-03-03-a-cultural-weapon-how-afrikaans-arts-journalists-found-breathing-space-in-apartheid-sa/">refused to testify</a> before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about their role under apartheid, leading to a group of renegade journalists <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media%5C1997%5C9709/s970926g.htm">submitting their own affidavits</a>. An apology for the newspaper group’s complicity with successive apartheid regimes was only made at the <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Naspers-apologises-for-its-role-in-apartheid-20150725">company’s centenary</a> in 2015.</p>
<p>Although the mainstream English-language press were more critical of apartheid, theirs was often a liberal opposition aligned with mining capital, and offered <a href="https://www.mediamonitoringafrica.org/images/uploads/trc.pdf">from a white perspective</a>. The Black press and alternative media, often harassed, sued, threatened and driven underground, were the ones that paid the highest price for their principles.</p>
<h2>Crisis of conscience</h2>
<p>South African journalism again faces a crisis of conscience. <a href="https://www.news24.com/Tags/Companies/the_new_age">The New Age</a> newspaper and its <a href="https://theconversation.com/axing-ann7-in-south-africa-may-send-wrong-signal-for-media-freedom-91180">sister channel ANN7</a> were widely seen as an attempt by the controversial Gupta-family to <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2018-07-05-the-new-age-experiment-governments-attempt-to-control-the-media-has-done-industry-no-favours/">extend their state capture agenda</a> to the media sphere. And the close relationship between the executive chairman of Independent Media, Iqbal Survé, and members of the African National Congress, has repeatedly <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2017-05-14-iqbal-surv-canned-editor-over-brian-molefe-article/">raised questions</a> about editorial independence at the group’s publications. </p>
<p>Added to the extremely serious ethical lapses by the Sunday Times is the ongoing concern that South Africa’s mainstream media does not listen to and reflect closely enough the <a href="https://theconversation.com/voices-of-the-poor-are-missing-from-south-africas-media-53068">voices of the poor</a>. What gives these issues a global backdrop is the rise of a <a href="https://www.news24.com/Columnists/GuestColumn/in-the-twitter-trenches-how-fake-news-influences-journalism-20170126">“post-truth” era</a> where politicians have used the public’s distrust in the media to serve their own agendas.</p>
<p>In this context, media <a href="https://www.oeaw.ac.at/cmc/research/media-accountability-media-change/media-ethics-and-media-accountability/mapping-media-accountability-international-trends-and-perspectives/">accountability and transparency</a> are key. If journalists demand accountability from the state and politicians, they too should be accountable to the public. </p>
<h2>Investigation into editorial integrity</h2>
<p>Apologising to the public and parting ways with the <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2018/10/14/sunday-times-parts-ways-with-mzilikazi-wa-afrika-and-stephan-hofstatter">offending journalists </a> was the honourable thing for the Sunday Times to do. Without action a press code can become merely a smokescreen. More needs to be done. </p>
<p>Instead of exchanging the usual platitudes about the Fourth Estate and patting one other on the back, journalists should do some soul searching. In view of this, the three Sunday Times journalists responsible for the series of contentious stories would do well to heed <a href="https://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/the-case-for-sunday-times-journalists-to-come-clean-20181016">calls</a> by experienced investigative <a href="https://www.news24.com/Columnists/GuestColumn/exposing-the-puppet-masters-behind-the-sunday-times-scandal-20181016">journalists</a> to reveal their sources. </p>
<p>At first glance, the call might go against established journalistic ethos. But this ethical rule is meant to protect vulnerable whistleblowers, not manipulative crooks. The fear is that naming sources might have a chilling effect on future investigations. But this doesn’t quite apply here. Those who fed the journalists lies were driven by sinister motives. They imperilled, rather than advanced the public interest. Exposing them might be the only way to get to the root of a much wider political rot – which is at the core of what good journalism should be doing anyway. </p>
<p>The South African National Editors’ Forum has announced that it will <a href="https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/2023805/sanef-to-start-probe-over-sunday-times-fake-news/">launch an investigation</a> into editorial integrity at the Sunday Times. It has rightly emphasised its preference for self regulation over statutory regulation. But, for self regulation to work well enough to restore public trust, this investigation should extend beyond the Sunday Times to consider the state of ethical awareness and practice across newsrooms. The extensive body of academic research on ethics and journalism practices would also be a valuable resource.</p>
<p>The editors’ forum would be well-advised to ensure that its investigation involves members of the public to establish participatory and “open” <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1461670X.2014.950882?journalCode=rjos20">ethics</a>. Thankfully, the <a href="http://www.presscouncil.org.za/">Press Council of South Africa</a>, the independent co-regulatory body set up to safeguard ethical journalism, has significant public representation. This signals the importance of co-regulation as a public good rather than an insider-only affair. </p>
<p>The public has a right to know why these lapses occurred, why those that spoke up against them were silenced, and why the basic journalistic rule of corroborating sources was not followed. Siqoko deserves praise for his apology. It might sting now, but it is bound to pay off in the long term. Integrity does not come cheap.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105056/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Herman Wasserman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South Africans have a right to know why the lapses at Sunday Times occurred and why those that spoke up against them were silenced.Herman Wasserman, Professor of Media Studies and Director of the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1041362018-10-14T19:05:03Z2018-10-14T19:05:03ZBig firms voice lack of faith in ‘cumbersome’ and ‘impractical’ Emissions Reduction Fund<p>Four years after it was launched, the federal government’s A$2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) has still not attracted the participation of many of Australia’s highest-emitting companies.</p>
<p>Our research on corporate managers’ attitudes suggests that the scheme, which remains the Coalition government’s flagship policy to curb Australia’s rising greenhouse emissions, is plagued by significant policy uncertainty, lack of visible commercial imperatives, lack of clear policy guidance, and strict and unrealistic qualifying conditions. </p>
<p>The new federal environment minister Melissa Price last month <a href="http://melissapricemp.com.au/Media-News/Media-Releases/ID/510/Australias-2030-Emissions-Reduction-Target">signalled her desire</a> to continue relying on the ERF – which uses a series of “reverse auctions” to allocate funding to emissions-reduction projects – as the main policy to reach Australia’s 2030 climate targets. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-emissions-reduction-fund-is-almost-empty-it-shouldnt-be-refilled-92283">Australia's Emissions Reduction Fund is almost empty. It shouldn't be refilled</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The government claims a main objective of the ERF is to create an incentive for Australian businesses to adopt smarter practices to reduce their greenhouse emissions. But our surveys of the business community suggest the policy has not achieved this objective. </p>
<p>Research conducted in 2015 found that big businesses were taking a <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-biggest-emitters-opt-to-wait-and-see-over-emissions-reduction-fund-77160">wait-and-see approach</a> on whether to opt into the scheme. Our latest results suggest this cynicism has become even more entrenched. </p>
<p>During 2018 we interviewed 14 senior executives involved in managing the emissions of large corporations in the materials, industrial, utility and consumer staples industries. Their responses, some of which are quoted anonymously below, reveal the ERF has not been effective in attracting the trust and participation of high-emitting companies:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The ERF process is long-winded, cumbersome […] and it’s just impractical. </p>
<p>The functions of auctions and the secondary market are unclear; industrial methods are difficult to use, which hinders participation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many interviewees believe the ERF process is costly, and the scheme does not offer visible commercial incentives for companies to participate: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>for the amount of work and the number of audits that are required it’s very expensive and time-consuming to apply.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some participants also claimed the conditions to qualify for funding are overly strict, unrealistic and complicated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One of the projects didn’t qualify because we had ordered a part for [that] project at a date prior to registering the project […] This was a project that would have had considerable reductions associated with it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some interviewees also suggested the ERF does not focus enough on high-emitting sectors such as electricity generation:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the sector that produces the most emissions and where the technology exists now to get the best reductions is the electricity generation sector. It’s completely exempted from this policy.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Minimal participation</h2>
<p>Only four of the nine companies represented in the interviews participated in the ERF, and three of these submitted only one project each. Some companies preferred state-run schemes over the national ERF:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have purposely avoided the ERF and gone with the New South Wales ESF scheme […] because the ESF scheme has much better rules, it’s much easier to work with.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A minority of our interviewees described the plan to extend the ERF scheme as a waste of taxpayers’ money. But while most remained in favour of the policy, they stressed it needs to be improved – particularly with regard to its “safeguard mechanism” which aims to stop big emitters cancelling out the progress made elsewhere. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[T]he ERF should be funded along with implementing changes to the safeguard mechanism and other policies to make sure it’s more effective in its outcomes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Almost all the managers highlighted the need for a stable, long-term policy to motivate significant emissions reductions in the corporate sector. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We want some level of policy certainty over a long period of time, so we can make informed and considered investment decisions. It’s the same thing we’ve been asking for for a while.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-biggest-emitters-opt-to-wait-and-see-over-emissions-reduction-fund-77160">Australia’s biggest emitters opt to 'wait and see' over Emissions Reduction Fund</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Overall, the study suggests carbon emissions regulation in Australia has been politicised and bureaucratised to such an extent there is now a disconnect between regulators and corporations. As a result, ERF funding has been skewed towards the land and agriculture sectors, and high-emitting industries have been <a href="https://bit.ly/2Qmw7bH">distanced from the fund</a>. This is clearly detrimental to emissions reductions as a whole. </p>
<p>Australia’s carbon emissions <a href="https://bit.ly/2Nk2nKz">continue to rise</a>, adding further jeopardy to our <a href="https://bit.ly/2Nln5d4">already threatened</a> efforts to meet our Paris targets. </p>
<p>Therefore, leaving high-emitting companies to regulate their own carbon emissions may not be a rational decision. Boosting ERF funding may be necessary, but not before a critical review of the policy so as to ensure the highest emitters actually sign up to the scheme.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The federal government has signalled its intent to prolong the Emissions Reduction Fund. But surveys of business leaders reveal widespread cynicism about a scheme perceived as politicised and bureaucratic.Jayanthi Kumarasiri, Lecturer in Accounting, RMIT UniversityAbeyratna Gunasekarage, Senior Lecturer, Monash UniversityChristine Jubb, Professor of Accounting, Associate Director Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/961722018-05-23T22:53:40Z2018-05-23T22:53:40ZJudges sentence youth offenders to chess, with promising results<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219860/original/file-20180521-14987-eb19q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Preliminary research into the Chess for Life Program in Alberta, Canada, shows that youth who are sentenced to chess instruction after committing non-violent crimes are learning useful life skills. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since January 2018, every Friday afternoon, one campus classroom in Canada is transformed. Tables are set up with two chairs facing one another; a chess set invites players to begin. An interactive white board shows a game in progress. Off to the side, another board is set up with a “chess problem.” </p>
<p>At half past one, the players begin to show up. The room fills with noisy young voices, sharing how their week has gone and clamouring for cookies and juice. </p>
<p>The scene is like any youth gathering, with one difference: Group home workers and probation officers are in attendance. </p>
