In line with international trends in early childhood care and education (ECCE) recognising the importance of early learning, the Department of Basic Education in South Africa has pledged to professionalise the sector, increase access and improve quality. From a systemic point of view, professionalisation of the sector will require collaboration on…

This study evaluated the impact of a parenting intervention on children's cognitive and socioemotional development in a group of caregivers and their 21-to-28-month-old children in a low-income South African township. A randomized controlled trial compared an experimental group (n = 70) receiving training in dialogic book-sharing (8 weekly group…

Caregivers play an outsized role in shaping early life experiences and development, but we often lack mechanistic insight into "how" exactly caregiver behavior scaffolds the neurodevelopment of specific learning processes. Here, we capitalized on the fact that caregivers differ in how predictable their behavior is to ask if infants'…

Caregivers of young children play a significant role through a child's early childhood. External factors such as environment, socio-economic status, and support system, impact children's early development experiences. This study explored how caregivers perceived their role in the early child development of 3-4-year-old children in an…

In South Africa, many infants spend more time with carers other than their parents due to socio-economic demands on mothers. Carers thus play an important role in the infants' lives. This qualitative study explored child carers' knowledge and understanding of the 'first 1000 days' initiative and their perception of themselves as attachment…

Community health workers possess valuable insight into the experiences of South Africa's children and caregivers. However, their knowledge is often overlooked in efforts to understand local realities, inform interventions, and develop relevant policies. This study aimed to explore community health workers' perspectives of the first 1000 days of…

The early childhood development (ECD) sector in low- and middle-income countries continues to be under-valued and under-funded. Birth to 3 is further marginalised in this constrained informal sector. The feminised workforce experiences economic and social injustices in an under-developed human resource system. The aim of this article is to engage…

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of early childhood development (ECD) centre staff in providing care and learning support to children living in a high-risk, low socioeconomic community. We interviewed 14 staff from an ECD centre. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. We derived four…

Research Findings: Community-based playgroups in low-and-middle-income countries increase access to early learning at lower cost than centers. However, evidence of effectiveness is limited. The effects of one, two, or three playgroup sessions per week on children's performance on the Early Learning Outcome Measure (ELOM) (n = 112; baseline M…

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to highlight the significance of pedagogical leadership (PL) in improving the quality of practice in early childhood development (ECD) centres. ECD in South Africa is defined as the procedures by means of which children from birth to 9 years grow and flourish emotionally, morally, socially, physically and…

Research has shown that playful learning helps foster the development of young children. Adult guidance of this play in meaningful ways can unlock the transformative power of education. Lack of knowledge about guided play, however, often leads to children growing up without opportunities to learn through play. Considering this, the authors analyze…

The Developing Families Project-South Africa (DFP-SA) is a community-based model of education and training for the care, support and education of vulnerable children birth-to-three and their caregivers, guardians and families in rural and peri-urban townships. The approach fosters interactive learning among community members about early care and…