0:00:04 > 0:00:09All parents want to give their children a great start in life.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15But knowing how best to do that, or where to turn for advice,
0:00:15 > 0:00:16isn't always so easy.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23As a child psychologist, I meet with many fraught and anxious parents.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26They come with many, many questions. They want to know:
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Can a problem child really be changed?
0:00:28 > 0:00:31How should they be managing their child's misbehaviour?
0:00:31 > 0:00:34How can they help their child perform better at school?
0:00:34 > 0:00:40At times like this, I think science should give me some of the answers.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43But as a mum, I know that parenting is an inexact science.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45like being in your own personal experiment,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48with highs and lows, with lots of trial and error.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Yet children, what makes them tick and how best to manage them,
0:00:52 > 0:00:58have increasingly become the subjects of scientific focus.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00And for nearly 50 years,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04Horizon has charted the latest thinking in child development
0:01:04 > 0:01:08from psychologists, neuroscientists and educationalists.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13It's documented an era of immense social change in Britain,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15from the buttoned-up post-war years...
0:01:15 > 0:01:18I really will smack you next time.
0:01:18 > 0:01:19..to the modern age.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Mwah!
0:01:21 > 0:01:24As we've moved from traditional families
0:01:24 > 0:01:26to more single parents.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31- From Victorian-style discipline... - Five fives?
0:01:31 > 0:01:32..to hippy ideals.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Let the ideas flow into your mind.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36And from a world of thrift
0:01:36 > 0:01:39to one driven by consumerism.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43Congratulations, you've earned 58.57.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46To shower kids with love, or be super-strict...
0:01:46 > 0:01:49That is not acceptable!
0:01:49 > 0:01:52..each generation of parents has wondered
0:01:52 > 0:01:55what experts can really tell them
0:01:55 > 0:01:57when it comes to bringing up children.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10The scientific study of little minds
0:02:10 > 0:02:14and how they develop began in earnest in the post-war period.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Parents at the time were a tough breed,
0:02:18 > 0:02:23shaped by the strict Victorian-style values of their own upbringing
0:02:23 > 0:02:27and by the hardship and austerity of the war years.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34These parents were all about hard discipline...
0:02:34 > 0:02:36CHILD SCREAMS
0:02:36 > 0:02:41..wary of showing their children love for fear of spoiling them.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45But research into families separated by the war
0:02:45 > 0:02:47was to turn all that on its head.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56By the '60s, psychologists were building
0:02:56 > 0:03:01on studies into wartime orphans to explore just how vital
0:03:01 > 0:03:04a mother's love was to a child's development.
0:03:04 > 0:03:10In 1971, Horizon investigated this major new wave of thinking.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15VOICEOVER: Human development is so complicated
0:03:15 > 0:03:19that it's almost impossible to find cause and effect.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23But there's an area now where scientists can be specific.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27In all of us, there are two urges and they can be seen most clearly
0:03:27 > 0:03:28when we're aged two.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31There's attachment behaviour,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34the innate urge that makes a child run back to its mother and keep close.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39And there's the urge to explore, curiosity.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41These two urges are in conflict
0:03:41 > 0:03:43and their balance is different in each child.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Mothers complain if their child is too clinging,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48or else always running off and getting lost.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52The balance between these two urges in a child
0:03:52 > 0:03:57has been found to depend on the mother's sensitivity to that child when a baby.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59But what do the scientists mean by sensitivity?
0:03:59 > 0:04:03The sensitive mother is someone who picks her baby up when it cries
0:04:03 > 0:04:05and understands what it wants.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08She seems to be in tune with baby's signals.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10The insensitive mother
0:04:10 > 0:04:13is someone who leaves the baby to cry for long periods
0:04:13 > 0:04:15and seems to reject the baby as a person.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17At the Johns Hopkins University,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21they've been following a group of 23 mothers from their baby's birth,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24going into their homes once a week to observe their sensitivity.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Joe has had a sensitive mother.
0:04:33 > 0:04:34Good boy!
0:04:39 > 0:04:43This is the strange situation room. There's your chair, here are the toys.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45You can set the baby down on the floor.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49Here is a card with instructions about when to leave the room.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52If you will go to your chair and set the baby down on the floor,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54we can begin the experiment.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Joe is being put into a situation which will grow
0:04:59 > 0:05:00more and more strange.
0:05:00 > 0:05:06The balance between his exploration and his attachment behaviour will be observed.
0:05:06 > 0:05:07Every one of his movements,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10each toy he touches, is recorded in detail.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12Immediately, Joe has begun to explore.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18He has the confidence to go exploring into the furthest corner
0:05:18 > 0:05:21of the room. A child with an insensitive mother would be passive
0:05:21 > 0:05:23and uninterested in the room.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Time for stranger.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Joe doesn't know how to take the stranger.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43He's not seen her before and her silence is disturbing.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47He's going to mother. The balance has been tipped to attachment.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Joe is learning from her reactions
0:05:53 > 0:05:55whether the stranger is a threat to him.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01For the insensitively mothered child, the stranger's entrance
0:06:01 > 0:06:05led to a decrease in activity, but not a return to mother.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11The next stage of the experiment is for stranger to play with him
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and distract him while mother leaves the room.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Her instructions are to choose a moment
0:06:16 > 0:06:20when Joe doesn't see her go and to leave her handbag behind.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25With mother as a secure base behind him,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Joe will play with the stranger.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Now under severe stress, exploration dies.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46He switches to heightened attachment behaviour.
0:06:46 > 0:06:47He stays by mother's chair.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50It's as close to her as he knows how to get.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52JOE CRIES
0:06:52 > 0:06:53DOOR OPENS
0:06:53 > 0:06:56The climax of the experiment was the quality of the reunion.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Joe shows nothing but a dramatic desire
0:06:58 > 0:07:01to get to mother as quickly as possible and cling.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09The insensitively mothered child
0:07:09 > 0:07:12would have shown indifference to her departure and return.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15This relationship between curiosity
0:07:15 > 0:07:18and the support and affection the mother has given the child
0:07:18 > 0:07:22is a recent theory developed by the man here at the Tavistock
0:07:22 > 0:07:27who first drew the world's attention to the effects of maternal deprivation, Dr John Bowlby.
0:07:27 > 0:07:34All we know is that if children, in the first two or three years,
0:07:34 > 0:07:39get the kind of support and affection I'm referring to,
0:07:39 > 0:07:44then, when they are three plus, they become increasingly confident
0:07:44 > 0:07:48and able to make use of the world as they find it, a wider world.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51And it's the ones who don't,
0:07:51 > 0:07:57who are apprehensive and bothered and become dependent.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Bowlby's theory challenged the popular notion
0:08:01 > 0:08:03that too much love would spoil a child.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07He insisted that a loving and sensitive mother or father
0:08:07 > 0:08:13was crucial to a child's self-confidence - an idea that would have a lasting impact.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Attachment theory, as it's known,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21still forms the basis of our thinking
0:08:21 > 0:08:25about how important it is for mother and baby to have a good bond.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27But it also gave birth to the notion
0:08:27 > 0:08:29that this ideal and ever-present mother
0:08:29 > 0:08:31was something that we should all be striving for,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35a pressure that's really hard for mums like me to live up to.
0:08:35 > 0:08:41But most importantly, attachment theory suggested that when things went wrong with a child,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44the person to look at was the mother.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50During this era, scientists were trying to understand
0:08:50 > 0:08:54why some children developed apparently abnormal behaviour.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58One condition little understood at the time was autism.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Well, the first thing that happens
0:09:02 > 0:09:06in any human encounter is that two people
0:09:06 > 0:09:08look one another in the eye.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11This happens first when a baby is about six weeks old,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14and goes on for rest of his life.
0:09:14 > 0:09:21Now, we noticed that this is the one thing autistic children don't do.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Here now are the main symptoms of autism.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27The most striking one is a kind of alone-ness.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30They avoid looking straight into people's eyes.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33They seem preoccupied with something
0:09:33 > 0:09:35and spend much time just gazing vacantly.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40They also endlessly repeat gestures like these,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42ignoring what's going on around them.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45They may seem not to hear what's said to them.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49They often don't respond to someone cuddling them or picking them up.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Language problems are a key symptom
0:09:51 > 0:09:54and contribute to the impression of alone-ness.
0:09:54 > 0:10:01So a general picture of inattention and non-communication is common with the autistic child.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Many experts at the time thought this type of disturbed behaviour
0:10:05 > 0:10:10had a psychological rather than biological basis.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12One group of psychologists,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16led by the Austrian therapist Bruno Bettelheim,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18reasoned that if mothers were cold or unloving,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22they must somehow be to blame for their child's autism.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29There was even a term for it - refrigerator mother theory.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34In a series of controversial experiments,
0:10:34 > 0:10:39psychologists at the New Orleans Primate Centre set out to test this idea
0:10:39 > 0:10:43by depriving baby rhesus monkeys of a responsive mother.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51This infant was removed from its mother at birth
0:10:51 > 0:10:54and it's now 50 days old.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58The object has thoroughly become, over this period, a security object.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03If it's frightened or mildly upset, it goes to it and clings to it.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06In this sense, it is a mother substitute
0:11:06 > 0:11:09but a very limited kind of substitute.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12When reared on a substitute mother, which remained stationery,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16the babies were bound to develop the characteristic rocking motion
0:11:16 > 0:11:18often found in autistic children.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Will the behaviour of this baby monkey give a clue
0:11:21 > 0:11:24to the little-understood human baby condition?
0:11:24 > 0:11:27A number of things have happened.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31These animals on the stationary devices seem much more fearful.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35For example, if I attempt to touch this animal...
0:11:43 > 0:11:45..she avoids me.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Dr Mason, who is in charge of these experiments,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55then tried giving other babies an identical mother substitute,
0:11:55 > 0:12:00but one that moved mechanically at fixed intervals throughout the day.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02This animal does not rock.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05And what we didn't anticipate is she's must bolder
0:12:05 > 0:12:09than the animal raised on the stationary surrogate.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Speaking loosely, one can say this animal is psychologically more normal?
0:12:15 > 0:12:20Yes. In fact, one doesn't have to speak loosely. I think that's definitely the case.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26These experiments seemed to confirm that an unresponsive mother
0:12:26 > 0:12:29could trigger autistic-like behaviour in her offspring,
0:12:29 > 0:12:34fuelling a culture where mothers of autistic children were often blamed for their problems.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41Bruno Bettelheim would later distance himself from this theory.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46But traumatised by his own wartime experience,
0:12:46 > 0:12:50he believed emotionally-disturbed behaviour in children
0:12:50 > 0:12:53was the result of a past trauma they'd suffered.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00After the war, he dedicated his life
0:13:00 > 0:13:03to helping problem children at a special school in Chicago.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10In 1987, in one of the last interviews before his death,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Bettelheim spoke to Horizon about his work.
0:13:44 > 0:13:50Bruno Bettelheim is one of the last surviving members of the psychoanalytical movement
0:13:50 > 0:13:53to be trained in Vienna during the time of Sigmund Freud.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58In 1938, he was imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps
0:13:58 > 0:14:02and saw the personalities of otherwise normal prisoners disintegrate
0:14:02 > 0:14:07under extreme stress into psychotic and schizophrenic behaviour.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50Bettelheim's remarkable success has been attributed
0:14:50 > 0:14:54to his uncanny ability to understand children's thinking.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58He was able to enter their world and make sense of it.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Bettelheim's work was revolutionary.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52He not only showed that children with behavioural problems could be helped,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54he also encouraged the idea of listening to them
0:15:54 > 0:15:57and seeing things from their point of view.
0:15:57 > 0:16:04But his work was to herald increasing awareness that trauma often started within the family.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08And that's where experts started to look for explanations,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12not only of psychological damage, but of physical harm.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18In the '70s, doctors came up with a new explanation
0:16:18 > 0:16:24for why some babies with no visible injuries developed sudden brain damage.
0:16:24 > 0:16:30They called it "shaken baby syndrome" and suggested parents were the culprits.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Now the state came under increasing pressure
0:16:36 > 0:16:40to protect children from abuse within the family.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42PHONE RINGS
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Hello, Social Services.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49Taking the details of real cases, Horizon used drama to explore
0:16:49 > 0:16:52why a mother would deliberately hurt her child.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59I have to say that, looking at those injuries,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03looking at those bruises and the broken arm,
0:17:03 > 0:17:08it's pretty clear to me and to the other doctors that have had a look at her,
0:17:08 > 0:17:12that those injuries have been inflicted on her.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Any possibility of anyone hurting her deliberately?