<p>All of these youth are involved in the criminal justice system and are attending what’s known as the Chess for Life Program at Alberta’s University of Lethbridge as part of their sentence. </p>
<p>Sentencing practices for youth who engage in non-violent crimes have traditionally adopted a punitive approach — for example, ordering time in a juvenile detention centre. However, research suggests that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.01.005">punitive models have little impact on reducing the chances of reoffending</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/248513.pdf">punitive sentencing can result in poor social outcomes, low rates of employment and higher school dropout rates</a>. </p>
<h2>Chess for Life</h2>
<p>Some people suggest a more rehabilitative approach to sentencing is needed. For example, youth could be sentenced to programs that provide opportunities for developing life skills and establishing more positive relationships. This may result in increased levels of self-confidence, <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/framwork.pdf">reducing the chance of reoffending</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/back-hist.html">Alternate sentencing initiatives</a> focus on fair sentencing practices that are appropriate and support the reintegration of youth back into the community.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219858/original/file-20180521-14953-p6suq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219858/original/file-20180521-14953-p6suq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219858/original/file-20180521-14953-p6suq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219858/original/file-20180521-14953-p6suq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219858/original/file-20180521-14953-p6suq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219858/original/file-20180521-14953-p6suq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219858/original/file-20180521-14953-p6suq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A research team at the University of Lethbridge is exploring how chess as an alternate sentence impacts how youth view themselves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within the Young Offenders Branch of the Alberta government and the province’s Assistant Deputy Minister’s office, there is a movement towards alternate sentencing for youth involved in non-violent crimes. As a result, Alberta’s Ministry of Justice and the faculties of education and health sciences at the University of Lethbridge have teamed up to deliver a unique program as an alternate sentence: Chess for Life. </p>
<p>Chess for Life is a 25-hour chess instruction program lead by longtime chess players Dr. Lance Grigg and assistants Riley Kostek and Josh Markle. Youth learn opening, middle and end-game strategies while playing the program leaders and each other. </p>
<p>While the youth may not know it, they also are developing skills in reasoning, problem-solving, paying attention, planning, focusing and decision-making. </p>
<h2>‘Every move has a consequence’</h2>
<p>Although all of this sounds great, there is little research into the influence learning to play chess may have on self-regulatory functions and on the life choices youth make. </p>
<p>To address this gap, our research team, led by Monique Sedgwick and Jeffrey MacCormack, is conducting a study that explores how youth caught up in the criminal justice system, and participating in the Chess for Life Program, view themselves as they learn how to play chess. </p>
<p>So far, we have observed that the youth, for the most part, like to come to instructional sessions. They say they really like how quiet the room is and that for the couple of hours they’re in the classroom, things slow down and it’s just chess. </p>
<p>They can leave the distractions, challenges, hurt and pain of their day at the door. </p>
<p>We’ve also noticed the youth have become more thoughtful. They ask good questions about moments in the game — questions that demonstrate they are developing problem-solving and planning skills. </p>
<p>They now know why the four middle squares of the board are important; we all need a strong centre. Before they move a player, we hear them plan their moves by working through the consequences of moving a piece in a particular way. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most revealing comment one youth has shared — reflecting the positive influence of the program — is that he wishes he had “learned to play chess a lot earlier.” </p>
<p>In life, like chess, every move has a consequence.</p>
<p>Although the study is in preliminary stages of collecting data, initial observations suggest the Chess for Life program is a good alternate sentence choice for helping these young people get their lives back on track.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In Alberta, an alternative initiative sees youth who commit non-violent crimes sentenced to 25 hours of chess instruction with a University of Lethbridge professor.Monique Sedgwick, Associate Professor of Nursing, University of LethbridgeJeffrey MacCormack, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, University of LethbridgeLance Grigg, Associate Professor of Education, University of LethbridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/954752018-05-09T09:27:57Z2018-05-09T09:27:57ZWhy alcohol health warning labels are a good idea: findings from the latest Global Drug Survey<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218121/original/file-20180508-34018-86zrai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C55%2C1000%2C610&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/428127928?src=TOXGuaweXkP7muCfl3bSlQ-1-66&size=medium_jpg">lOvE lOvE/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Drink-driving and drinking while pregnant are socially unacceptable in many countries, yet when it comes to other alcohol-related health risks, public awareness is low.</p>
<p>Globally around <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/112736/9789240692763_eng.pdf?sequence=1">3.3m</a> people die from causes directly related to alcohol consumption – the top ones being heart disease, cancer, liver disease and accidents. However, a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/alcalc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/alcalc/agx127/4812631">2016 survey</a> of 2,100 adults in the UK found that just 13% of respondents identified cancer as a potential health risk of alcohol consumption. </p>
<p>It seems that the alcohol industry and governments aren’t too bothered about changing this. In fact, mandatory health warnings for alcohol are rare. Across the EU, which boasts the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world, there is no legislation requiring health warnings. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216647/original/file-20180427-175044-l4sqe5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216647/original/file-20180427-175044-l4sqe5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1141&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216647/original/file-20180427-175044-l4sqe5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1141&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216647/original/file-20180427-175044-l4sqe5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1141&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216647/original/file-20180427-175044-l4sqe5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216647/original/file-20180427-175044-l4sqe5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216647/original/file-20180427-175044-l4sqe5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1434&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Possible label.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We know that the most effective strategies to change behaviour and reduce alcohol consumption are legislative. These include raising taxes, minimum unit pricing and lower drink-drive limits. But the alcohol industry lobbies hard against interventions that threaten profits, and most governments seem to defer to the industry’s preferred alternative of self-regulation. </p>
<p>The industry and governments don’t seem that keen on health warning labels either. One argument is that health messages don’t change behaviour or that drinkers don’t want to have their pleasure spoiled by uncomfortable truths. And it’s true that information in isolation of other public health and health promotion strategies may be of limited value. But when it comes to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/casp.2450020410">motivating behaviour change</a>, it can be helpful to raise awareness and challenge people’s beliefs about their behaviour.</p>
<p>Health messages, if done well, could raise awareness and for some people might be the switch that gets them thinking about drinking less. Providing accurate information can also help to counter common myths and misunderstandings. For example, ambiguity about the potential health benefits of moderate drinking can be the “excuse” we need to resist changing our behaviour. </p>
<p>On the other hand, it is important to acknowledge evidence that health messages that try to induce fear often backfire – images of diseased lungs on cigarette packaging, being a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17437199.2017.1415767">case in point</a>. Smokers don’t want to be confronted by the negative consequences of their behaviour and they may smoke more to deal with the discomfort experienced. The same is likely to be true of alcohol health warnings. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/britains-drinking-habits-revealed-new-figures-95667">Britain's drinking habits revealed – new figures</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Some labels that might work</h2>
<p>For the latest <a href="https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/">Global Drug Survey</a> (GDS2018) – a survey of 130,000 people from more than 40 countries – we explored the potential of seven different health messages to change people’s drinking habits. We chose a variety of health and social issues to focus on and used a mixture of positive messages, highlighting the benefits of reducing consumption, and negative messages, highlighting risks. </p>
<p>The results show that cancer remains the area that people least associate with alcohol use, and a message such as “drinking less can reduce your risk of seven different types of cancer” could get almost 40% of drinkers to think about drinking less.</p>
<p>The top two other messages that people reported would make them – or maybe make them – think about drinking less were: “Even people with heavy alcohol use can reduce their risk of liver disease by cutting down by even a small amount” (31%), and a label highlighting that a bottle of wine or six small beers has the same number of calories as a hamburger and fries (28%). </p>
<p>Our study also shows that different cultures may be more or less responsive to health warning labels, with Scandinavian countries, which certainly have high rates of alcohol-related harms, seemingly less concerned than those from South America and the Mediterranean. </p>
<p>Of particular interest was the relatively high rate of disbelief of the statement: “Most people get little or no health benefit from alcohol use, even at low levels of drinking”. The subtle message that a little alcohol is good for your health is one the alcohol industry is fiercely protective of, and our results show that more work is required to diminish this falsehood. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drinking-a-pint-of-beer-may-lower-your-life-expectancy-by-the-same-amount-as-smoking-a-cigarette-new-research-90346">Drinking a pint of beer may lower your life expectancy by the same amount as smoking a cigarette – new research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Conversely, the label stating that alcohol increases the rate of violence and abuse was the one that was believed most by participants. </p>
<p>Globally, this was also rated as the most personally relevant label, closely followed by those about calories and the benefits of having two days off. This perhaps reflects that people are more concerned about the immediate effects of drinking. </p>
<p>Again, there were regional variations; our findings suggest that countries in South America and Eastern Europe may be more affected by the social impact of alcohol than other countries. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216648/original/file-20180427-175058-6drxyk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216648/original/file-20180427-175058-6drxyk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216648/original/file-20180427-175058-6drxyk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216648/original/file-20180427-175058-6drxyk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216648/original/file-20180427-175058-6drxyk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216648/original/file-20180427-175058-6drxyk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216648/original/file-20180427-175058-6drxyk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Self-regulation doesn’t work</h2>
<p>Consumers of alcohol, like any other drug, need to be given the facts about the risks they expose themselves to when they drink. They need to know that risk is dependent on how much they drink and that drinking less reduces that risk. They need specific positive messages that allow people to feel OK about making decisions that may improve their health and well-being. </p>
<p>In the same way that plain packaging and health warnings on tobacco products were used as part of a broader public health approach to reducing consumption, appropriate and proportionate health messages on alcohol should be explored as a cheap, easy-to-implement strategy that could raise awareness of alcohol-related harms. </p>
<p>The latest Global Drug Survey supports the call for mandatory health warning labels on alcohol. An industry that makes profits from selling a product will never embrace anything that might lead to people drinking less. A self-regulated industry will always regulate to optimise profits not public health.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95475/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Winstock is the founder and CEO of Global Drug Survey (<a href="http://www.globadrugsurvey.com">www.globadrugsurvey.com</a>), which runs the Global Drug Survey. We provide data reports to research groups, public health and industry and create free harm reduction resources.
