Preparing Global Leaders: Notre Dame Students Put Early Childhood Development Science into Practice
This fall, Notre Dame students are turning research into real-world solutions. In a unique course, Early Childhood Development and Poverty Alleviation: A Global Perspective, 27 students are learning how the science of early childhood development can break cycles of poverty — and then applying that science to hands-on projects in South Bend, Haiti, and India. The course is led by Professor Neil Boothby, director of the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC), part of the Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI) at the University of Notre Dame.
The course equips students with a deep understanding of how the earliest years of life shape lifelong cognitive, emotional, and social well-being. Students not only master the science, but also conduct extensive research to inform their theory of change, project design, and evaluation protocol—moving beyond theory to translate classroom knowledge into action through hands-on projects that advance Notre Dame’s mission to be a force for good and address poverty locally and globally.
- South Bend: Building school readiness programs with St. Adalbert Parish
Students are partnering with St. Adalbert Parish to research evidence-based approaches that inform their design of school readiness activities, and develop early childhood supports that respond to the needs of local families and the broader community.
- Haiti: Designing nutrition initiatives with local partners
Students are collaborating with the GC-DWC Haiti team and local communities, conducting research on nutrition to design infant nutrition initiatives—including a child nutrition project utilizing goats—while exploring sustainable approaches to improve family and child health.
- India: Strengthening preschool programs to improve literacy and numeracy
Students are working with the GC-DWC India team and local partners, researching educational needs to strengthen preschool programs that support literacy, numeracy, and school readiness, and adapting strategies to fit the cultural and classroom context of Indian communities.
Through this research-driven process, students learn how to translate the science of early childhood development into real-world solutions, developing theory of change models, project designs, and evaluation protocols. In doing so, they prepare to become practitioners and leaders who bridge research with impact, while discovering meaning and purpose in their work.
“Investing in early childhood is one of the most cost-effective ways to break cycles of poverty,” said Boothby. “By engaging our students in this work, we’re not only preparing them as future psychologists, educators, and policymakers; we’re preparing them to be leaders who understand how science and faith can come together to support children around the world.”
“These students are preparing to translate early childhood science into solutions that truly matter,” said Kate Schuenke-Lucien, director of Haiti initiatives at the GC-DWC. “Through this work, they’re learning how to apply evidence in ways that are practical, culturally relevant, and sustainable—developing the skills and purpose needed to make a real difference in children’s lives.”
This course is one of several ways that the GC-DWC engages Notre Dame students. Within the last year, undergraduate research interns have contributed to global studies on teacher agency and teacher well-being in low-resource contexts; students also collaborated with the Office of Digital Learning and the GC-DWC Haiti team to create parent-empowerment animations in Haitian Creole, tailored to resonate with Haitian families; and last summer, Notre Dame students traveled to India to help implement an English language camp for local students at the request of the Telangana government (read their story here).
These opportunities reflect the GC-DWC’s mission to strengthen systems that enable children to thrive by aligning home, school, and church/community systems, while also giving students a chance to link academic study with meaningful contributions locally and globally.
Through this course and the GC-DWC’s broader engagement, Notre Dame students are discovering how to turn research into action — learning to nurture tomorrow by building solutions today. These experiences prepare them to become leaders who bridge science, faith, and service in ways that strengthen communities and advance Notre Dame’s mission to be a force for good in the world.
About the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC)
The Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC) at the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame collaborates with researchers and practitioners to ensure the well-being—physical, emotional, social, and cognitive—of children and adolescents in low-resource and conflict-affected settings. Established to serve as a coherent platform for the Institute for Educational Initiative’s growing portfolio of global child development and learning programs, the GC-DWC creates environments that foster resilience and encourage children and adolescents to thrive. Using an innovative Whole Child Development (WCD) approach tailored to context-specific needs, the GC-DWC translates research into timely and thoughtful action, adapts research tools to improve the development of learning programs and policies, and activates systems (families, schools, communities) to lift children and adolescents out of adversity.
Learn more about the GC-DWC’s work to transform child development globally: iei.nd.edu/gc-dwc
About the Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI)
Founded in 1996, the Institute for Educational Initiatives consists of more than two dozen initiatives that strive to improve education for all youth, particularly the disadvantaged, paying special, though not exclusive, attention to Catholic schools. Through research, the formation of teachers and leaders, and direct service to educational systems, the IEI’s scholars and practitioners pursue interdisciplinary collaborations to better understand and improve PK-12 education in the United States and around the world.
For more information about the IEI and its initiatives, visit iei.nd.edu.
