The Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study (JICS) is a

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

and

laboratory school A laboratory school or demonstration school is an elementary or secondary school operated in association with a university, college, or other teacher education institution and used for the training of future teachers, educational experimentatio ...

of the

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) is Canada's only all-graduate institute of teaching, learning and research. It is located at 252 Bloor Street West on the university's St. George campus in ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. The institute comprises a graduate education centre with a 2-year master of arts program, an elementary school for children from nursery to 6th grade, and a multidisciplinary research centre in

child development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. It is—particularly from birth to five years— a foundation ...

History

In 1925, Professor Edward Alexander Bott established the St. George’s School for Child Study at the University of Toronto, which would eventually come to be known as The Institute for Child Study. A number of factors contributed to the school's beginnings: the efforts of the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene (of which Bott was a prominent member), the emergence of psychology as a discipline distinct from philosophy at the

, the philanthropic activities of the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

, and the evolution of the Child Study movement in North Americ

In 1924, with project grants awarded by the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Foundation and the Canadian National Mental Hygiene Committee, Bott set up an interdisciplinary project administration board. He hired Dr. William E. Blatz, who was then responsible for directing projects for the board, which included setting up a major

longitudinal study A longitudinal study (or longitudinal survey, or panel study) is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables (e.g., people) over long periods of time (i.e., uses longitudinal data). It is often a type of observationa ...

of some 1400 elementary school children to study specific areas of their social adjustment, designing and implementing a laboratory nursery school, and developing a parental education program. While the large scale study was carried out at the Regal Road Public School, the nursery school and the parent education program were to become the two major divisions of the St. George’s School. By 1937, the funding of the

covered only about half of the school’s expenses, and a special committee was appointed by the university governors to consider the future of St. George’s. The decision was to make child study a faculty unto itself, which would keep it under the wing of the University of Toronto, but invite outside financing. In 1937, St. George's School for Child Study, including the research and graduate education activities, was renamed the Institute of Child Study. In 2010, the institute was named in honour of Dr. Eric Jackman, a clinical psychologist and alumnus of the laboratory school whose financial gift was the largest donation to early childhood education in Canadian history.

Master of Arts Program

The 2-year MA in Child Study and Education, first offered in 1997, is offered to students holding a four-year bachelor's degree in any discipline. It combines elementary teacher education with graduate studies. Students in the MA program carryout practicum teaching assignments at the ICS Laboratory School, as well as in public school settings. The program offers students a thesis option—Qualifying Research Paper—generally undertaken by students who plan to pursue doctoral work.

Research Centre

Endowed in 1992, the Dr. R.G.N. Laidlaw Research Centre is aimed at understanding children and innovative programs to support their education and development. An overarching theme for investigation is how to promote the movement of research into practice, or in some cases, how research emerges from practice through

action research Action research is a philosophy and methodology of research generally applied in the social sciences. It seeks transformative change through the simultaneous process of taking action and doing research, which are linked together by critical refle ...

. Some areas of interest are concerned with elementary education, including

literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

numeracy Numeracy is the ability to understand, reason with, and apply simple numerical concepts; it is the numerical counterpart of literacy. The charity National Numeracy states: "Numeracy means understanding how mathematics is used in the real world ...

, and science, with supports for understanding how new technologies may contribute to children’s learning and how knowledge building communities are formed. Another focal point of research is concerned with early childhood development and community-school relationships that support children and families.Microsoft Word - LAIDLAW REPORT FINAL.doc
/ref> Research at the centre benefits from collaboration among faculty, graduate students, and the ICS Laboratory School teacher-researchers, and by links to partner schools.

History

Master of Arts Program

Research Centre

References

Further reading