Adam is a member of the Drug Science expert group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Louise Davies receives funding from Alcohol Research UK and Cancer Research UK</span></em></p>The truth about harms on alcohol labels may not be good for the alcohol industry, but it could be good your health.Adam Winstock, Honorary Clinical Professor, UCLEmma Louise Davies, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Oxford Brookes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/923282018-03-05T11:42:37Z2018-03-05T11:42:37ZWhen can you buy a gun, vote or be sentenced to death? Science suggests US should revise legal age limits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207698/original/file-20180223-108110-1ocl6op.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Vietnam War protests led to a lower voting age. The Parkland shooting could push similar reevaluations.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-School-Shooting-Florida/7bc83c9e428e469b97d4efd6acea6ac1/1/0">AP Photo/Gerald Herbert</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Societies have long grappled with where to draw the chronological age boundary between adolescence and adulthood. The United States stands apart from most of the world in that it uses different ages for different rights and responsibilities. We permit people to <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/pubs/hf/pl11028/chapter4.cfm">drive when they are 16</a> (even younger in a few states), but prohibit them from <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/minimum-legal-drinking-age.htm">purchasing alcohol until they are 21</a>. The ages at which adolescents can <a href="https://filmratings.com/Tips">see a risqué movie</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/child-marriage-is-still-legal-in-the-us-88846">choose to marry</a>, enter into contracts, or buy cigarettes generally fall between these two extremes.</p>
<p>Nearly all <a href="http://chartsbin.com/view/545">other countries use one age</a> — <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_majority">almost always, 18</a> — to distinguish between minors and adults for most legal purposes. This one-age-fits-all regime has the advantages of consistency, clarity and fairness. Once you’re an adult, you’re an adult.</p>
<p>Taking an issue-specific approach permits society to align legal responsibilities and privileges with people’s abilities and needs. It also allows citizens to change our collective mind about particular boundaries when events dictate rethinking them, as was the case when demonstrations over the Vietnam War draft prompted Congress to <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxvi">lower the voting age from 21 to 18</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/us/stoneman-douglas-shooting.html">Parkland school shooting</a>, in which 17 high school students and staff were killed by a 19-year-old with a semiautomatic assault rifle, may be another one of these transformative events. The massacre has understandably prompted a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/23/politics/congress-obstacles-gun-law-control/index.html">national discussion about gun control</a>, but this is not the only policy debate that this tragedy should stimulate.</p>
<p>Three age-related revisions to the law, in particular, deserve careful consideration in the wake of the shooting: increasing the minimum age for purchasing firearms, lowering the voting age and raising the age of eligibility for capital punishment.</p>
<p>As I outline in my book “<a href="http://www.laurencesteinberg.com/books/age-of-opportunity">Age of Opportunity: Lessons From the New Science of Adolescence</a>,” research on <a href="https://www.nature.com/collections/vbmfnrsssw">adolescent psychological and brain development</a> provides a compelling basis for changing our laws.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207696/original/file-20180223-108139-s1xmi7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207696/original/file-20180223-108139-s1xmi7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207696/original/file-20180223-108139-s1xmi7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207696/original/file-20180223-108139-s1xmi7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207696/original/file-20180223-108139-s1xmi7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207696/original/file-20180223-108139-s1xmi7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207696/original/file-20180223-108139-s1xmi7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207696/original/file-20180223-108139-s1xmi7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Researchers know adolescent brains are still developing, as can be seen during cognitive tasks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nihgov/40268599281">Dr. Richard Watts and ABCD/Univ. of VT P.I. Dr. Hugh Garavan</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Predictable developmental timetables</h2>
<p>In order to understand how the new science of adolescence can inform this discussion, we need to differentiate between “cold” and “hot” cognition. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_967-1">Cold cognition</a> is invoked in quiet situations, when you’re alone and unhurried. Here the most important skills are those measured by standardized tests of basic intellectual abilities, including attention, memory and logical reasoning.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awu177">Hot cognition</a> is what kicks in when you are excited, agitated, in groups, or rushed. Under these circumstances, the most important skill is <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/anger-in-the-age-entitlement/201110/self-regulation">self-control</a>, which enables us to regulate our emotions, resist coercion and think before we act. </p>
<p>For the past 20 years, my colleagues and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fpFXX8EAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">I have been studying</a> the developmental timetables of cold and hot cognition. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014763">Our initial research</a> was conducted in the United States, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12532">our most recent study</a> included more than 5,000 people between ages 10 and 30 in 11 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and North and South America. The age trajectories we discovered were the same in our international sample as they were in the United States study.</p>
<p>Our studies show that the abilities necessary to make reasoned decisions are mature by age 16. By this age, adolescents can gather and process information, think logically and draw evidence-based inferences.</p>
<p>Self-regulation does not mature until around age 22, however. Not until this age are people capable of restraining themselves when their emotions are intense, when they are pressured by their peers, or when they feel hurried.</p>
<p>These findings on the development of cold and hot cognition parallel patterns of adolescent brain development. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3509">Neuroimaging studies show</a> that brain systems necessary for cold cognition are mature by mid-adolescence, whereas those that govern self-control are not fully developed until the early 20s.</p>
<h2>Growing into privileges</h2>
<p>Most people would agree that individuals who have trouble controlling their emotions or thinking through the consequences of their acts should not possess deadly weapons. This, after all, is the rationale behind prohibiting those with serious mental illness from purchasing assault rifles and other firearms. (Even the staunchest defenders of Second Amendment rights, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-bipartisan-members-congress-meeting-school-community-safety/">including President Trump</a>, favor placing restrictions on the sale of guns to the mentally ill.)</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"966662241977360384"}"></div></p>
<p>Adolescence is not a mental illness, but it is a time during which many mentally healthy people have difficulty controlling their impulses and regulating their behavior. Based on the science, I <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2018/02/23/gov-scott-announces-major-action-plan-to-keep-florida-students-safe-following-tragic-parkland-shooting/">agree with Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott</a> that people should not be permitted to purchase firearms until they are at least 21, if not older.</p>
<p>Voting, in contrast, is an act for which cold cognitive abilities are sufficient for competence. An election unfolds over months, which diminishes time pressure and permits people to gather facts and weigh them. Although you might discuss your preferences with others, the act of voting is done alone, and you have as much time as you want to deliberate inside a voting booth.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZxD3o-9H1lY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Emma Gonzalez calls out President Trump and the NRA at an anti-gun rally.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is quite clear from post-Parkland events, during which we have witnessed many examples of <a href="https://qz.com/1212712/florida-shooting-stoneman-douglas-student-quotes-after-the-high-school-attack/">wise, articulate and informed young people</a> discussing gun control, that high school students are able to understand and speak knowledgeably about political issues that affect them. There is no reason why people who have the intellectual skills necessary to vote should be prohibited from doing so.</p>
<p>Teenagers may make bad choices, but they won’t make them any more often than adults do. As I noted in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/02/opinion/sunday/voting-age-school-shootings.html">recent op-ed in The New York Times</a>, I believe the U.S. ought to lower the voting age to 16, as several countries <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8963-2_4">in Europe</a> and <a href="http://chartsbin.com/view/re6">South America</a> have done.</p>
<h2>A question of juvenile responsibility</h2>
<p>Deciding how to sentence the 19-year-old Parkland attacker, Nikolas Cruz, is certain to be controversial. In its 2005 decision in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-633.ZS.html">Roper v. Simmons</a>, the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the juvenile death penalty on the grounds that adolescents are inherently less mature than adults and therefore not deserving of punishments reserved for those who are fully responsible for their crimes.</p>
<p>In 2010 and 2012, in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2009/08-7412">several cases</a> on the constitutionality of <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2011/10-9646">life without parole for juveniles</a> that followed Roper, amicus briefs submitted by scientific organizations <a href="http://www.apa.org/about/offices/ogc/amicus/graham-v-florida-sullivan.pdf">including the American Psychological Association</a> helped persuade the court that its decision in Roper was consistent with research on adolescent brain development.</p>
<p>In the last five years, <a href="http://www.lawneuro.org/files/adol_dev_brief.pdf">neuroscientific evidence has accumulated</a> showing that many of the deficiencies characteristic of the juvenile brain continue to be evident after age 18. It makes sense for courts to consider people to be less than fully responsible for their criminal acts up to the age of 21.</p>
<p>In 2017, I presented this science in <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/files/pdf/KentuckyAge21DecisionEfrainDiaz.pdf">Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Diaz</a>, a case involving a 20-year-old accused of murder. That court agreed that the logic of Roper should apply to people up to age 21, and that the death penalty could not be considered as a possible sentence for Mr. Diaz. The case is now under appeal.</p>
<p>Nikolas Cruz’s public defenders have <a href="https://www.local10.com/news/parkland-school-shooting/prosecutors-push-back-on-talk-of-plea-deal-for-parkland-gunman">offered prosecutors a guilty plea</a> and their willingness to <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/parkland/florida-school-shooting/fl-school-shooting-nikolas-cruz-grand-jury-20180228-story.html">accept a life sentence</a> in return for the state’s agreement to not pursue the death penalty. To date, the prosecutors have not announced their intentions. Although given the enormity of Cruz’s crime, there will surely be a public outcry pushing for the death penalty, the science is on the defense’s side.</p>
<p>Research on adolescent brain and psychological development can inform debates about where to draw legal lines between minors and adults. Science is not the only consideration when society contemplates changes in the law. But to the extent that people care to align social policies with current understanding of human development, the science of adolescence can help guide the discussion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92328/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurence Steinberg receives funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Klaus J. Jacobs Foundation.</span></em></p>Teens’ brains develop different skills along a predictable timeline. These milestones should influence the legal age boundaries for voting, buying guns and being put to death.Laurence Steinberg, Professor of Psychology, Temple UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/887242018-01-04T13:19:05Z2018-01-04T13:19:05ZGhana’s justice system needs a major overhaul: here’s what should be done<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200776/original/file-20180104-26148-z1hfh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ghana's justice system is not just slow. It's also expensive and sometimes even harsh. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ghanaians are <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Over-59-000-cases-pending-in-Ghana-courts-Judge-423366">flocking to the courts</a> at a much <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/2938">higher rate than before</a>. Invariably this has put pressure on the civil litigation system; cases are being stretched and delayed. The system is clogged, and people who’ve turned to the courts are often <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/2938">frustrated and upset</a>. </p>
<p>But Ghana’s justice system is not just slow. It is also expensive and sometimes even harsh. Initiation of an action through the wrong processes or a lack of funds to sustain even the most legitimate cases could mean that a person is denied their day in court. This could explain why some frustrated people are seeking justice outside the law. </p>
<p>It is this frustration that has birthed rebellion against the country’s courts. For example in July 2016, two panelists on an Accra-based radio station, <a href="https://buzzghana.com/full-text-supreme-court-montie-3-judgement/">Montie FM</a>, made on-air threats to kill judges. They, along with the presenter, were subsequently convicted of contempt by the Supreme Court, and have come to be identified as the “Montie 3”.</p>
<p>And vigilante groups are on the rise. For example, <a href="http://citifmonline.com/2017/10/19/delta-force-13-fined-ghc1800-each-for-rioting/">“Delta Forces”</a> is one of a growing number of politically affiliated violent groups in Ghana. <a href="http://citifmonline.com/2017/04/03/npps-invincible-forces-allegedly-lock-up-nhis-office/">“Invincible Forces”</a> is another.</p>
<p>The growing displeasure with the civil litigation process doesn’t bode well for the courts, lawyers, or the integrity of the system of rule of law. If the system is to regain people’s confidence it must undergo massive reforms. </p>
<h2>Recommendations for reform</h2>
<p>Here are my top eight recommendations:</p>
<p><strong>1. Abolish the writ system</strong></p>
<p>Ghana currently operates a writ system. When a plaintiff wants to institute an action, they must procure a particular original writ, and abide by specific usages and principles of law relating to the writ system. Any mistake in this process can be fatal. That should change. At least 99% of law suits should begin by application. Such an application will utilise an advanced <a href="http://www.nigerianlawguru.com/articles/practice%20and%20procedure/AN%20OVERVIEW%20OF%20THE%20NEW%20CIVIL%20PROCEDURE%20RULES%20IN%20LAGOS%20AND%20ABUJA.pdf">front-loading system</a>, where all documents and materials relating to a case are presented to the court before it sits.</p>
<p>This will ensure that the judge has the full picture of what the true issues between the parties are and the strength of their respective cases. Oral arguments lasting no more than 30 minutes for each party to the suit should be set within one week of all relevant documents being submitted. The judges should use <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/NSWJSchol/2010/5.pdf">better case management processes</a> and be much firmer in determining whether a case falls into the 1% of really complicated cases that require oral evidence. </p>
<p><strong>2. Use technology better</strong></p>
<p>Information and communications technology (ICT) should be used more in filing and receiving orders, serving notices and other processes. This will help decongest Ghana’s courts and save everyone’s time. It will also be instrumental in the fight against corrupt practices in the court system by eliminating, or at the least, limiting person to person interactions, which tend to breed corrupt transactions. </p>
<p>Thankfully, some judges in Ghana are already fostering an environment for progress in this area. In the 2015 <a href="https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2015/12/15/151628/">case of Kwabena Ofori Addo v Hidalgo Energy & Julian Amoako Gyimah</a>, substituted service (service made otherwise than personally on the defendant) was ordered to be effected via WhatsApp. More recently, Justice Sophia R. Bernasko-Essah granted an order for substituted service via Facebook Messenger in <a href="https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2017/September-12th/radical-atuguba-proposes-courts-use-whatsappfacebook.php">IFS Financial Services Limited v Jonathan Mensah & Stanley Owusu</a>. </p>
<p><strong>3. The rules of enforcement of human rights</strong></p>
<p>Article 33 of the <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Ghana_1996.pdf?lang=en">1992 Constitution of Ghana</a> and <a href="http://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/gh/gh032en.pdf">Order 67 of the High Court Rules</a> have provided suitable grounding for the protection of fundamental human rights. </p>
<p>The Ghanaian rules would benefit from borrowing a set of Nigerian Rules which allow for the court, where it is satisfied that exceptional hardship may be caused to an applicant before the hearing of the application, especially when life or liberty of the applicant is involved, to hear the applicant ex parte (without requiring all of the parties to the controversy to be present) and order such interim reliefs as the application may demand. </p>
<p><strong>4. Make the Human Rights Commission the Human Rights Court</strong></p>
<p>Ghana needs to prepare its Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice to be the Human Rights Court of the future. The commission’s rulings should have the weight of a High Court judgment and should be directly enforceable without any other process. Of course, these judgments would be appealable to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. This would ease pressures on the High Court by relieving it of its human rights obligations.</p>
<p><strong>5. Fix reasonable fees for filing cases</strong></p>
<p>Ghanaians are charged a Ghc 20,000.00 (USD$4,407) filing fee to make a bona fide claim exceeding Ghc 100,000,000.00; and a Ghc 1500.00 (USD$330) filing fee to recover one million cedis in an insurance claim. Access to justice is restricted by such high fees. </p>
<p>The courts should instead consider taking a reasonable amount of whatever award or costs flow from a suit, rather than add their fees to same. There is also the option of imposing a tax for the Independent Governance Institutions, especially the courts, the Commission on Human Rights and the Legal Aid Scheme. This way, access to these institutions can be absolutely free of filing and other fees. </p>
<p><strong>6. Shy away from self-regulation</strong></p>
<p>The making of court rules should be guarded from the unfortunate charade of self-regulation. New processes are needed to audit the judgments and orders of the courts for corruption. External agents are necessary to ensure the success of regulations on the judiciary. </p>
<p><strong>7. Support Legal Aid</strong></p>
<p>Ghana’s legal Aid scheme does not function nearly as well as it should. The Scheme is tasked with providing legal assistance to the poor and indigent, as well as other persons in the prosecution and defence of their rights under the Constitution of Ghana. To effectively execute it’s mandate, it must be given the resources it needs to implement its mandate. The few who are aware of and apply for aid face delayed services from a severely understaffed and underfunded scheme. </p>
<p><strong>8. Customary dispute resolution</strong></p>
<p>For many communities in Ghana, chiefs and elders are still the final authority for civil disputes. “Modernisation” should not look to substitute these alternative systems of community justice. Instead it should find ways of encouraging them, and making the most of the sense of obligation that some communities feel toward their chiefs and elders. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>A functional justice system is crucial to <a href="http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/law-essay/judiciary-functions-importance-and-an-essential-quality-of-judiciary/40352">peace and development</a>. A better Ghana awaits only if the country has the courage to take on the challenge of reforming its courts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raymond A. Atuguba does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Finding justice in Ghana is a slow and often frustrating process. To speed things up, the courts in the country need to reform and modernise.Raymond A. Atuguba, Associate Professor, University of GhanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/883652018-01-01T14:18:45Z2018-01-01T14:18:45ZResearch on how self-control works could help you stick with New Year’s resolutions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199796/original/file-20171218-27538-1yir2im.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C454%2C3298%2C2649&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Let your self-control gain momentum like a snowball rolling downhill.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/snowball-effect-vector-illustration-441409021">Sira Anamwong/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of us have already decided that things will be different this year. We’ll eat better, get more exercise, save more money or finally get around to decluttering those closets. </p>
<p>But by the time February rolls around, most of us – <a href="https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/articles/2015-12-29/why-80-percent-of-new-years-resolutions-fail">perhaps as many as 80 percent</a> of the Americans who make New Year’s resolutions – will have already given up. </p>
<p>Why does our self-control falter, so often leaving us to revert to our old ways? The answer to this question has consequences beyond our waistlines and bank balances.</p>
<p>Psychologists and economists have traditionally fallen into two seemingly contradictory camps about how self-control works. But recent research conducted by my colleagues and me suggests the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.10.021">two sides of self-control might both be at play</a> in each of us.</p>
<h2>Self-control: A battery or a snowball?</h2>
<p>A well-known series of <a href="http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment">experiments conducted at Stanford University</a> in the 1960s and ’70s asked children to choose between getting one marshmallow right away or waiting a few minutes and getting two marshmallows. Researchers found that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/h0029815">children who waited patiently</a>, able to resist eating that first marshmallow even when no one else was around, tended to <a href="http://parented.wdfiles.com/local--files/emotional-development/Lifelong%20Impact%20-%20Early%20Self-Control.pdf">do better throughout life</a> in terms of SAT scores and educational attainment, employment, health and other major measures of success.</p>
<p>For those kids, self-control – not how intelligent, wealthy or educated their families were, or any other identified factor – was the main driver of their later success. In other words, the ability to delay gratification helps in virtually all aspects of life.</p>
<p>But researchers have had trouble nailing down where self-control comes from and how it works. For decades, studies of self-control in short-term decision-making have led to two clear, but seemingly contradictory, results.</p>
<p>One model suggested that self-control is a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.247">finite resource that can get used up</a> if you lean on it too heavily, like a battery that loses its charge over time. Someone who resists the urge to eat a doughnut for breakfast, for example, might give in to the temptation of a cookie later in the afternoon. Each little demonstration of self-control throughout the day ends up exhausting the limited reserves.</p>
<p>The alternative model suggested that <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/books/losing-control/baumeister/978-0-08-057171-3">exercising self-control can help you build up the skill</a>. Not eating the doughnut might increase your motivation and confidence to stick with a healthy diet – like a snowball that gets bigger as it builds momentum rolling downhill.</p>
<p>So is self-control something you run out of when it’s overtaxed? Or is it something that you get better at the more you “practice”? The debate continued as different research groups investigated the question in various ways – and came up with contradictory evidence for which model best explains the inner workings of self-control.</p>
<h2>Using biometrics to tell the whole story</h2>
<p>Part of the problem has been how hard it is to conduct behavioral research. Traditional methods assume that test subjects fully understand the questions they’re asked and give honest answers. Unfortunately, researchers had no practical way of knowing whether this was the case, or whether they actually measured what they intended to.</p>
<p>But here at the nation’s largest biometrics lab, my <a href="https://agrilife.org/hbl/">Texas A&M colleagues and I</a> figured out a new way to investigate the question that didn’t rely on just what volunteers report to us.</p>
<p>We designed a two-part experiment. First, we asked subjects to focus on a red bull’s-eye at the bottom of a computer screen for either six or 30 minutes. This task requires volunteers to exert self-control – it’s tempting to look away from the boring, unchanging bull’s-eye to the animated video playing elsewhere on the screen.</p>
<p>Then subjects participated in a second laboratory task meant to measure impulsive buying: They could conserve a real US$5 cash endowment or purchase several household items on-site they hadn’t been looking to obtain. The task is analogous to going to the store and buying products that aren’t on your list. The idea is that self-control helps individuals reign in these impulse purchases.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199334/original/file-20171214-27575-a0drgt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199334/original/file-20171214-27575-a0drgt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199334/original/file-20171214-27575-a0drgt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199334/original/file-20171214-27575-a0drgt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199334/original/file-20171214-27575-a0drgt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199334/original/file-20171214-27575-a0drgt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199334/original/file-20171214-27575-a0drgt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199334/original/file-20171214-27575-a0drgt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The bull’s-eye for subjects to focus on is at the bottom of the screen. In this image, eye tracking technology lets the researcher precisely monitor how many times, and when, subjects deviated from the instructions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marco A. Palma</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our innovation was that we did not have to assume people fully complied with the video-watching task – we were actually able to measure it via their physiological responses. By tracking eye movements, we could quantify very precisely when participants stuck to staring at the bull’s-eye – that is, when their self-control was keeping them on task. We also measured facial expression and brain activity for a clearer understanding of what was going on with each subject.</p>
<p>Basically, we found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.10.021">both sides of the self-control debate were right</a>.</p>
<p>For a while, most people could focus on the boring bull’s-eye. But they’d hit a fatigue point. After that, if subjects hung in there and still stuck with the task, they ended up exhausting their self-control “battery.” We could see this by looking at how many impulse buys they made in the second half of the study. If they’d pushed past the fatigue threshold in the previous task, they showed less self-control and ended up making more impulsive purchases. This pattern was shown in both what they “bought” in our experiment and also in the brain: The prefrontal cortex showed patterns indicative of impulse-buying behavior.</p>
<p>On the other hand, subjects who eased off once they’d reached the fatigue threshold had a different experience. They remained in the “snowball” stage of self-control – they practiced the skill a bit, but didn’t overdo it to the point of exhaustion. In the next task, their brains didn’t exhibit the typical impulse-buying activity patterns. Exercising self-control on the bull’s-eye task, but not overdoing it, led to more self-control in our second task. These subjects did better at controlling impulse purchases than the other group of subjects who didn’t have the initial bull’s-eye-watching session that turned out to rev up self-control.</p>
<p>Our study suggests that self-control has the qualities of both snowball and battery: Exhibiting self-control once makes it easier to do so again a short time later, but overdoing it initially makes us more likely to give up altogether.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199795/original/file-20171218-27585-1cg254a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199795/original/file-20171218-27585-1cg254a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199795/original/file-20171218-27585-1cg254a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199795/original/file-20171218-27585-1cg254a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199795/original/file-20171218-27585-1cg254a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199795/original/file-20171218-27585-1cg254a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199795/original/file-20171218-27585-1cg254a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199795/original/file-20171218-27585-1cg254a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Understanding how to maximize self-control can help with that list of resolutions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-year-resolutions-goals-action-plan-750199411">Costello77/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to make it past February 1</h2>
<p>Our new understanding of self-control provides lessons for sticking with those New Year’s resolutions. </p>
<p>First, remember that slow and steady is best. If you want to get fit, start by walking around the block, not running five miles. Achieve enough to stay motivated, but don’t overdo it to the point of frustration. Don’t burn out your self-control battery.</p>
<p>Second, remember that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1610902114">small acts of self-control build over time</a>. Instead of drastically cutting all carbs or sugar out of your diet, consider giving up just one piece of bread or one can of soda per day. Over time, consuming fewer calories per day will result in gradual weight loss.</p>
<p>And finally, realize that little acts of self-control in one area will improve your self-control in other areas. Getting traction with a healthier diet, for example, will increase your confidence and motivation to achieve another goal. As the self-control snowball gains some momentum, you’ll get better and better at sticking to your objectives.</p>
<p>A more apt metaphor for our new understanding of self control is that it’s like a muscle. You can overdo it and exhaust it if you overexert yourself beyond your capabilities. But with consistent training it can get stronger and stronger.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88365/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marco A Palma receives funding from The US Department of Agriculture, Texas A&M Research Development Fund, the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Could your resolution resilience use a little science to back it up? A new study suggests practice can help your self-control – but don’t push it too far.Marco A. Palma, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director Human Behavior Laboratory, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/830222017-09-18T00:09:37Z2017-09-18T00:09:37ZChildren and sleep: How much do they really need?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186227/original/file-20170915-8125-1nrv7pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C110%2C992%2C541&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows that night waking in infancy is associated with behavioural control challenges at three and four years of age.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How much sleep, and what type of sleep, do our children need to thrive? </p>
<p>In parenting, there aren’t often straightforward answers, and sleep tends to be contentious. There are questions about whether we are <a href="https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.2538">overstating children’s sleep problems</a>. Yet we all know from experience how much better we feel, and how much more ready we are to take on the day, when we have had an adequate amount of good quality sleep. </p>
<p>I was one of a panel of experts at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to review over 800 academic papers examining relationships between children’s sleep duration and outcomes. Our findings suggested <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.6288">optimal sleep durations to promote children’s health</a>. These are the optimal hours (including naps) that children should sleep in every 24-hour cycle.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p><iframe id="MjEod" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/MjEod/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>And yet these types of sleep recommendations are still controversial. Many of us have friends or acquaintances who say that they can function perfectly on four hours of sleep, when it is recommended that adults get seven to nine hours per night. </p>
<h2>Optimal sleep hours: The science</h2>
<p>We look for science to support our recommendations. Yet we cannot deprive young children of sleep for prolonged periods to see whether they have more problems than those sleeping the recommended amounts. </p>
<p>Some experiments have been conducted with teenagers when they have agreed to short periods of sleep deprivation followed by regular sleep durations. In one example, teenagers who got inadequate sleep time had <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12125">worse moods and more difficulty controlling negative emotions</a>. </p>
<p>Those findings are important because children and adolescents need to learn how to regulate their attention and manage their negative emotions and behaviour. Being able to self-regulate can <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2015.1065410">enhance school adjustment and achievement</a>. </p>
<p>With younger children, our studies have had to rely on examining relationships between their sleep duration and quality of their sleep and negative health outcomes. For example, when researchers have followed the same children over time, behavioural sleep problems in infancy have been associated with greater difficulty regulating emotions at two to three years of age. </p>
<p>Persistent sleep problems also predicted increased difficulty for the same children, followed at two to three years of age, to control their negative emotions from birth to six or seven years and for <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2015.1065410">eight- to nine-year-old children to focus their attention</a>.</p>
<h2>Optimal sleep quality: The science</h2>
<p>Not only has the duration of children’s sleep been demonstrated to be important but also the quality of their sleep. Poor sleep quality involves problems with starting and maintaining sleep. It also involves low satisfaction with sleep and feelings of being rested. It has been linked to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2009.10.004">poorer school performance</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186260/original/file-20170916-8121-1ncxtbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186260/original/file-20170916-8121-1ncxtbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186260/original/file-20170916-8121-1ncxtbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186260/original/file-20170916-8121-1ncxtbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186260/original/file-20170916-8121-1ncxtbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186260/original/file-20170916-8121-1ncxtbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186260/original/file-20170916-8121-1ncxtbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Evidence has consistently pointed to the importance of parents’ behaviours in setting consistent sleep schedules.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kindergarten children with poor sleep quality (those who take a long time to fall asleep and who wake in the night) demonstrated more aggressive behaviour and were <a href="http://dx.doi.org/%2010.1016/j.jpsychires.2009.08.012">represented more negatively by their parents</a>. </p>
<p>Infants’ night waking was associated with more difficulties regulating attention and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2014.973498">difficulty with behavioural control</a> at three and four years of age.</p>
<h2>From diabetes to self-harm</h2>
<p>The Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggested that children need enough sleep on a regular basis to promote optimal health. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186231/original/file-20170915-8121-1ot84q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186231/original/file-20170915-8121-1ot84q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186231/original/file-20170915-8121-1ot84q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186231/original/file-20170915-8121-1ot84q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186231/original/file-20170915-8121-1ot84q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186231/original/file-20170915-8121-1ot84q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/186231/original/file-20170915-8121-1ot84q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Growing rates of obesity in children are linked to many lifestyle factors, including diet, physical activity and sleep.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The expert panel linked inadequate sleep duration to children’s attention and learning problems and to increased risk for accidents, injuries, hypertension, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2014.157">obesity</a>, diabetes and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0137-4">depression</a>.</p>
<p>Insufficient sleep in teenagers has also been related to increased risk of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.6288">self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts</a>.</p>
<h2>Parent behaviours</h2>
<p>Children’s self-regulation skills can be developed through self-soothing to sleep at settling time and back to sleep after any night waking. Evidence has consistently pointed to the importance of parents’ behaviours not only in assisting children to achieve adequate sleep duration but also good sleep quality. </p>
<p>Parents can introduce <a href="http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2013-1906"></a><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-1906">techniques such as sleep routines</a> and consistent sleep schedules that promote healthy sleep. They can also monitor children to ensure that bedtime <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/3719531/how-much-sleep-do-children-lose-when-devices-are-used-before-bedtime/">is actually lights out without electronic devices</a> in their room.</p>
<p>In summary, there are recommended hours of sleep that are associated with better outcomes for children at all ages and stages of development. High sleep quality is also linked to children’s abilities to control their negative behaviour and focus their attention — both important skills for success at school and in social interactions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83022/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Hall receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Poor sleep in infants and children has been linked to an array of problems, from aggression to poor school performance to diabetes, obesity and suicide. Our expert reviews the science.Wendy Hall, Professor, Associate Director Graduate Programs, UBC School of Nursing, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/795492017-08-02T23:45:48Z2017-08-02T23:45:48ZChildren gain learning boost from two-year, full-day kindergarten<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179085/original/file-20170720-23983-i8sb40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ontario is the only Canadian province to offer a unique two-year, full-day and play-based kindergarten model.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ontario made a bold public policy move in September 2010 when full-day learning was made available to all four- and five-year-old children in the province — via a <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016">unique two-year, full-day kindergarten program</a>. </p>
<p>This investment by one province in an innovative play-based kindergarten program seems to be paying off. </p>
<p>Preliminary findings from our research at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education reveals that this unique full-day kindergarten (FDK) program has lasting benefits for children’s behaviour as well as their learning. Children in this program scored higher on reading, writing and number knowledge than those in a half-day program and remained ahead until the end of Grade 2. </p>
<p>Children also scored higher on <a href="http://www.self-regulation.ca">self-regulation</a>, which is the capacity to respond to life’s stresses and return to a calm and alert state. Self-regulation in early childhood is especially important. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1010076108">Existing research</a> shows that self-control, an aspect of self-regulation, predicts long-term health, wealth and even a reduction in crime. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179074/original/file-20170720-15106-jkb9y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179074/original/file-20170720-15106-jkb9y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179074/original/file-20170720-15106-jkb9y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179074/original/file-20170720-15106-jkb9y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179074/original/file-20170720-15106-jkb9y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179074/original/file-20170720-15106-jkb9y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179074/original/file-20170720-15106-jkb9y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children’s self-regulation scores in junior and senior full-day and half-day kindergarten until Grade 2.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research data speak to public policy and to the mixed findings in education about the <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/333/6045/975">long-term effects of early childhood programs</a>. The success of Ontario’s unique program may offer compelling evidence for changes to education policy in other jurisdictions — in Canada and globally. </p>
<h2>What is unique about the Ontario model?</h2>
<p>Currently FDK for five year olds is offered in Newfoundland, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. The rest of the provinces and territories offer part-day kindergarten. Ontario is unique in offering universal FDK for four year olds, although the Northwest Territories and Nova Scotia have plans to follow suit.</p>
<p>The Ontario FDK program not only doubles the time of half-day programs. It is also unique in that childcare and kindergarten programs are integrated though a teaching team of a registered Early Childhood Educator (ECE) and a kindergarten teacher, operating under a <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/S10010">legislated “duty to co-operate.”</a> </p>
<p>The second distinction is that Ontario’s program involves a new curriculum with a play-based approach to learning. This moves away from teacher-centered, rote learning approaches and whole class instruction, which we know from our own work to be <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2015.1027699">least effective in engaging children and in promoting self-regulation</a>. </p>
<p>The third distinction between Ontario’s program and many other FDK programs is the two years of full-time attendance with the same educators, beginning at age four. A few school boards in Ontario provide <a href="http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/atkinson/UserFiles/File/What_We_Do/SATC/Schools_at_the_Centre_Final_Report_-_Apr_15_2015.pdf">integrated seamless care and education</a> from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. — reducing the hassles for working parents trying to piece together child care and kindergarten. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179079/original/file-20170720-15106-hns4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179079/original/file-20170720-15106-hns4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179079/original/file-20170720-15106-hns4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179079/original/file-20170720-15106-hns4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179079/original/file-20170720-15106-hns4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179079/original/file-20170720-15106-hns4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179079/original/file-20170720-15106-hns4lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Interviews with finger puppets help researchers capture children’s voices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The impact on parents, schools and children?</h2>
<p>As an early years researcher and former teacher, I was highly motivated to understand how Ontario’s innovation in FDK would be implemented and what the impact would be on parents, on schools and particularly on children. As FDK was introduced, my research team and I worked with partners from two school boards outside Toronto to consider how the program would affect children’s social and academic outcomes in kindergarten and beyond. What would their experiences be in kindergarten and, importantly, what would be the longitudinal effects on their educational success and well-being as they progressed through school? How would we capture the voices of the children? </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179082/original/file-20170720-32541-aun7e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179082/original/file-20170720-32541-aun7e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179082/original/file-20170720-32541-aun7e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179082/original/file-20170720-32541-aun7e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179082/original/file-20170720-32541-aun7e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=645&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179082/original/file-20170720-32541-aun7e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=645&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179082/original/file-20170720-32541-aun7e0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=645&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children’s drawings help researchers understand kindergarten experiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We asked how <a href="https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/atkinson/UserFiles/File/Events/2011-06-01%20%20Summer%20Institute/SI2011_Poster_ECEandKteacher.pdf">new staff teams of early childhood educators and teachers</a>, with different education, training and experiences, would come together to facilitate full-day classes of four and five year olds following a new play-based mandate. We wanted to know <a href="https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/70858/1/Arimura_Tomoko_N_201511_PhD_thesis.pdf">how a full-day program would support parents</a>, in particular parents who were working and needing both care and education for their children. These became the guiding questions for our research. </p>
<h2>Capturing children’s voices</h2>
<p>A unique aspect of the research was exploitation of the government’s phasing-in of FDK over five years. This phasing-in created a natural experiment in which children in FDK could be compared with children in half-day kindergarten (HDK) who attended schools in similar neighbourhoods. The initial phase of the FDK research with 592 children concluded in Grade 2, with Grade 3 provincial test scores available for some of the children. The second phase of the study is ongoing as our children progress to Grade 6. </p>
<p>In the final term of each school year beginning in kindergarten, we collected data on children’s self-regulation and on academic performance in vocabulary, early reading, writing and number knowledge. To capture children’s voices, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.55.2.239">we interviewed them with finger puppets</a> about learning, what they liked at school and what was important to them. We asked children to draw a picture about school each year and we analyzed the drawings for complexity and for themes. </p>
<h2>Social and academic benefits</h2>
<p>We compared children’s social and academic outcomes from kindergarten to Grade 2. And we found some clear benefits. FDK children scored higher than HDK children in self-regulation in kindergarten and remained ahead until the end of Grade 2. Children’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00599">behavioural self-regulation is a strong predictor of academic achievement</a>. </p>
<p>We found similar results for reading, writing and number knowledge. FDK children also had higher vocabulary scores to Grade 2 although this effect was statistically significant only for children who spoke English as a first language. Provincial test results were consistent with our direct measures — FDK children were more likely to meet <a href="http://www.eqao.com/en/assessments/primary-division">provincial academic expectations</a> in Grade 3.</p>
<p>Children’s drawings showed few differences between FDK and HDK but they clearly showed that play and friendships are important to all children from kindergarten through to Grade 2. Interviews showed the same results. Interestingly <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1140324">FDK children reported more often that play is important</a>. HDK children reported that learning activities are most important. Yet FDK children actually performed better in those activities.</p>
<h2>A case for wider implementation</h2>
<p>Working parents were enthusiastic about FDK and the majority of FDK parents rated their children higher in learning than did HDK parents. These findings are consistent with our direct measures with the children. </p>
<p>Can these results be applied elsewhere? The schools in our study are representative of many other urban and suburban regions of the province characterized by high levels of immigration and many English language learners, making these results applicable to other provinces and territories with similar demographics. The positive results from this region in Ontario suggest broader payoff for investments in early learning across Canada and beyond.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79549/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>
This research was made possible by a research grant from the Region of Peel awarded to Professor Janette Pelletier and by a SSHRC Insight Grant # 435-2015-0441 awarded to Professors Janette Pelletier and Sejal Patel. The author acknowledges there is no conflict of interest.</span></em></p>Ontario’s investment in a unique two-year, full-day and play-based kindergarten program is paying off. Could similar results happen elsewhere?Janette Pelletier, Professor of applied psychology and human development , University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/693272016-12-13T03:54:58Z2016-12-13T03:54:58ZWhy kids who have trouble behaving in preschool fall behind<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149715/original/image-20161212-26074-1tlwtbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What does it take for kids to be ready for school?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/holtsman/3931735368/in/photolist-6ZraWQ-5iriPH-c4vDYA-6Qcv7w-eFtxyP-2WMgSU-68FbNw-9LnuRn-KfohR-g8u7g-gVknE-9nfaAn-9nidz9-dnooaQ-7PPHk-bFpDgx-8aVJx9-NVVB8-68BEp2-6QdjF1-eFBNkE-3aeYqH-68G1EG-6xajYr-5xHmNJ-2FwkyD-68FPtq-6p3b11-eFvCTP-CubFn-6xajHT-5em8tF-7q399g-NVkqN-NVk1m-9nidbW-pmogW-68BGdc-7i8PvZ-7qKhfB-KfoAR-8xRUKE-68Cc4V-4SoSPQ-eFvFKe-68Faa7-5gzBqn-71jsT7-c4vMiS-6p3aQb">Melanie</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The landscape of early schooling is drastically changing. More and more children are attending school at an earlier age. At the same time, early childhood and kindergarten programs are increasing focus on <a href="http://ero.sagepub.com/content/2/1/2332858415616358">academic</a> content. </p>
<p>But are these children ready for school?</p>
