The Early Learning Positive Deviance Initiative: summary of qualitative findings

Image source: DataDrive2030

Dr Beth Vale, Michelle Flowers, Dr Jessica Ronaasen, and Maryke Rademeyer | September 2023

DataDrive2030’s Positive Deviance Initiative aims to identify and explore factors associated with ‘positive deviance’ in Early Childhood Development (ECD) outcomes for South African children.

Positive Deviance (PD) is an approach to social and behavioural change grounded in the idea that there will be some individuals or entities that, when confronted with similar challenges and constraints as their peers, emerge as ‘outliers’ because of uncommon practices and strategies that facilitate their thriving. This study of PD is interested in the practices and contexts that influence why some children thrive against the odds.

The first quantitative phase of this project analysed a nationally-representative meta-dataset of 12,719 children (aged 50-69 months) to identify those children that – after controlling for age, gender, geography, and socio-economic status – outperformed their peers on a range of Early Learning Outcome Measures (ELOM). Researchers also identified ECD centres and wards that were producing a significantly higher-than-expected proportion of positive deviant children. The quantitative study identified several key variables positively associated with PD.

The purpose of this qualitative phase of the study was to enhance the rigour and nuance of these findings by understanding the mechanisms and connections behind quantitative associations, the social contexts in which they are generated, and how practitioners, principals and caregivers at PD centres understand and approach early learning and development. Six PD facilities were selected as case study sites across three provinces (Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape).