Early educational inequalities and cognitive-motor skills M/F

Job Description

Summary of the scientific project

To address educational inequalities, early intervention is essential, starting in preschool, a stage of learning that tightly integrates sensorimotor and language development. Rich sensorimotor development is a prerequisite for foundational academic learning and social skills ("living together") and integrating sensorimotor and cognitive development sheds light on factors contributing to academic attainment that have been largely underexplored to date. Combining developmental neuroscience with educational research opens fresh perspectives for early pedagogical interventions. The goal of the Junior Research Chair (CPJ) is to analyze the key elements of early childhood educational inequalities and to develop early interventions aimed at reducing gaps in students' physical and sensorimotor development. Early educational interventions supporting sensorimotor development of preschoolers are a key element preserve optimal capacities for future cognitive and academic learning, and this research program reinforces the connection between fundamental research and implemented educational practices.

Summary of the teaching project

Teaching will be discussed according to the site which the successful candidate is assigned to. He/She will be involved in teaching on existing courses at each site.
The chosen candidate will engage with existing programs in psychology and/or developmental cognitive neurosciences at each site, particularly within the INSPÉ (National Institutes for Teacher Education). Their role will be to promote evidence-based practices and emphasize the importance of co-creating a space for exploration and collaboration between researchers and teachers in early years schooling.

Your Profil

Profile Required

Holders of a doctorate or a PhD or equivalent degree or applicants who have gained scientific qualifications or carried out scientific work deemed to be of an equivalent level.There is no restriction on the age or nationality of applicants. All CNRS positions are accessible to people with disabilities, with special arrangements for tests made necessary by the nature of the disability

Your Work Environment

Host Lab Strategy

CerCA (and its teams CoCliCO, SoCog, Interactions, and Written Language) and DDL (Development, Neurocognition, and Dysfunction axis) combine developmental cogni-tive sciences and education, providing an ideal framework for the CPJ.
CerCA conducts research in education, coordinates national and regional networks, and studies the construction of educational inequalities from early childhood, revealing how certain teaching practices or school norms disadvantage students from underprivileged backgrounds (cultural mismatch, lack of awareness of institutional expectations).
DDL, specializing in language and its interaction with the environment, explores typical/atypical devel-opment and sensorimotor interactions. Internationally recognized for its expertise in language acquisi-tion in young children (monolingual/multilingual) and embodied cognition, the unit also works on early detection and remediation of language and motor disorders, with pediatricians, schools, and INSPÉ.

Institution Strategy

Educational inequalities represent a major challenge for contemporary societies. Recent studies show that certain teaching practices perpetuate and exacerbate existing inequalities as early as preschool. In addition, the window of brain plasticity is modulated by children's environment, expanding in favorable environments and narrowing in difficult living conditions. To mitigate educational inequalities, it is therefore essential to intervene as early as possible, starting in preschool.
So far, existing research on early cognitive development has primarily focused on literacy and numerical cognition in primary education. However, the educational inequalities among preschoolers also manifest in cognitive-motor development, involving anticipation, coordination, and adaptation—skills that have been shown to be strongly linked to sensorimotor development, language development, and academic attainment.
The proposed Junior Research Chair (CPJ) aims to combine research on sensorimotor and cognitive development during the preschool years, focusing on the learning of social skills (learning to live together) and foundational knowledge (oral expression, reading, writing, and counting). The goal of the CPJ is to analyze the key elements of early childhood educational inequalities and to develop early interventions based on embodied cognition, aiming to reduce gaps in preschoolers' physical and motor development in order to preserve optimal fundamental cognitive-motor skills that underpin future cognitive development and academic learning.
The aim of the research conducted under the CPJ is to contribute to the development and evaluation of innovative teaching practices in close collaboration with educational stakeholders and the institutions providing training and professional development for teachers.

International Strategy

The Chair holder will be expected to implement actions and set up partnerships in the given thematic field and particularly to commit to submitting a project in the framework of European calls for proposals like ERC, Horizon Europe Consortium, etc. during the 5 years of his/her contract.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

Annual salary from 54 600 Euros to 57 800 Euros depending on professionnal experience.

Total funding

200k€

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

Research Policy

Open Science

The CNRS is developing a strong policy in favor of open science. Open science consists of making research results "as accessible as possible and closed as necessary". As such, the CNRS aims to make 100% of the texts of publications resulting from the work of its laboratories accessible , in particular through deposit in HAL. The data produced must also be made available and reusable, except for specific restrictions. In addition, the guiding principles of individual evaluation have been revised in accordance with the DORA declaration, to be more qualitative and to take into account all facets of the researcher's profession.

Science and society

The relationship between science and society is now recognized as a full dimension of scientific activity. The project will develop this dimension in synergy with all the partners. The resulting research work will contribute to informing public decision-making. Participatory science initiatives may be initiated with actors from the project’s socio-economic and cultural eco-system.

Scientific dissemination

The dissemination of the results will be done through world-class scientific productions: publications, patents, software... In addition, the results will be communicated to various targets such as scientific communities, media, decision makers, general public, schools, etc., with an adapted calendar. Specific tools may be developed such as websites, newsletters, meetings, international symposia, summer schools and conferences.

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

The research professions