Academic Susperreguy: "Many problems in society have early origins... to think about them just at school or university is too late"

The UC Education academic talks about the impact of research in education for the development of the country and especially the contribution to early childhood, regarding the new Millennium Nucleus for the Study of the Development of Early Mathematics Skills, MEMAT. The recently awarded project was highlighted by ANID in 2021.

Early childhood education is one of the most important stages at the educational level, according to many experts. Investing in and narrowing the gaps there is key to enhancing learning opportunities for all boys and girls.

This is one of the premises that drive the research of the academic from the Faculty of Education, Maria Ines Susperreguy, and today, also, director of the Millennium Nucleus for the Study of the Development of Early Mathematics Skills, MEMAT, a unit that focuses on mathematical learning in childhood.

These skills can predict academic performance throughout a boy's or girl's school career, according to the researcher. “Not only performance in math, but also in reading. This means that the children who enter school better prepared in mathematics are the ones who will do better throughout school.”, explains Susperreguy.

The MEMAT Nucleus, financed by the Millennium Science Initiative program of the National Research and Development Agency, ANID, was recognized and highlighted at the end of 2021 among a list of initiatives in the field of social sciences. It is a proposal for associative and interdisciplinary work that is housed in three universities: the Universidad Católica (under the direction of Susperreguy, and with the researchers Susana Claro, from the School of Government, and Katherine Strasser, from the School of Psychology), the Diego Portales University (Francisca del Río) and the O'Higgins University (David Gomez).

– How did you receive the news that the MEMAT Nucleus was the most highly ranked project of the 2021 applications?

It is a central issue and I am glad that the panel of international experts was also able to see its relevance, and identified strengths in the proposal that are worth investing in research. If you look at the history of nuclei focused on educational research, the only one that existed before is the Higher Education Millennium Nucleus.

We are very excited about the work we can do in this area. I believe that we can contribute in different ways and, furthermore, strengthen the work that we have been doing for a long time.

-With this, then, all that previous research is consolidated...

That's how it is…. And it is an investigation that we had been working on for eight years. I think it's a tremendous opportunity to be able to focus on early math skills.

-Among the existing Millennium Nuclei, is it the first focused on preschool education?

Yes. These are nuclei in social sciences, so the themes are diverse and very relevant. If you look at the cores awarded in this and other calls, there are issues of social development, performance, arts, etc., but in initial education there is no core.

-And what does it mean that ANID grants financing to this project?

It is key because it means that the Agency is investing in research in educational stages that are crucial for the development and learning of children. The focus is on the development of mathematical skills, which implies that these skills can be fostered in the boys and girls of our country from an early age. Basing our actions on evidence and identifying the central elements, what is key, for the development of early mathematics, that is what we want to investigate.

We have many problems in society that have early origins. Addressing math skills at school or college is too late. That is why we focus on understanding the mechanisms and factors associated with these early abilities.

The importance of early childhood

– In practice, how do early mathematical skills influence?

These early math skills – which develop before school entry – are linked to later math performance, which in turn is central to pursuing careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), to promote social mobility, to improve economic income and, in general terms, for the labor force that a country needs to be competitive.

Much of our students today are not developing math skills at a complex level and there are significant gaps in their math performance.

– At what level of performance are Chilean boys and girls?

Students in Chile don't do very well on international math tests. For example, only 1% of fourth grade students show a conceptual understanding that allows them to apply their mathematical knowledge in complex situations and justify this reasoning, according to the TIMSS 2019 study, a situation that was amplified during the pandemic.

Although it is a global problem, in Chile the gaps by socioeconomic level and gender are more evident in mathematical learning, and these are given by structural issues. We are a country that has many strengths, which has developed in many areas, but we have many gaps and we have to consider them from the beginning, from their origin, where it is crucial to intervene. That is why we have a prevention focus, to intervene before they are generated and accentuated.

– And you seek to generate evidence in this regard…

This is an area where there is not much scientific development in the country, so we are interested in generating this evidence and training researchers, students, young people and post-doctorates. We want to establish national and international collaboration networks and consolidate the networks we have, create new links that can nurture this project.

We also have a focus on knowledge transfer. We want to download the knowledge of the Nucleus to society so that families, fathers, mothers and caregivers know the central role they have in the development of children's skills. And also download the knowledge to schools and teacher training institutions, such as nursery educators

– It would be, then, to transfer this evidence in an accessible way to the families…

Make the knowledge close, that the community in general knows and can access these results, that knows what is the role of families, schools, kindergartens in the development of mathematics and how the gaps that exist can be closed scale up or down and what actions can be taken.

We are very used to doing research in education, but here is the challenge of linking it to social issues and having a direct impact on these issues.