0:17:16 > 0:17:19No, we don't hurt her.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24Later, the mother admits to causing the injuries by shaking her baby.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Will you just sit down?
0:17:26 > 0:17:30She and her husband are called in for a psychiatric assessment,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32along with her parents.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35- I thought it might be a good idea to meet.- It's cos I'm shaking her.
0:17:35 > 0:17:42It soon becomes clear that the mother of the battered baby is a victim of abuse herself.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47I wonder who Andrew raises his hand at most when he gets angry?
0:17:49 > 0:17:53Is it more at Matthew, is it more at you?
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Who does Andrew raise his hand most to when he gets angry?
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Matthew and me...
0:18:00 > 0:18:03and he shouts and smashes things.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Does he smash you sometimes?
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Uh-huh. And is that the same as your dad,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16or differently from your dad, when he gets angry, when he drinks?
0:18:16 > 0:18:19It's like me dad.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23Like your dad. Is that right, Mrs Eastwood?
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Increasing awareness of abuse passing down generations
0:18:34 > 0:18:37turned the spotlight on mothers in a new way -
0:18:37 > 0:18:41not just to blame them but to try and help them too.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44By the '80s, the breakdown in traditional family life
0:18:44 > 0:18:47was starting to take its toll.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Mums of this generation were more likely to be
0:18:50 > 0:18:55the product of broken homes and troubled by an unstable upbringing.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59With numbers on the child protection register spiralling,
0:18:59 > 0:19:04the government looked for new ways to break the cycle of damage and abuse.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09The answer lay in a new phenomenon - self-help.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15In this area of south London alone, two small children
0:19:15 > 0:19:17were beaten or starved to death
0:19:17 > 0:19:19by their parents in the past two years.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23The vast majority of battering or abusing parents
0:19:23 > 0:19:26were themselves battered and abused as children.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Depression among mothers of preschool children
0:19:32 > 0:19:34is worryingly common.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39It's estimated that over a third are suffering from actual clinical depression
0:19:39 > 0:19:41and it has serious consequences.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Research has proved that the children of depressed mothers
0:19:44 > 0:19:46are likely to have trouble
0:19:46 > 0:19:52learning to read when they get to school, and some have major behaviour problems.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Some mothers are now being offered the chance of a break
0:19:59 > 0:20:02in the endless chain of depression and destruction
0:20:02 > 0:20:05by a unique organisation called Newpin.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08What used to depress me so much in health visiting
0:20:08 > 0:20:13was how much destructive family patterns kept on repeating themselves,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and actually just talking through some of women who were
0:20:16 > 0:20:22in my actual caseload as a health visitor, how much nothing had really changed
0:20:22 > 0:20:26from what were, seemingly, generations of family behaviour.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31So, you know, that they were going to be in the same locked state forever
0:20:31 > 0:20:36was the most driving reason, I think. Was there a way of changing things?
0:20:39 > 0:20:43Newpin brought mums together at a local support centre.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49When I first came, I didn't realise I was depressed.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53I was always getting uptight with the children.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58At the time, I couldn't see it. I couldn't see that I was depressed.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04The women were encouraged to take part in weekly group therapy.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07It was difficult. Most of the time, I just sat quiet.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Didn't talk.
0:21:09 > 0:21:15But then, once I got to know them a bit more, I opened up a bit more.
0:21:15 > 0:21:21- Do you think you were getting things out of it, even if you didn't say anything?- Yeah.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25It made me realise what other things people go through
0:21:25 > 0:21:29and that I'm not the only one that went through them experiences.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31That there was someone else here.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35By working through their childhood problems,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Newpin helped these mothers relate more positively to their own kids.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43I think I'm becoming a better parent to my children.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47I've got some respect for myself, which I didn't used to have.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52Personally, I feel much more aware of myself,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55much more aware of the kids
0:21:55 > 0:21:57and more able to cope with them.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00And to understand them and see it from their point of view.
0:22:00 > 0:22:06I understand my children better - Dean, especially, because he was, like, hyperactive.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09He's not as bad as that now.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14I think its cos I understand him more and I'm happier
0:22:14 > 0:22:17that it's making him happier and we get on better.
0:22:17 > 0:22:24Newpin proved to be a lifeline for many mothers wrestling with a traumatic past.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30But it wasn't just dysfunctional families that needed help.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33In the 1970s and '80s, the rise in new liberal ideas about discipline
0:22:33 > 0:22:38left a lot of more ordinary families struggling to manage their children's naughty behaviour.
0:22:38 > 0:22:45This generation was particularly keen to distance itself from the harshness of post-war ideas,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48and smacking was particularly frowned upon.
0:22:48 > 0:22:54So when a new idea arrived from the States called behavioural therapy, it caused quite a stir.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Pigeons can be taught to do very complicated things.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08This bird was trained by first rewarding it with food
0:23:08 > 0:23:13for small turns to the right, then for bigger turns, until finally he learned the trick.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17HE GIVES INSTRUCTION, INAUDIBLY
0:23:19 > 0:23:25Now psychiatrists in Britain are using methods very similar to that used on the pigeon,
0:23:25 > 0:23:27to get children to be obedient.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32Jonathan, I want you to put that jigsaw into that box.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36The therapy you're about to see will make most British psychiatrists
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and social workers hopping mad.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45They think this kind of therapy is awful.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48- Don't forget, praise. - That's a good boy.
0:23:48 > 0:23:49Specify.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55That's a good boy. You put your toys away, that's a good fellow. You're a good boy.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59- Give him chocolate.- Would you like a wee bit of chocolate for doing that?
0:23:59 > 0:24:02- BOY: May I have bit? - Yes, you may.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06VOICEOVER: They don't think people should be trained like pigeons.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08But you should judge for yourself.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14In the UK, behaviour therapy is unpopular,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18in spite of the fact that in America, it's widely used to help parents cope
0:24:18 > 0:24:21with disobedient but otherwise normal children.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24In Britain, such families get some form of
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Freudian therapy, or family therapy or, more likely, tranquilisers.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31Here in Belfast with Roger McAuley,
0:24:31 > 0:24:36the American methods are being fitted into our National Health Service.
