Development and learning are dynamic processes that reflect the complex interplay between a child’s biological characteristics and the environment, each shaping the other as well as future patterns of growth.
In the continuous interaction between the environment and the individual, even small changes or variations in the early stages of development can lead to significant changes as development progresses.
A great deal of brain architecture is shaped during the first three years after birth, but the window of opportunity for its development does not close on a child’s third birthday.
Families, neighbourhoods, ECEC centres, schools, governments and the media are examples of settings that constitute the environments and contexts of children’s development. Children’s development occurs in complex and dynamic interrelationships between individuals and their environments.
Persistent lack of responsive care results in the infant experiencing chronic stress that may negatively impact brain development and may delay or impair thinking, learning and memory, as well as the immune system and the ability to cope with stress. Factors related to the early growth environment also impact later development.
Children are also exposed to many influences in their physical environment, both positive (such as green space and stable housing) and negative (such as excessive heat, air pollution and lead in drinking water)
Interplay between biology and environment
Understanding development and developmental disabilities requires a multidisciplinary approach, beginning with human biology. Human development has genetic foundations, the study of which has advanced significantly in recent decades as research methodologies have become more refined. Behavioural genetics, which seeks to determine how differences in genetics and environment explain individual differences in behaviour and psychological traits, has provided clarity on the long-debated nature versus nurture question, namely the distinction between ‘innate’ and ‘learned’ aspects of human behaviour (Note 1).
We now know that development and learning are dynamic processes that reflect the complex interplay between a child’s biological characteristics and the environment, each shaping the other as well as future patterns of growth. Advances in genetics and neuroscience over the last two decades have provided new insights into the processes of early brain development and their long-term implications for development and learning. The findings provide robust evidence supporting the importance of high-quality early learning experiences for young children in promoting their lifelong success.
You can find additional information about how genetic and brain development factors affect reading disabilities and how genetic and environmental factors interact with each other from the following links in the reading difficulties section of the eTALE:
According to Piaget (1963), an organism – in this case, a developing human – forms a whole with its environment. Inherited abilities to adapt to the environment make our actions possible, and at the same time, these abilities are shaped through interactions with the environment. Our biological systems are, in a way, programmed with certain expectations about the regularities of experiences (e.g. that objects fall downward or that an adult caring for a child speaks to them). However, this does not mean that all our actions are innate. Continuous interaction between the environment and the individual generates cognitive structures, which are constantly modified according to environmental demands through non-linear – meaning difficult to predict and surprising – adaptation processes. Thus, even small changes or variations in the early stages of development can lead to significant changes as development progresses (Waber, 2011).
It has also been established that environmental factors can influence the functioning of genes externally without altering the base sequence. This is referred to as an epigenetic regulatory mechanism (the prefix ‘epi’, meaning ‘above’ or ‘on top of’, comes from Greek). It can silence the function of a gene. Influential environmental factors include nutrition, alcohol and chemicals. There is also evidence for epigenetic inheritance, in which epigenetic marks that affect phenotype are passed down to the next generation. The study and understanding of the factors influencing human development remain ongoing challenges for future generations of researchers.
A great deal of brain architecture is shaped during the first three years after birth, and neural connections in the brain (which are the basis for all thought, communication and learning) are established most rapidly in early childhood. However, the window of opportunity for development does not close on a child’s third birthday. Regions of the brain dedicated to higher-order functions (which involve most social, emotional and cognitive capacities, including multiple aspects of executive functioning) are also affected powerfully by early influences and continue to develop well into adolescence and early adulthood.
Contexts of children’s development
Families, neighbourhoods, ECEC centres, schools, governments and the media are examples of settings that constitute the contexts of children’s development. Urie Brofenbrenner’s idea is that children’s development occurs within nested interacting ecosystems. Ecosystem refers to the complex and dynamic interrelationships between individuals and their environments, encompassing various systems that influence behaviour, development and wellbeing. The innermost system is the (1) microsystem, which includes the various settings children experience directly in their daily lives, such as the home, the church, the neighbourhood and the childcare centre. The (2) mesosystem comprises connections among these microsystem settings, such as parents’ involvement with their children’s daycare centre or school. Elements of the (3) exosystem, such as caregivers’ workplaces, government agencies and mass media, may influence children either directly, as radio or television does, or indirectly through their impact on parents and other family members. The (4) macrosystem includes cultural values and beliefs that infuse the entire ecology, affecting everything from the content of television and social media, educational programs and healthcare policies to beliefs parents have about how to raise their children. Finally, the outermost (5) chronosystem includes life-altering personal transitions (divorce and death of family members or friends), major environmental events (crop failures, food and earthquakes) and significant socio-historical circumstances (new technologies and medicines, war and peace) that occur over the lifespan of the individual (Brofenbrenner & Morris, 2007).
