Spotlight on book-sharing project in Times Higher Education Review

Last week, the Times Higher Education Review (famous for its rankings of universities around the world) featured an article calling for researchers of child development to take their work beyond the developed world, and into low- and middle-income countries. And to illustrate the benefit which such work can do, the author used the example of PAAIR’s book-sharing projects.

The author, Martin Hall, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Salford, explained that an individual’s educational opportunities are shaped by their experiences in infancy (for instance, where an individual is born and grows up shapes their future educational prospects).

“Given the persistence of income inequality, along with associated economic and political factors, research-based studies are important, and particularly so when they underpin practical, affordable and effective interventions,” wrote Hall.

Hall then went on to name and explain the value of the work done by PAAIR researchers, in association with the University of Reading, which has shown how book-sharing between an infant and a caregiver can be used by those living in poverty to advance the cognitive development of their children.

“[Such] studies of childhood development demonstrate the value of research outside high-income countries”, wrote Hall.

Although such interventions reach children nearly two decades before they reach university age, evidence suggests that appropriate and informed interventions throughout an individual’s earliest years make a profound difference to their educational trajectory.

“Inequality is a persistent and uncomfortable reality that is unlikely to ameliorate in our lifetimes,” wrote Hall, “but its consequences can be overcome by practical interventions founded on sound research, as the collaboration between the universities of Reading and Stellenbosch has shown in southern Africa.”

For the full article on how book-sharing is changing children’s prospects, click here