0:24:36 > 0:24:4114 families, one after another, were asked if they would be in this film.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45They said no - they didn't want neighbours to know they were getting psychiatric help.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51The 15th and 16th were single-parent families, rather isolated,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54and this is probably the reason they agreed.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Roger is treating one family in their home.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01The mother was deserted when she was eight months pregnant
0:25:01 > 0:25:04and her American husband shoved off back to the US.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08After a succession of crummy flats in London, Deidre Engstrand
0:25:08 > 0:25:12and Jonathan have come back to Belfast. She says that Jonathan
0:25:12 > 0:25:15has been deprived of both a father and a proper home.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Now, use the nailbrush. Oh, no...
0:25:17 > 0:25:21- There, here.- I don't want the nailbrush.- Come on, there, here.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25So she's tried to compensate by never refusing him anything.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29Now she has asked for help because Jonathan won't do anything he's told.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32- Just wash your hands.- No!
0:25:33 > 0:25:38Trying to get him to have a bath, I mean, that's an unholy row.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40To wash his hair's the same thing.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44And, I mean, people comment on it, you know, the noise he makes.
0:25:45 > 0:25:51No matter what it is, he fights it, from he wakens up in the morning, he fights.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55- Leave it! Oh, no!- Now, Johnathan, you let David play.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58- No, no...!- David...
0:25:58 > 0:26:00ROGER: Diedre, what should you do?
0:26:00 > 0:26:01JOHNATHAN SCREAMS
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Roger asks her to use this routine to get obedience.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08She's to instruct and, if obeyed, to give a reward.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12If Jonathan doesn't comply, she's to ask a second time
0:26:12 > 0:26:13and if he obeys, to reward him.
0:26:15 > 0:26:23ROGER: The verbal content must be clear, "I want you to do something now."
0:26:23 > 0:26:26There's no good in saying, "Don't you think it's time..."
0:26:26 > 0:26:29That gives the child the opportunity to say, "Well, no."
0:26:29 > 0:26:36I think I normally say, "I'd like you put your toys away now, please, son."
0:26:36 > 0:26:39OK, do it the way I want you to do it.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Jonathan, I would like you to put your toys away.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Amazing, a vast difference!
0:26:46 > 0:26:50VOICEOVER: If he still refuses, she's to punish with time out.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52She's not to engage in any kind of argument.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54ROGER: Go on, no more shouting. That's good.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57You got it, nice and firm.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Out the door, boyo. Out the door. I told you to get off the door.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Now, sit there until you're quiet.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09- Now, sit there until you're quiet. - No, I cant sit there!
0:27:09 > 0:27:13VOICEOVER: The time out punishment is not anything physical.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18It has already been explained to Jonathan. He has to stand quietly in the corner for one minute.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24The snag is the minute does not begin till he's calm and quiet.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27HE SCREAMS
0:27:27 > 0:27:30It took 40 minutes for Jonathan to give in.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36ROGER: OK, finish it. Tell him to come out.
0:27:36 > 0:27:37Come on, that's a boy.
0:27:41 > 0:27:42Do I praise him, Doctor?
0:27:42 > 0:27:45Oh, God no. You say nothing. That's a punishment.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49You must not make up to him for at last ten minutes after!
0:27:53 > 0:27:58One for you. A knife and fork for you and a knife and fork for me.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03A knife and fork for you and a knife and fork for me.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08He'll help me clear the table and he'll get things for me, so that's a change.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12At night, he'll wash himself without a fight, clean his teeth
0:28:12 > 0:28:16and go to bed with his pyjamas and get ready for bed upstairs.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20Had I not seen it working so rapidly,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24I definitely would have scrubbed it.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27You know, I would have thought
0:28:27 > 0:28:34it was too brutal, for want of a better way of describing it.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39It was like training, training a dog or an animal.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44And for those reasons, you think, "What am I doing to my son?"
0:28:44 > 0:28:46That's a fella.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53It's hard to believe how controversial this behaviourist approach was 30 years ago.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58But today, for therapists like myself, it forms the basis of the way
0:28:58 > 0:29:01we work with children who've got very difficult behaviour.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03- BLOWS RASPBERRY - Pack it in!
0:29:05 > 0:29:11These new ideas about discipline spread widely, spawning a wave of popular parenting shows
0:29:12 > 0:29:14They don't listen to a word I say!
0:29:14 > 0:29:17I need some help with disciplining them...
0:29:17 > 0:29:20I don't want to!!
0:29:20 > 0:29:25These offered expert tips on everyday problems like dealing with toddler tantrums...
0:29:25 > 0:29:28Let's see if we can ignore the tantrum till it wears itself out.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32And gave lessons in tough love...
0:29:32 > 0:29:34It sounds pretty harsh, holding the door.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37He's safe, you're not abusing him in any way.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39It's a very short period of time.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42..as well as reward tactics.
0:29:42 > 0:29:49You didn't stay in your bed, so you don't get your treat.
0:29:50 > 0:29:55But there would always be some who saw this kind of behaviourism as too soft.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Dr Ron Federici believes techniques like this
0:29:59 > 0:30:03need to be radically intensified to help parents of children
0:30:03 > 0:30:05with severe behavioural problems.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07CHILD SCREAMS
0:30:07 > 0:30:12And where Bruno Betttelheim once prescribed love and empathy,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15there's nothing soft or cuddly about these tactics.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19So often families feel the best intervention they can give
0:30:19 > 0:30:24is unconditional love, affection, patience, time and talking to the child.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28That turns out to be the incorrect mode of dealing with the child.
0:30:28 > 0:30:34What's most important is to start a programme to allow parents to take total charge
0:30:34 > 0:30:38and structure, and organise, this child's thinking,
0:30:38 > 0:30:42reasoning, behaviours and role within the family.
0:30:42 > 0:30:48Adults become the strong role models and reparent the child all over again.
0:30:48 > 0:30:53CHILD: That's what I said, I don't want this any more!
0:30:54 > 0:30:57The Mortons want help with their 12-year-old son Sergei,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00who they adopted from a Russian orphanage at the age of eight.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Sergei displays violent behaviour even towards his family
0:31:06 > 0:31:08I'm just wasting my time doing this crap!
0:31:08 > 0:31:13When we were coming home from a dinner one night, he attacked both his brothers,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17tried to choke his younger brother, and even attacked his big sister.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21How much more violent is he going to be than he is now
0:31:21 > 0:31:26when he's stronger and bigger and maybe finds a gun some place?
0:31:29 > 0:31:33It's really hard to answer what's in his mind.
0:31:33 > 0:31:40He shows a lot of anger, a lot of contempt for people, a lot of hate.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44Dr Federici is here to explain his training programme to the Mortons.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46It's to last 30 days.
