Category: At home

Can childhood language ability predict where we end up 30 years later?

On Friday, my wife sent me this study. James Bruce Tomblin and colleagues followed a group of people for about thirty years. They observed them from kindergarten until their mid-thirties. The researchers wanted to know whether differences in oral language ability at a young age could predict the socioeconomic position people would reach much later… Read More Can childhood language ability predict where we end up 30 years later?

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Genes matter for personality, but they don’t determine it

After all the PISA hype, here is a study that is only indirectly related to education! A massive new study in Nature provides important new insights into the link between our personality and our genes. For this, the (truly ridiculous number of) researchers combined data from 46 cohorts. The number of participants ranged from well… Read More Genes matter for personality, but they don’t determine it

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This blog is not about PISA… but about a (slightly smaller) study on money, worries and our brains

And no, this does not mean I will suddenly start writing about the big comparative study the OECD will publish today at 9.30 a.m. You will also be able to read all sorts of things about it here. By the way, it is just a little strange to be sitting here writing something when the… Read More This blog is not about PISA… but about a (slightly smaller) study on money, worries and our brains

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Do Young Children Learn Through More Than Imitation?

Young children learn an enormous amount through imitation. They learn to speak, use cutlery (although some seem to unlearn that skill as teenagers 😉), kick a ball, or tie their shoelaces by watching others and then trying it themselves. Watching and practising is a remarkably powerful way to learn. We also know that young children… Read More Do Young Children Learn Through More Than Imitation?

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Does Time on Social Media Predict Later Mental Health? A Five-Year Study Suggests Not

It has almost become an accepted truth, with social media bans becoming increasingly popular among politicians. Young people spend more and more time on social media. Mental health appears to be declining. So one must be causing the other. Over the past few years, numerous studies have reported an association between heavier social media use… Read More Does Time on Social Media Predict Later Mental Health? A Five-Year Study Suggests Not

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Who Paid the Highest Price for COVID School Closures?

Who would you say suffered the most from the COVID school closures? The obvious answer would be: students from the most disadvantaged families. And that’s true… but only partly. A new international study based on PISA data shows that the answer depends heavily on the country where students went to school during the pandemic. In… Read More Who Paid the Highest Price for COVID School Closures?

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Is Joint Custody Better for Children? A Strong New Study Offers Fresh Evidence

One of the most difficult questions after a divorce is undoubtedly this: where should the children live? Is it better for them to divide their time between both parents? Or is it preferable for them to live primarily with one parent? For an individual family, this can be an almost impossible decision. More broadly, it… Read More Is Joint Custody Better for Children? A Strong New Study Offers Fresh Evidence

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This Study Does Not Show That We Can Multitask

“See? Humans actually can multitask.” I’ve had that message sent to me several times over the past month, usually by people who know I occasionally challenge the multitasking myth. The reason was a new study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. The researchers trained participants more than 30,000 times to categorise novel, artificially morphed… Read More This Study Does Not Show That We Can Multitask

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Are the early years all that matter? New study challenges a popular idea

When discussing educational inequality, one message comes up time and again: if you really want to make a difference, you need to invest in the earliest years of life. That idea has been popularised in part by the work of economist James Heckman, who showed that investments in young children often generate particularly high social… Read More Are the early years all that matter? New study challenges a popular idea

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How should parents be included in teacher education?

Few people would disagree that strong partnerships between schools and families matter. Research has consistently linked family–teacher collaboration to better academic outcomes, improved wellbeing, and stronger relationships between schools and communities. Yet many beginning teachers report feeling underprepared to work with families. That is especially true when working with multilingual families or families of children… Read More How should parents be included in teacher education?

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