<p>Most <a href="https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.elsevier-1f12239a-5447-3e9e-9c5e-6670b56e9d32">parents</a> and <a href="http://ero.sagepub.com/content/2/1/2332858415616358">teachers</a> will tell you that children’s abilities to “self-regulate” – that is, follow directions, pay attention, sit still and minimize disruptive behaviors – are among the most important skills necessary. </p>
<p>And with good reason: Such early behaviors <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261327622_Social_skills_and_problem_behaviors_as_mediators_of_the_relationship_between_behavioral_self-regulation_and_academic_achievement">predict academic success</a> throughout school and even later educational attainment. Some preschool-age children with self-regulation difficulties <a href="https://bangordailynews.com/2016/09/15/news/state/maine-officials-concerned-about-preschool-expulsions/?ref=relatedBox">are even expelled</a> from preschool.</p>
<p>We are researchers who evaluate what skills prepare children to succeed in school. The problem that our work has identified is that most children are still learning to manage their own behavior at the start of kindergarten. Many are simply not ready for the behavioral demands of kindergarten. And some are already two years behind their peers at kindergarten entry.</p>
<h2>Here’s how we found out</h2>
<p>To look at differences in how children develop self-regulation, we tested nearly 1,400 children from diverse backgrounds. Children were tested multiple times in preschool, from preschool to kindergarten, and preschool into first grade. </p>
<p>We used a game-like assessment called the <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2013/10/schoolyard_games_predict_academic_success_researcher_says.html">“Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders”</a> task to measure children’s developing self-regulation skills. </p>
<p>Every time the experimenter said “touch your head,” the child had to remember to touch her toes instead, and when told to “touch your toes,” the child had to touch her head. </p>
<p>Sounds easy? Perhaps for the first part. The assessment became a lot harder as we added shoulders and knees. This task required children to engage their ability to remember the rules, do a different action than what the experimenter said, and keep focused throughout the task.</p>
<h2>Different levels of self-regulation</h2>
<p>We found that children had three different patterns of development: Some children entered preschool already demonstrating higher levels of self-regulation compared to their peers and quickly gained higher skill levels. For example, if most children start at “zero” on a scale of zero to 40, then the early developers started approximately 10 points ahead. </p>
<p>But most children started with lower self-regulation skills and gradually developed during preschool until they were ready for kindergarten. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149717/original/image-20161212-26060-50ao1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most children start preschool with low self-regulation skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewiselementary/8473380287/in/photolist-dULhKz-bfDoMn-dE5hgG-dDZqhi-JNeFwc-6p3aR7-MU8eT-6xairB-6p3cE3-buv3ti-zQXHHh-79avKF-dDZpSp-dDZgmM-bjp5ur-VNZo5-cev6tw-6p3cLN-5H1nG6-i8oaSZ-emMxm4-6SePR8-34cr6r-5hjRd3-6oY3rz-bTdMtn-3KhHX5-dDYVsk-6p3cTC-7ETqdB-dE5F9u-6p3bn5-7i8PwB-dDZ3GZ-8C5qaP-2CCYHz-neyMm8-7u6oHw-6dJ74g-5kkWNw-3KcCig-7qPbJj-8uTFTp-arSShD-6p3bEq-5H1nrg-dDYTxF-6oY2sp-6p3cVo-bWfLJx">Meriwether Lewis Elementary School</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most troubling finding was that around 20 percent of children hardly showed any gains in self-regulation skills – such as remembering complex directions, raising their hand before speaking or taking turns with others – during their preschool years. </p>
<p>These children were attending preschool programs, usually four days a week, for one or two years, and yet they were lagging behind their peers in the self-regulation skills they would need in kindergarten. </p>
<p>The ones who had the most difficulty were more likely to be children from families where mothers had lower education levels, and children with lower levels of English vocabulary. They also tended to be male children.</p>
<p>For example, in our study, even though we had slightly fewer boys than girls (about 49 percent), when we looked into who the later developers were, up to 58 percent of them were boys. That is a noteworthy difference. </p>
<p>Other researchers who recently studied the same question as ours found <a href="http://ldx.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/01/11/0022219415619754.abstract">remarkably consistent</a> results. Specifically, <a href="http://cds.web.unc.edu/people/mentors/willoughby-michael/">researcher</a> <a href="http://ldx.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/01/11/0022219415619754.abstract">Michael Willoughby</a> concluded that at least 10 percent of children showed few or no gains in self-regulation across preschool. This had devastating consequences during their kindergarten years related to behavior and academic achievement. </p>
<h2>Why does this matter?</h2>
<p>Children who develop self-regulation later are generally the same children who lag behind their peers in the academic skills we value and target. </p>
<p>There is some evidence that the children who start kindergarten with lower self-regulation not only do not catch up by first or even second grade, but in some cases may be falling even further <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223830060_The_Impact_of_Kindergarten_Learning-Related_Skills_on_Academic_Trajectories_at_the_End_of_Elementary_School">behind</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149719/original/image-20161212-26074-11n8tct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children with lower ability to regulate their behaviors tend to fall behind in later grades as well.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56155476@N08/6660073861/in/photolist-b9wBVF-ns3992-qMebL2-6pCyky-b9wBHa-b9woPx-oKwDst-cm4aWo-6pCs1m-8La5MM-nYfJYn-eg5hzD-7QrxNC-7FMHdG-eUGZ7h-8RWbxQ-87pDRt-2JwHu8-b9wfxp-6pCKfA-b9wzyB-b9wrUg-b9woDp-dtihpG-dQBCBA-6pyoyc-pEr4PD-b9wA7n-b9wFkx-fUfXdX-b9wejM-jcckSN-b9wbFz-pEtqf7-2bFCA-6AZxUv-jDxwsZ-b9wzna-qYMoLH-pEnuLx-axk7VN-b8vv3K-6AZBS8-p11MrG-6pynjc-dtifkW-dSim6o-b9waAB-6pCNLA-pWNbdR">Brad Flickinger</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, a child with lower self-regulation in kindergarten is likely to have lower math skills throughout elementary school. What is worse, in early elementary grades that skill gap could further widen. </p>
<p>Our ongoing research evaluating literacy skills among children until second grade echoes these findings. Just as with math, later developers do not appear to catch up when it comes to letter and word recognition, awareness of word sounds and reading comprehension. In fact, the gaps grow wider across kindergarten and first grade. </p>
<h2>So what can we do?</h2>
<p>Does this mean that early childhood programs should eliminate their academic focus? </p>
<p>We are not arguing for this. Research shows that the early introduction of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3780775/">academic</a> material does help prepare children for school success.</p>
<p>Rather, what we are arguing for is what teachers have been observing for at least two decades – that programs that value children’s early social emotional development, and particularly their self-regulation skills, are critical. The development of these skills need individualized focus along with academic materials.</p>
<p>Teachers need to make sure children are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/17/well/family/which-came-first-the-behavior-problems-or-the-poor-sleep.html?_r=0">not overtired</a> or <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4073202/">hungry</a> or that there is not some other physical need. Research shows the body and brain work together to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4682347/">self-regulate</a>. </p>
<p>Parents can set strong routines including bedtime, other rest times and consistent snack times. Such routines ensure children’s <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/think-better/201111/how-structure-improves-your-childs-brain">brains</a> are ready to engage in tough academic work. </p>
<p>After that, children need practice. It is important to understand that paying attention, remembering directions and avoiding disruptive behaviors are all skills that can be practiced through <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201107/Self-Regulation_Florez_OnlineJuly2011.pdf">daily interactions</a>. <a href="http://www.parentingscience.com/teaching-self-control.html">Games</a> that require rules can be used for practicing these skills.</p>
<p>If children are to get the most out of early academic content, they need to be prepared for it. As it turns out, some of us need both a little bit more practice and lot more help in order to be ready to succeed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69327/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children who aren’t ready for school tend to lag behind their peers in later grades. Parents and teachers can help.Janelle J. Montroy, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, The University of Texas Medical BranchRyan Bowles, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/682952016-11-07T20:13:55Z2016-11-07T20:13:55ZWhy Africa should resist the power of Big Sugar to undermine public health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/144825/original/image-20161107-4694-1tpj0hw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africa's proposed tax on sugary drinks will help improve public health despite the overwrought opposition from the industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/shardayyy/7539177816">Shardayyy/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The South African government has <a href="http://www.fin24.com/Budget/the-secrets-out-sa-to-get-a-sugar-tax-20160224">decided to tax sugary drinks</a> to help cut excess sugar consumption, which is <a href="https://theconversation.com/obesity-why-south-africans-need-to-can-soft-drinks-50424">contributing to a burgeoning epidemic</a> of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This follows the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/16/mexico-soda-tax-sugar-obesity-health">lead of Mexico</a> and the US <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/08/23/491104093/berkeleys-soda-tax-appears-to-cut-consumption-of-sugary-drinks">city of Berkeley</a>, where <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-world-can-learn-from-mexicos-tax-on-sugar-sweetened-drinks-56696">results</a> have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/18/mexican-soda-tax-cuts-sales-first-year">very positive</a>.</p>
<p>In Mexico, <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002158">research predicts</a> a win-win outcome: it may greatly decrease disease and death from diabetes and cardiovascular disease while reducing health care costs.</p>
<p>What can be expected in South Africa is overwrought and highly emotive opposition from the sugary drink industry. The tax has been described as <a href="http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-08-31-sas-proposed-sugar-tax-claims-about-calories-job-losses-checked/#.WCBCIuh97IU">“murderous” and “highly discriminatory”</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hSmqJMNa3gQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Coca-Cola Beverages Africa chairman Phil Gutsche denounces the sugar tax as murderous and discriminatory.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This opposition to an effective measure to protect and improve the public’s health occurs in the context of a seven-decade battle between public health (David) and unhealthy industries (Goliaths). During that time the tobacco, junk food, sugar-sweetened beverage and alcohol industries have become the drivers of the major non-communicable diseases (cancers, lung disease, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases) that now <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs355/en/">dominate the global health landscape</a>.</p>
<p>The junk food, sugary drink and alcohol industries claim to be part of the solution. The solution requires them to help improve their consumers’ health by decreasing advertising to children, reducing levels of salt, fat and sugar in their products, and labelling food honestly and clearly. These are all measures they are convinced are in conflict with their responsibility to make money for their shareholders. </p>
<p>How can these industries be part of the solution in these circumstances? Expecting them to support effective health measures is like expecting the Springboks to support the Wallabies. </p>
<h2>Why industry is not part of the solution</h2>
<p>In 2008, as chair of Australia’s <a href="http://www.preventativehealth.org.au/internet/preventativehealth/publishing.nsf/Content/home-1">Preventative Health Task Force</a>, I did think they might be part of the solution. Our task was to recommend ways to reduce the burden of death and disease due to obesity, tobacco and alcohol. </p>
<p>Big Tobacco was denied any influence on our work and the results have been <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-29/smoking-rates-at-record-lows-as-number-of-smokers-almost-halves/7886316">spectacularly effective</a>: <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-slow-burn-devastating-impact-of-tobacco-plain-packs-51727">plain packaging</a>, <a href="http://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/13-2-tobacco-taxes-in-australia">annual increases in tobacco taxes</a> and one of the <a href="http://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-1-prevalence/1-13-international-comparisons-of-prevalence-of-sm">lowest rates of smoking</a> in the world. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Big Food and Big Alcohol were allowed to be “in the room”. Over the past eight years I have seen them undermine, obstruct and fight tooth and nail every potentially effective policy to diminish death and disease related to overconsumption of their products. I no longer believe they can be part of the solution.</p>