0:31:46 > 0:31:51Rather than focusing on Sergei's damaged past,
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Dr Federici emphasises a strict routine and parental control.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Sergei will have to stay within three foot of his parents
0:31:59 > 0:32:01at all times and obey their every word.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04Show me three feet?
0:32:04 > 0:32:10Three feet means three feet. If I can not touch you, you're too far away.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Follow instructions right away.
0:32:13 > 0:32:20"Serge, get up." The answer is, "Yes, sir, I will."
0:32:20 > 0:32:25Your mom and dad are in charge of everything.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29Meaning you have to ask for permission.
0:32:29 > 0:32:34Excuse me, may I go to the bathroom? May I have a drink of water?
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Excuse me, may I eat dinner? Excuse me, may I read a book?
0:32:38 > 0:32:41The answer is no, unless your father says,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44"Serge, you can read a book with me."
0:32:44 > 0:32:46You can not do anything alone.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51He cannot do anything alone. Because he likes to run away.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54If he runs to his room, take the doors off.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56Beautiful room!
0:32:56 > 0:32:59From now on, Sergei's parents will sleep in the same room as him.
0:32:59 > 0:33:05Serge, everything gets boxed up, taken, toys, everything off the wall
0:33:05 > 0:33:10and we just have bed, pillow, Mom's bed, Dad's bed.
0:33:14 > 0:33:21Very good. He likes to keep neat. Everything will be boxed up, OK?
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Sergei will be allowed no personal possessions and no privacy.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Many families believe it may be inappropriate to take away
0:33:28 > 0:33:32a child's identity, even if it's an inappropriate one.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37But what's so important is to realise this is a superficial posture and the important thing
0:33:37 > 0:33:39is to bring them back into the adult world
0:33:39 > 0:33:42where adults become the strong role models and reparent the child
0:33:42 > 0:33:46which is the starting point of a stronger and more solid attachment.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50Only eyes, only eyes.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52Echoing 1960's attachment theory,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Dr Federici believes problem behaviour in a child
0:33:55 > 0:33:59can stem from the lack of a strong parental bond in the early years.
0:33:59 > 0:34:04But he believes this attachment can be rebuilt by getting Sergei
0:34:04 > 0:34:07to make close eye contact while being held by his parents.
0:34:08 > 0:34:15This is better for him than being on his own. This is much more positive than fighting with you.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Whether it's called brainwashing or reprogramming
0:34:17 > 0:34:21or practising, a rehearsal, which I tend to prefer, it's very appropriate
0:34:21 > 0:34:27for a child like Sergei who has, literally, a blank slate of human emotions and feelings.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31He's been devoid of many of these feelings and expressions for so long,
0:34:31 > 0:34:36he has no clue how to do those unless it's taught and practised and rehearsed.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40Dr Federici also has a technique for dealing with Sergei
0:34:40 > 0:34:43when he's out of control - the hold position.
0:34:43 > 0:34:50If you do anything violent, Mom and Dad will take you down to get you in control.
0:34:50 > 0:34:56There will never be fights. If he tries, he goes down.
0:34:56 > 0:35:03He goes down for hitting, kicking, spitting, cussing in your face,
0:35:03 > 0:35:11screaming, breaking property, slamming doors. Where he's out of control, he must go down immediately.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15- God!- He's not being hurt. - No, my toe is twisted!
0:35:15 > 0:35:21- It still hurts!- He may choose to make up all kinds of stories.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25- It's not, I'm not making it up! - He's very angry.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28Dr Federici thinks Sergei will find this position reassuring.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32His parents physical power will make him feel safe and secure.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Dr Federici has gained a widespread following
0:35:35 > 0:35:38amongst desperate parents in the States,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41but critics of this approach are concerned
0:35:41 > 0:35:46about the damaging effects it could have on already vulnerable children.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48Dr Federici defends his method.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52Even in the most difficult situations,
0:35:52 > 0:35:54where the child is written off as totally unattached
0:35:54 > 0:35:58and irrecuperable, I believe very strongly that any child,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01even that level of damage, by hard work and very unorthodox
0:36:01 > 0:36:04and aggressive, innovative techniques,
0:36:04 > 0:36:09will often bring that damaged child to an 80% solution with the family.
0:36:10 > 0:36:16It can be hard to isolate the precise cause of behavioural problems in children like Sergei.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18- Can you calm down just a little? - Shut up!
0:36:18 > 0:36:22And in recent years, the impact of life experiences
0:36:22 > 0:36:28versus biological causes has been the subject of much debate.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Where scientists once focused on upbringing -
0:36:31 > 0:36:34for example, poor parenting or bad mothering -
0:36:34 > 0:36:37to explain behaviour difficulties in children, more often than not,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40they're looking to the brain for answers.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43We now know that some extreme behaviours
0:36:43 > 0:36:46can be explained by underlying neurological conditions
0:36:46 > 0:36:49which are often triggered by a complex mix
0:36:49 > 0:36:51of the environment the child's been bought up in
0:36:51 > 0:36:53and its genetic make-up.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55But drawing the line between a naughty child
0:36:55 > 0:36:58and one with a genuine problem isn't easy.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00BOY SCREAMS
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Liam, come here!
0:37:02 > 0:37:05In the last few decades, scientists have been developing
0:37:05 > 0:37:07new diagnostic tools.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09Hello!
0:37:09 > 0:37:14One disorder they can now identify and test for is ADHD,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22In 2005, Horizon went to find out what happened
0:37:22 > 0:37:25when Jazmine and James Fisher, who both had problems
0:37:25 > 0:37:30controlling their behaviour, were assessed for the condition.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32What did you do that for?!
0:37:32 > 0:37:35This is the Conners Rating Scale.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39This is one of the methods of trying to diagnose ADHD.
0:37:39 > 0:37:44You have one, twos and threes and you have to answer best.
0:37:44 > 0:37:49You know, is this a little true, or is it pretty much true, very much true, or never at all.
0:37:49 > 0:37:55And these sort of questions here relate to symptoms of ADHD.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00I mean, Jazmine here scores a three for disturbing other children.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Only paying attention to things she's really interested in.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06Has difficult in waiting her turn.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Interrupts or intrudes on others. Restless, always on the go.
0:38:09 > 0:38:15A diagnosis of ADHD is based on extreme patterns of behaviour.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20In particular, inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Jazmine and James were both found to have the condition.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26- James?- What?
