ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses two types of hypotheses: Implications for specific educational practices and implications for advocacy of high-quality childhood education environments. There are many basic principles of childhood education that educators support based on their knowledge of educational and developmental psychology principles and on their observation of effective practice, some of which may be partially explained through inferences drawn from research-based knowledge of brain growth and neurological development. Other types of research also show that consistency of educarers and educators aids early attachment development, and that high-quality programs facilitate cognitive and social development. Most researchers on brain development would agree that social-emotional safety during the first years of a child’s life is essential for healthy brain growth and neurological development, and is also needed if such development is to be sustained throughout childhood. However, there are many children who do not have such environments in this country or in others.
