by Darcy Smith

EDI Data in Upper Lonsdale/Delbrook

The Early Development Instrument (EDI) was created to measure child vulnerabilities across British Columbia. It is broken up into school districts across the province so we are better able to separate demographics and find areas that need more support. The EDI is a questionnaire that teachers fill out after observing children in their kindergarten classes. We are learning more and more that children’s early development impacts a child’s development in later years. The data that we find in these reports directly correlates to how society is progressing and where we need to incorporate more policies and programs to support families. The data is collected in “Waves” that last three years. There are five scales of the EDI which are broken up to understand different areas of development in a child. The five scales are physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge. Children can be vulnerable on one or more scales, and there are sub-scale scores to see how these contribute to scale-level vulnerability (HELP, 2019).

Defining Social Competence Scale

Children’s social competence is defined through their overall social competencies, capacity for respect and responsibility, approaches to learning, and readiness to explore new things (HELP, 2019). This includes the child’s ability to follow instructions, self-control levels, ability to adjust to changes, and curiosity about the world around them. “Children who are considered vulnerable on this scale are more likely to have problems getting along with other children on a regular basis and/or have difficulty following rules and class routines” (HELP, 2019). In North Vancouver, the data shows us that the vulnerability rate on the Social Competence scale increased significantly from Wave 2 (13.3%) to Wave 6 (15.7%), with a minimal increase in Wave 7 (16.1%).

Upper Lonsdale/Delbrook Resiliencies

I chose to research the Upper Lonsdale/Delbrook area in North Vancouver. Some of the vulnerable behaviours that were observed in this area were lack of self-confidence, inability to follow directions, doesn’t want to read new books, and lack self-control. This area showed us that majority of families are couple families, the employment rate is 60.3%, and 80.4% of private households are owned. Having a secure and safe home is a key aspect of resiliency in a child. “A wealth of evidence shows that environmental risks – poverty, negative family interactions and parental divorce, job loss, mental illness, and drug abuse – predispose children to future problems” (Berk, 2022). A child’s personal characteristics, a warm parental relationship, social support outside the immediate family, and community resources and opportunities allow for a child to build resiliency. There is a connection between genetics and environmental impacts to improve resiliency but both of them combined to cause the most resiliency in a child.

Upper Lonsdale/Delbrook Vulnerabilities

In Upper Lonsdale/Delbrook 11.6% are lone-parent families, the unemployment rate is 5.5%, and there are 2,570 visible minorities in this area. These are three risk factors that could lead to vulnerability in a child. Stemming from these three factors are insecure attachment, negative relationships with parents or other adults in the neighbourhood, developmental disabilities, and exclusion. In BC approximately 3-4% of children are born with a developmental disability (Human Early Learning Partnership, 2019). This can include both physical and/or cognitive disabilities. Insecure attachment can occur when children do not receive a sufficient amount of love or care in their home environment. Children are more likely to be vulnerable on the social competency scale if they have an insecure attachment with their parent(s). Exclusion can occur due to a child’s socioeconomic status (SES). A child may not be able to join a community soccer team where the other children build closer relationships with one another. If a child has a lower social status, this can make them more vulnerable.

Interventions

A child’s social competence is just as important as physical health and well-being, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge, but it seems to fall as a less important skill to help foster resilience in. Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) is an intervention strategy that can be introduced as early as preschool. This strategy focuses on helping children with their self-regulation skills. Teachers will model and discuss problem-solving techniques, calm down tools, and how to figure out other children’s emotions. The children that were introduced to this intervention were better fit to self-regulate and understand other children’s emotions and how to react to an unexpected or stressful situation. This intervention strategy works best when introduced at a younger age (before they are immersed into more situations where they need the tools to handle stressful situations). Teachers need to be well-equipped with their own tools in how to properly teach self-regulation techniques. Modeling is the most valuable tool so children are able to learn and apply the things they see.

References

Berk, Laura E. (2021). Infants and Children:Prenatal through Middle Childhood (9th ed.), Pearson

Human Early Learning Partnership. EDI BC. Early Development Instrument British Columbia,

2016-2019 Wave 7 provincial report. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, School of Population and Public Health.