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Why don't you go and play on your PlayStation?
0:38:29 > 0:38:32YELLS: OK! Leave me alone, you bitch!
0:38:32 > 0:38:34That's nice, thank you(!)
0:38:34 > 0:38:39Tough discipline doesn't always work for parents of ADHD children.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42I suppose a lot of parents, you know, if they were called a bitch
0:38:42 > 0:38:45and so on, the hard line discipline would come out,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49but it just doesn't work because he'll still do it anyway.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51So I just try and ignore some of the behaviour.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53Don't do that!
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Jazmine, don't wind him up.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01Scientists believe a lack of the brain chemical dopamine
0:39:01 > 0:39:06makes it hard for children with ADHD to control their impulses.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11With diagnosis comes medication to help control symptoms
0:39:11 > 0:39:14in the form of Ritalin, a powerful stimulant drug.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20It's almost like, when you have a light, yeah?
0:39:20 > 0:39:22You can switch it on and off.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25With my Ritalin, I can switch my brain on and off.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Like in my brain, my thoughts.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30But when I'm not taking my Ritalin,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32the light isn't working any more and stays on.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37Scientists now think ADHD has a strong genetic component
0:39:37 > 0:39:39and can often run in families.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42Her children's diagnosis struck a chord with Charlotte,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45who had problems with her behaviour as a child
0:39:45 > 0:39:47and was thrown out of six schools.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52I read this particular book, and I really...
0:39:52 > 0:39:55I thought, "Oh, my God. I have just read my whole life in this book."
0:39:55 > 0:40:00And I was quite shocked at how similar and...
0:40:00 > 0:40:02You know, it was almost a bit weird,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05how many things related to me and that's when I realised,
0:40:05 > 0:40:07"This has been my problem my whole life."
0:40:11 > 0:40:15But it's not just behaviour that can be affected by a brain disorder.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18Neurological make-up can have a huge impact
0:40:18 > 0:40:21on how children learn at school.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25Where once kids were just labelled stupid or disruptive,
0:40:25 > 0:40:27scientists have now identified
0:40:27 > 0:40:30several learning disorders originating in the brain.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33Including dyslexia
0:40:33 > 0:40:37and the maths equivalent, dyscalculia.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45David Baddiel went to find out just how hard learning can be
0:40:45 > 0:40:47if your brain is wired differently.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51What are these frightening hoses?
0:40:51 > 0:40:53- What are they? - These are stimulation coils.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55That's going on my head?
0:40:55 > 0:40:57One will go onto your head, yes, exactly.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00David is having the areas of the brain
0:41:00 > 0:41:04he uses for maths knocked out by a magnetic pulse.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06- We hold the coil approximately here. - Yeah.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09- It's not going to be... - It's not a lobotomy.
0:41:09 > 0:41:14- Tell me it's not a lobotomy. - No, not at all.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17A magnetic pulse just induces, very shortly,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19electric chaos in this brain area.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23- Electric chaos?- Yes. This is what you could... (LAUGHS)
0:41:23 > 0:41:25Electric chaos in my brain.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Fine. I'll do it for Horizon, it's fine.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30Just for a couple of milliseconds.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33I'm not that desperate for work.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36Then it'll be restored to normal.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38OK. Well, on your head be it.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40David is preparing to do a test,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44typically used on dyscalculic children.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46In David's case, the part of his brain
0:41:46 > 0:41:50he'd use for maths is being disabled to mimic the disorder.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55You have to decide if the number is smaller or larger than 65.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57- Yes.- And then press with your two hands.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01David has to identify if the number is smaller or larger
0:42:01 > 0:42:03by a click with his left or right finger.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08You will be stimulated every time the number comes up on screen.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14Children with dyscalculia would find this extremely difficult.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16ELECTRIC CLICKING
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Hang on a sec, sorry. Can we start that again?
0:42:21 > 0:42:23I completely forgot which side is which.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26OK, it's left for smaller number, for smaller than 65,
0:42:26 > 0:42:28and right for larger numbers.
0:42:28 > 0:42:34As time goes on, David is feeling more and more disorientated.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38- Sorry, sorry.- OK.- The smaller for the left hand side
0:42:38 > 0:42:42- and higher for right hand side? - Yes, exactly.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48David's ability to respond to numbers is slowing down.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52For genuine dyscalculics, it's much worse.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55- The test you did, they'd be slow and inaccurate.- Right.
0:42:55 > 0:42:56So something really simple
0:42:56 > 0:43:00like which of these two numbers is bigger, is very diagnostic
0:43:00 > 0:43:03as to whether you will have dyscalculia or not.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07By repeating these experiments, Brian Butterworth has identified
0:43:07 > 0:43:11differences between normal brains and those of dyscalculics.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14- This is the area responsible for numeracy?- Exactly.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17- This is a scan from eight-year-old kids.- Right.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20And what they show is there's this area here,
0:43:20 > 0:43:22in what's called the right intraparietal salcus,
0:43:22 > 0:43:26and kids who are dyscalculic have an abnormality here.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28Science is beginning to glimpse the extent
0:43:28 > 0:43:31to which children's neurological make-up
0:43:31 > 0:43:34can determine their ability to learn.
0:43:34 > 0:43:39It helps explain why some children struggle where others flourish.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43- What did you learn today? - We learned about the Victorians.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45We learned loads of maths.
0:43:45 > 0:43:50But as with children's social and emotional development,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53our scientific understanding of how children learn
0:43:53 > 0:43:54has evolved over time.
0:43:56 > 0:43:57In the post-war period,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget
0:44:00 > 0:44:02came up with a radical idea.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05That children are no less intelligent than adults,
0:44:05 > 0:44:08they just think differently.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12His theory motivated a series of experiments
0:44:12 > 0:44:15into the cognitive powers of infants,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18revealing their enormous capacity to interact with,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21and learn from, the world around them.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25In this experiment, even at this age,
0:44:25 > 0:44:29he will construct a hypothesis, think about it and then verify it.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35He's going to realise that by turning his head to the left,
0:44:35 > 0:44:39he is the cause of the light coming on.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42Eight years ago, research techniques were crude
0:44:42 > 0:44:45and no-one had shown that infants under six months could learn.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49But now, through experiments like this, it seems the human at birth
0:44:49 > 0:44:52learns better than he ever will again.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57Sooner or later, several of his accidental movements
0:44:57 > 0:44:59may lead him to wonder if perhaps it is he
0:44:59 > 0:45:01who is switching on the light.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07When that idea dawns, there's a dramatic burst of activity
0:45:07 > 0:45:11when he's certain that he's the one controlling the light.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18Experiments like this suggested that children's intellectual capacities
0:45:18 > 0:45:21are well established before they even get to school.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23Jonathan, wave!