The interplay of biology and the environment present at birth continues through preschool years and primary grades (kindergarten through grade three) and beyond. This has particular implications for children who experience adversity. The significance of childhood maltreatment and other traumatic experiences as risk factors for psychological development has been extensively studied. Attention has also been given to their impact on cognitive development and learning. Early maltreatment can alter the course of brain development, particularly in brain areas and connections related to stress response, emotion regulation and memory for one’s personal history (autobiographical memory) (Samson et al., 2024).
In infancy, for example, a persistent lack of responsive care results in the infant experiencing chronic stress that may negatively impact brain development and may delay or impair the development of essential systems and abilities, including thinking, learning and memory, as well as the immune system and the ability to cope with stress. Factors related to the early growth environment also impact later development. For example, interesting findings from Finnish research show that wellbeing issues and poverty experienced in a family with a child under three years old negatively affected the child’s development even into adolescence (Ristikari et al., 2018). Living in persistent poverty can also generate chronic stress that negatively affects the development of brain areas associated with cognitive and self-regulatory functions.
Some children appear to be more susceptible than others to the effects of environmental influence (both positive and negative), reflecting individual differences at play. For children facing adverse circumstances, including trauma, the buffering effects of caring and consistent relationships (with family and other community members but also in high-quality early childhood programs) are also important to note. While attachments to their parents are primary, young children can also benefit significantly from relationships with other responsive caregivers, both within and outside the family. Close relationships with other nurturing and reliably available adults do not interfere with the strength of a young child’s primary relationship with his or her parents. In fact, multiple caregivers can promote young children’s social and emotional development.
This emerging science emphasises the critical importance of early childhood educators in providing consistent, responsive and sensitive care and education to promote children’s development and learning across the span of full birth to the age of 8 years. The negative impacts of chronic stress and other adverse experiences can be overcome. High-quality early childhood education contributes substantially to children’s resilience and healthy development.
Children are also exposed to many influences in their physical environment, both positive (such as green space and stable housing) and negative (such as excessive heat, air pollution and lead in drinking water). These factors all differ in how long they last; how frequently they happen; whether they are expected or unpredictable, powerful or mild, positive or negative; and the child’s age when they occur. Interactions among experiences, exposures and developing biological systems ultimately shape how the body will adapt over the life course. This means that the physical environment’s effects on child development and climate change also affect the experiences and exposures that shape early childhood development.
Note 1. The text is partly based on these research-based summaries of important aspects of child development. Harvard University Center of Developing Child, Working papers and Research summaries. These are recommended readings for all:
Center on the Developing Child. 8 Things to remember about Child Development. Retrieved from (2016). Harvard University Center of Developing Child.
Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment. (2023). Extreme Heat Affects Early Childhood Development and Health: Working Paper No. 1. Retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2024). A World of Differences: The Science of Human Variation Can Drive Early Childhood Policies and Programs to Bigger Impacts: Working Paper No. 17. Retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu
National Association for the Education of Young Children. Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) Position Statement. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/contents
References
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2007). The bioecological model of human development. In Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 1). Wiley.
Piaget, J. (1963). The origins of intelligence in children. Norton.
Ristikari, T., Merikukka, M., & Hakovirta, M. (2018). The significance of timing and duration of social assistance receipt during childhood and early adult outcomes. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, 9, 312–326.
Samson, J. A., Newkirk, T. R., & Teicher, M. H. (2024). Practitioner review: Neurobiological consequences of childhood maltreatment—Clinical and therapeutic implications for practitioners. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 65(3), 369–380.
Waber, D. P. (2011). Rethinking learning disabilities: Understanding children who struggle in school. Guilford Press.
