About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about how we can look to improve a child’s outcomes when they have experienced deprivation, focusing in particular on: (i) the outcomes of studies which investigate the effects of schooling on development, as compared to staying with parents, which have found that schooling has a generally positive impact on children’s development; (ii) some of the key influencing factors which can make a schooling experience more positive; (iii) some of the extracurricular teachings which come from a school experience, including social and emotional skills through interacting with peers; (iv) the positive outcomes from modern learning methods which involve developing thinking skills and creativity; (v) the Head Start program, which aims to close the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children by providing tutoring for children and their parents; (vi) the demonstration by the Head Start program of the advantages of giving tuition to both children and their parents, to increase the effectiveness of bringing disadvantaged children up to speed with their peers; (v) the correlation in the US between drop-out rates and participation in extracurricular activities, but only in students of lower academic ability; (vi) recognising after school activities as a protective factor of development.

About the lecturer

Dr Ashok Jansari is a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London. Dr Jansari’s research interests include memory disorders, prosopagnosia, executive functions, and synaesthesia. Dr Jansari is most famous for his research into prosopagnosia, having made numerous TV appearances, including on BBC1’s The One Show, as well as hosting his own ‘Neuro Talk’ YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/DrAshokJansariNeuroTalk/featured

Some of Dr Jansari's recent publications include 'Acquired synaesthesia following 2C-B use' (2019), 'Using virtual reality to investigate multitasking ability in individuals with frontal lobe lesions' (2019), and 'Identification from CCTV: Assessing police super-recogniser ability to spot faces in a crown and susceptibility to change blindness' (2018).