0:45:23 > 0:45:25Again, the onus fell on mothers.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29This time to encourage children's learning in the early years.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32Piaget also suggested that all children
0:45:32 > 0:45:36pass through four learning stages.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40Up to the age of 11, they learn best through interaction
0:45:40 > 0:45:44with objects before they can grasp more abstract concepts.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50His theory was based both on observing children's behaviour
0:45:50 > 0:45:54and talking to them - a novel idea at the time -
0:45:54 > 0:45:57revealing that young children have their own unique logic.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03Now, do we have as many green bricks, the same number,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05as we have pennies?
0:46:05 > 0:46:07- No.- Here?- Yes.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11Yes? Are you sure? How do you know?
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Because there's one at each penny.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20Right, watch what I'm going to do.
0:46:20 > 0:46:22Linda's at one stage of her development.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26She doesn't yet understand the meaning of number.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30Do we have same number of bricks as pennies,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33or do we have more green bricks or more pennies?
0:46:33 > 0:46:35More bricks.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38More bricks? How do you know?
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Cos they're... They're...
0:46:40 > 0:46:43That's longer than them.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45- Which is longer?- Them.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48The number of bricks and coins remains the same,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51even though the visual arrangement is changed.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55But at this stage, Linda only judges by visual appearance.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57All children pass through this stage,
0:46:57 > 0:47:00but vary in speed by as much as 18 months.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02Such concepts as this, conservation of number,
0:47:02 > 0:47:05cannot be taught effectively before the child is ready.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08That is before she's assimilated enough to understand
0:47:08 > 0:47:12the idea in concrete terms.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15Piaget's ideas about how a child thinks and learns
0:47:15 > 0:47:17were to have a huge influence on the teaching methods
0:47:17 > 0:47:19used in primary schools.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21Many adopted this more child-centred approach.
0:47:21 > 0:47:26And in 1976, Horizon set out to investigate
0:47:26 > 0:47:29this new liberal style of teaching, with its informal approach
0:47:29 > 0:47:32and emphasis on learning through play.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35And compared it to the traditional, structured form of school.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42This is what's called an informal classroom.
0:47:42 > 0:47:43It's not really one room.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45It's several, all open to one another,
0:47:45 > 0:47:47with no space wasted on corridors.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Classes share facilities and teachers work together.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58At first glance, it looks like a chaotic playgroup,
0:47:58 > 0:48:00although not quite as noisy.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02Every child seems deeply involved.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05It may look like play but they're learning maths.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08- How many have we got left? - One, two, three, four.
0:48:08 > 0:48:1254? Now what are you going to build with them this time?
0:48:12 > 0:48:16- Erm, I don't know.- What would you like to build with them?
0:48:16 > 0:48:18A different kind of castle.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21All right, you make a different kind of castle.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24The question is, despite all the obvious enjoyment,
0:48:24 > 0:48:27are these children really learning enough?
0:48:27 > 0:48:31In progressive schools, independence is encouraged.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34Yes, of course you can go and play in the sand, Jimmy.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39Ready? One, two, three.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41THEY PLAY GUITARS
0:48:46 > 0:48:50Music is only one small facet of progressive teaching.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52It involves what's called the integrated day,
0:48:52 > 0:48:54where classes aren't broken arbitrarily
0:48:54 > 0:48:56into one hour of maths, English and so on.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59Everything is carefully dovetailed
0:48:59 > 0:49:02and music, art and science are often taught as a composite.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:49:06 > 0:49:08One or two ideas to think about.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11I like the school very much.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14I think they do an awful lot for the children
0:49:14 > 0:49:19and they have an awful lot more freedom of choice.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23The children get a chance to express themselves.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27The atmosphere is so very good. The children are very happy.
0:49:27 > 0:49:28They work very well.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35At the other extreme, this school was equally commended to us
0:49:35 > 0:49:39for excellence by its educational authority.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42It's precisely two minutes to nine in the morning.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47WHISTLE GOES
0:49:48 > 0:49:50SHORT WHISTLE
0:49:57 > 0:50:02Look to the left, straighten your lines up. Straight down the lines
0:50:06 > 0:50:08WHISTLE GOES
0:50:08 > 0:50:11On the next whistle, you will turn.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14HE BLOWS WHISTLE
0:50:15 > 0:50:18Numbers 14 and 7, lead off.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26This so-called formal, or traditional, primary school
0:50:26 > 0:50:28is the sort of primary education
0:50:28 > 0:50:30which probably most grown-ups watching
0:50:30 > 0:50:33remember as their experience of school.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37Classes are run on a strict timetable and all activity
0:50:37 > 0:50:40is firmly teacher directed.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42- Five fives?- 25.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45- Good. Nine fours?- 36.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48- Ten twos?- 20.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50- Five threes?- 15.- Good.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53Now, counting in sixes, starting from six. Ready?
0:50:53 > 0:50:58ALL: Six, 12, 18, 24...
0:50:59 > 0:51:00Good!
0:51:01 > 0:51:03That's a good one!
0:51:03 > 0:51:06Achievement and competition are positively encouraged.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08High fliers are praised and the slower ones pushed.
0:51:08 > 0:51:13That's a better one. Forward. That's a good one.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17All schools should have an end product,
0:51:17 > 0:51:19just like industry has an end product.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22And I think the end product is to be able to read,
0:51:22 > 0:51:24write and do arithmetic well,
0:51:24 > 0:51:28to enable them to go into further education with a good start.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31And I think this school does exactly that.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36Horizon followed a team of educational psychologists
0:51:36 > 0:51:38as they put the two approaches to test.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41It was the first report of its kind
0:51:41 > 0:51:45into primary teaching methods in the UK.
0:51:45 > 0:51:50Now, my name is Mrs Wade and I'm here to do some research.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53Who can tell me what research is?
0:51:53 > 0:51:56Children in Lancashire and Cumbria were tested,
0:51:56 > 0:51:59both at the beginning and end of the year, to find out not just how much
0:51:59 > 0:52:03they liked their type of school, but how much they learnt in that time.
