Children and Families

Partnering with Brazil to Study Childhood Needs

Their home bases are nearly 5,000 miles apart, but early childhood researchers in Nebraska and Brazil find common ground when it comes to enhancing opportunities for their nations’ children.

“We’re all focused on healthy children and optimal learning,” said Susan Sheridan, director of the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools. “This partnership is the best of the best coming together to improve outcomes for all children.”

Launched in 2016, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln/Brazil Early Childhood Partnership fosters collaboration around early learning, ecology of development and program quality. It began with a strategic meeting in São Paulo, Brazil, where researchers planned three pilot projects now underway.

Co-funded by the university and Brazil’s Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, the projects focus on supporting caregivers of Zika-affected children, strengthening preschool science education and identifying developmental delays in young children. The work will produce evidence-based results applicable to real-life practice.

CYFS researchers Natalie Williams, Soo-Young Hong and Leslie Hawley each lead the Nebraska side of one of the pilot projects. Over the past year, all three traveled to Brazil and hosted Brazilian partners in Lincoln. This back-and-forth ensures the work is truly bilateral.

“Sharing our perspectives, ideas and expertise allows us to broaden our understanding and appreciate the diversity of experiences that characterize early childhood development,” said Sheridan, George Holmes University Professor of Educational Psychology. “These types of interactions allow us to bring back an enriched knowledge base to positively impact our children right here in Nebraska.”