<p>How do these industries oppose the protection and improvement of people’s health? They use a sophisticated long-term approach of tracking, monitoring and attacking key researchers and advocates, attacking and undermining the science of public health and clinicians, influencing bureaucratic and political decision-makers, creating industry front groups, donating to political parties, sponsoring sporting and cultural groups and funding research that is much more likely to produce results that support their own arguments. </p>
<p>They are particularly adept at promoting self-regulation. With this tactic – called <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/regulatory-capture.asp">regulatory capture</a> – they introduce a form of self-regulation, such as an industry code of practice. </p>
<p>These approaches have been found to be “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24713622">relatively vague and permissive</a>”, ineffective, and to result in relatively small measurable effects. And, of course, they are non-binding and impossible to enforce. </p>
<p>A prime example of this occurred in 2009, when the <a href="http://www.afgc.org.au/our-expertise/health-nutrition-and-scientific-affairs/advertising-to-children/">Australian Food and Grocery Council</a> and the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/1035_service.pdf">Quick Service Restaurant Industry</a> introduced “responsible marketing” self-regulation. Both voluntary initiatives promised not to advertise unhealthy food products to children under 12.</p>
<p>At face value this looked like a great initiative. In reality it had <a href="https://theconversation.com/side-stepping-the-censors-the-failure-of-self-regulation-for-junk-food-advertising-2006">no proven effect</a>. Ingeniously designed, these promises encompassed only children’s viewing times – which is not actually when children watch most of their TV. </p>
<p>The industry initiative “captured” any potential for public regulation and resulted in years of continued saturation advertising of junk food and sugary drinks to Australian children. It was a brilliant, but very unhealthy, tactical ploy by the junk food industry. Beware of the industry association bearing gifts.</p>
<p>A related concern is the global consolidation of transnational corporations. An example is the <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/taranurin/2016/10/10/its-final-ab-inbev-closes-on-deal-to-buy-sabmiller/#43a0dc6937d6">recent merger</a> between the two largest beer producers, AB InBev and SABMiller. </p>
<p>The capacity of these corporate Goliaths to undermine the public’s health and to influence or control health policy is becoming stronger with each merger and takeover. In Africa particularly, governments are susceptible given that their economies are often much smaller than the corporations they are dealing with.</p>
<h2>A way to provide healthy sponsorship</h2>
<p>Using taxes to diminish the consumption of unhealthy products has been highly successful. The <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/media-and-resources/publications/the-story-of-vichealth">Victorian Health Promotion Foundation</a> started this 30 years ago using a dedicated tax on tobacco. This was used to replace sport and arts sponsorships that tobacco companies had provided.</p>
<p>Sponsorship by <a href="http://www.quit.org.au/">Quit</a> – an organisation dedicated to helping people give up cigarette smoking – replaced harmful tobacco sponsorship in sport. A sugary drinks tax in South Africa can be used in this way to replace sponsorship by promoters of unhealthy drinks.</p>
<p>The sugary drinks industry in South Africa <a href="http://businesstech.co.za/news/government/134146/sugar-tax-will-cost-south-africa-economy-r14-billion-and-push-the-country-into-recession/">will claim</a> the new tax will wipe out jobs and slash profits. We know, however, from experience in Australia and elsewhere that these industries know how to protect profits. When cigarette taxes are increased, tobacco companies cynically increase their prices – and then blame the government.</p>
<p>The sugary drinks industry will throw everything into stopping the sugar tax in South Africa, just as they tried in Mexico and Berkeley. They do not want <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-sugary-drinks-tax-could-prevent-thousands-of-heart-attacks-and-strokes-and-save-1-600-lives-56439">sugar taxes spreading</a> across the world. It’s the same motive that drove Big Tobacco to <a href="https://theconversation.com/cluster-bomb-of-new-research-explodes-tobacco-industry-lies-about-plain-packs-38978">fight so hard</a> against plain packaging in Australia. </p>
<p>The introduction of a tax in South Africa might provoke the ire of the sugary drinks industry, but it will decrease death and disease <a href="https://theconversation.com/rejection-of-sugar-tax-is-based-on-faulty-logic-about-the-poor-50230">among the poorest</a>, while providing much-needed finances to improve health and sponsor healthy sports. It’s worth the ire!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68295/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Moodie has received funding from the Australian Department of Health, and chaired the National Preventative Health Taskforce from 2008-2011. He chairs the GAVI Alliance Evaluation Advisory Committee and his University receives sitting fees. He has worked with WHO as an adviser over many years. He is currently on the WHO expert panel on Health Promotion.</span></em></p>The decision to tax sugary drinks in South Africa faces furious industry opposition, but global experience shows industry cannot be trusted to put public health before profits.Rob Moodie, Professor of Public Health, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/484422015-10-06T04:06:59Z2015-10-06T04:06:59ZVolkswagen scandal puts capitalism’s model of self-regulation to the test<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97225/original/image-20151005-1062-94x6fd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The tainted VW Group may drag the rest of the car manufacturing industry into the mud. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world is still in shock after the announcement that the Volkswagen Group <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-volkswagen-got-caught-cheating-emissions-tests-by-a-clean-air-ngo-47951">manipulated emission tests</a> for its diesel engines. The VW Group includes car makes far beyond Volkswagen, for instance Audi, Bentley, Seat and Skoda.</p>
<p>The problem of manipulating emission tests goes to the heart of a capitalistic system. In a capitalistic system, the general view is that government should ensure a level playing field and participants should play according to the rules.</p>
<p>The case of the VW Group shows that this noble goal has failed dismally. The undesired outcome was not an unforeseen or unfortunate error; it was the result of deliberate deceit.</p>
<p>It seems that the VW Group developed engine management software that detected when the vehicles were subject to emission tests, rather than normal road use, and adjusted exhaust emissions to lower levels.</p>
<p>In short: the exhaust emissions were lower under test conditions than under normal use. Sounds simple, but with major economic implications.</p>
<h2>Wide implications</h2>
<p>The immediate question is whether other car manufacturers are guilty of the same practice. Given the level of competition among car manufacturers and the quest to be the best, it is not impossible that this scandal runs wider in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/volkswagen-scandal-will-send-costly-ripples-through-auto-industry-48142">industry</a>.</p>
<p>It is not yet clear in which other countries and jurisdictions the VW Group used this equipment. But its use in even just one country is shocking and completely unacceptable. Equipment of this nature to foil government regulation should simply not exist.</p>
<p>Governments generally have three functions. First, they must ensure freedom for the people in their jurisdiction. Different governments have different interpretations of this requirement. One extreme example is of a country where the interpretation of this freedom results in civil war.</p>
<p>Secondly, governments must provide order. This is generally associated with the safety of citizens.</p>
<p>Thirdly, governments must take care of welfare. One example is that governments should take the necessary steps to prevent externalities (negative outcomes from economic activity) in the interest of the country’s population.</p>
<p>An example is the prevention of pollution through regulation, which includes the limitation of exhaust emissions. In many countries, for instance South Africa, buyers of new cars pay an emissions tax, calculated on the exhaust emissions of the particular vehicle. </p>
<h2>Remedies for cheated consumers</h2>
<p>In countries where such a tax is applied, the respective governments will have every right to recoup the underpayment of these taxes from VW, or any manufacturer guilty of similar practices, who fitted their vehicles with the equipment that distorts emissions readings. The net effect of the equipment’s use would have been an under-reported of taxes due to government. Buyers of the vehicles cannot be held responsible for this misrepresentation.</p>
<p>It also raises the question whether the owners of these vehicles can hold the VW Group legally liable if the second hand value of their vehicles deteriorates as a result of the faulty emissions testing.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97257/original/image-20151005-28732-qyx1xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97257/original/image-20151005-28732-qyx1xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97257/original/image-20151005-28732-qyx1xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97257/original/image-20151005-28732-qyx1xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97257/original/image-20151005-28732-qyx1xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97257/original/image-20151005-28732-qyx1xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97257/original/image-20151005-28732-qyx1xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Greenpeace activists hold banners outside VW. The group’s emissions scandal has rocked Germany’s business and political establishment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Fabian Bimme</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Governments have to reassess whether they can trust large companies in future to apply regulation. The world is still battling to recover fully from the consequences of the 2007/08 world financial crisis, when banks did not apply the letter and the spirit of regulation.</p>
<p>The 2007/08 <a href="http://global.britannica.com/topic/Financial-Crisis-of-2008-The-1484264">financial crisis</a> started as the so-called “sub-prime crisis”, when the risk of lending to people with dubious credit records was not fully reflected in lending transactions. As more information became available, it seems that the financial crisis was the result of “sub-crime prices”, rather than a “sub-prime crisis” problem. It is really necessary to assess whether there was conduct bordering on criminal intent in structuring transactions in the quest for short-term financial gain, profits and bonuses.</p>
<p>VW’s current problem has the potential to become as big as the 2007/08 financial crisis if it can be shown that other vehicle manufacturers followed similar approaches. As was the case with the financial crisis, concerted effort by vehicle manufacturers will shake the capitalist system to its core.</p>
<p>The only difference is that regulators will not be as forgiving as in the case of the banking crisis. Banks raises deposits from the public on the basis of confidence and trust and are therefore treated with particular care. It is not necessary to retain the same level of trust in the manufacturing industry.</p>
<p>But even if the problem is simply contained to the VW Group, it nevertheless raises the question whether self-regulation by companies is indeed possible once the government has framed the necessary regulatory framework.</p>
<h2>The end of self-regulation?</h2>
<p>The VW Group experience gives governments every right to increase their supervisory role beyond regulation and to involve themselves to a much larger degree in economic activity. If companies cannot behave themselves, governments must ensure they do.</p>
<p>The conduct of the VW Group, following on the financial crisis of 2007/08, has in it all the elements of ending capitalism as we know it today. Governments will rightfully argue for a much larger role in economic activity. </p>
<p>The bottom ends of the V and W in the name of the VW Group might be the thin edge of the wedge ending the current capitalist economic model based, inter alia, on self-regulation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48442/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jannie Rossouw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The VW emissions scandal gives governments every right to increase their supervisory role beyond regulation and to involve themselves to a much larger degree in economic activity.Jannie Rossouw, Head of School of Economic & Business Sciences, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.