0:52:03 > 0:52:08The biggest surprise was the discrepancy in achievement
0:52:08 > 0:52:12between the progressive and formal classrooms.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14Contrary to our expectations,
0:52:14 > 0:52:18the findings clearly favoured formal schools.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20You want to read it to me? All right, go on.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23These results mean that over the three or four years
0:52:23 > 0:52:25a child is in a progressive primary,
0:52:25 > 0:52:29he could be held back by more than a year in some subjects.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32The mass of data was computed by Lancaster University's
0:52:32 > 0:52:36to see, among other things, whether some types of child personality
0:52:36 > 0:52:39are better suited to specific styles of teaching.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42High ability children in formal classrooms
0:52:42 > 0:52:45progress considerably better than high ability children
0:52:45 > 0:52:47in informal classrooms.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51But another interesting finding was that low ability boys
0:52:51 > 0:52:54in formal classrooms did much worse than low ability boys
0:52:54 > 0:52:56in informal classrooms.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58There are differences at the top and bottom
0:52:58 > 0:53:00in terms of ability there.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05Thuh.
0:53:05 > 0:53:06Sss...
0:53:06 > 0:53:10Today, child-centred learning has been incorporated
0:53:10 > 0:53:12into the mainstream.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16Most schools now try to find a balance between structured lessons
0:53:16 > 0:53:18and informal play.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28But more progressive schooling has, like more liberal parenting,
0:53:28 > 0:53:32sometimes led to discipline problems.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Just like parents, schools have turned
0:53:35 > 0:53:37to behavioural techniques for help.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41Rather than cracking down, teachers look for ways
0:53:41 > 0:53:46to motivate children to behave better and work harder.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50David Baddiel travelled to Washington,
0:53:50 > 0:53:53to find out how one school in a deprived neighbourhood
0:53:53 > 0:53:57incentivises children - who don't see the point in learning -
0:53:57 > 0:53:58with hard cash.
0:54:01 > 0:54:02Good morning, boys and girls.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05ALL: Good morning, Miss Fox.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08It's payday at Brightside School.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12This morning, we're going to celebrate and acknowledge
0:54:12 > 0:54:14those earners
0:54:14 > 0:54:19who are the top ten highest earners
0:54:19 > 0:54:23for each of our pay periods.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26The first one, for pay period one,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29is Francisco Tee. Come on up, Francisco.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33APPLAUSE
0:54:33 > 0:54:35Brightside is one of 28 American schools,
0:54:35 > 0:54:37trying out financial incentives
0:54:37 > 0:54:41as part of a privately funded educational experiment.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44The children get money for top marks,
0:54:44 > 0:54:47but also for good behaviour,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49attendance and correct uniform.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51They can earn up to 100 in two weeks.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57It was the brainchild of a Harvard economist.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00How did you get the idea?
0:55:00 > 0:55:02The first time I showed up at Harvard,
0:55:02 > 0:55:04it was like landing on the moon.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07I grew up in the neighbourhoods these kids are in.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10I saw a kid sit around a dinner table
0:55:10 > 0:55:13and each one of them could see that school paid off,
0:55:13 > 0:55:15because their family were professors,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18their uncles were investment bankers.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22For these kids, a lot of them don't see those examples to light the way.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24And so we're asking them to take a gamble.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28We're asking them to say, you know, "I want to do education,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31"but I've got to wait 20 years for my reward."
0:55:31 > 0:55:35These kids, a lot of them have real challenges right now.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39I love them so much, OK? But the truth is, only 12% of them
0:55:39 > 0:55:43are doing math at grade level, right?
0:55:43 > 0:55:47And 8% are reading at grade level.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50That is a catastrophe. That is a crisis.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54No-one has the courage to tell those black boys in there
0:55:54 > 0:55:57that statistically - they're 12 now - statistically, in seven years,
0:55:57 > 0:56:00one in three will be in prison.
0:56:02 > 0:56:04Can I see your certificate?
0:56:04 > 0:56:08"Pay period 4, congratulations you've earned 58.57."
0:56:08 > 0:56:12So, how much do you think you've earned since the scheme began?
0:56:12 > 0:56:15300.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18- About 330.- 330?
0:56:18 > 0:56:20- 250.- Right.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22When I come to school, it's just to learn
0:56:22 > 0:56:24because my mum sent me here,
0:56:24 > 0:56:27- but now I just really love learning. - Really?- Mm-hm.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30What do you want to do when you're older? Can I ask you?
0:56:30 > 0:56:34Actually, I'm saving my money to go to college.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37And then once you're past college? What do you want to be?
0:56:37 > 0:56:40Any job would be good.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44Some might call it bribery,
0:56:44 > 0:56:47but an array of reward techniques like this
0:56:47 > 0:56:50are increasingly used by schools to motivate kids.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55It's the latest weapon in their armoury
0:56:55 > 0:56:57to help children reach their potential.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01When it comes to children's behaviour, in many ways,
0:57:01 > 0:57:03we've come full circle.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06We started out with strict Victorian-style discipline
0:57:06 > 0:57:08in the austere post-war era.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11But turned our attention to the importance of love and happiness
0:57:11 > 0:57:13in raising children.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16You are a nice boy, really. Aren't you?
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Yet, with more liberal parenting,
0:57:18 > 0:57:20can sometimes come behavioural issues.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23Never going to get the perfect child, are we?
0:57:23 > 0:57:25We've had to focus again on discipline
0:57:25 > 0:57:28in a bid to manage children's behaviour.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30He's not being hurt.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34Over the last 50 years, science has given us
0:57:34 > 0:57:36insights into how children's minds work
0:57:36 > 0:57:38and why they behave the way they do.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42And it's kept pace with a rapidly changing society
0:57:42 > 0:57:45and all the pressures that brings.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48But parents are still left to interpret what it means for them.
0:57:48 > 0:57:52Ultimately, there's only so much science can tell us about children.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56They're not lab rats after all, and every child's an individual.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59Today, we live in a much more child-centred world.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03I think the challenge for parents is to know they can hold their ground.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07To know they can say no, as well as listen to their child.
0:58:07 > 0:58:09So, carrot or stick?
0:58:09 > 0:58:12I think children need both love and discipline.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15If you can get a healthy balance between those two,
0:58:15 > 0:58:17then you'll be doing a great job!
0:58:40 > 0:58:43Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:43 > 0:58:46Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk