Final Blog Assignment for Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field

Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.”
~Confucius~

As a result of learning about the international early childhood field I have begun to see the world as being integrated.  We share some of the same issues related to accessibility, availability and affordability of early childhood programs. 

Additionally, I have found valuable resources associated with educating children with limited resources.  For example, the school in Swaziland, Africa which uses nature as a classroom and does not contain class time to the four walls of the classroom.

While viewing the World Forum Foundation Radio Podcasts, I learned about people making a difference in the early education field.  These educators have given me motivation to continue to strive for excellence in education.

  

Goal for the field related to international awareness

 Establish a dialogue with other countries to share the successes and failures related to early childhood practices and programs.

 

 

References
World Forum Foundation Radio
http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf.radio.php
 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts--Part 3

I reviewed the global organization UNESCO.  Although I had heard of the organization, I had no idea how entrenched they were in education.  Since the creation of the organization in 1945, UNESCO has worked to improve education worldwide.

 

            UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.  Two global priorities are:  Africa and Gender equality.  Both priorities are of great interest to me.  While living in Africa, I have seen the effects of gender inequality.  It is reassuring to know UNESCO is working to bring attention to these topics.

 

 

Teacher Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa

 

 Sub-Saharan Africa faces some of the same challenges as the United States as it relates to quality of teachers. Achieving quality education for all, in line with Goal 6 of the Dakar Framework for Action, calls for more and better trained teachers.  Likewise, schools must be supported in attracting qualified teachers. 

 

Gender Equality

UNESCO works to promote equal opportunities to quality learning, free from gender-based or other forms of discrimination.  In particular, UNESCO:

§  promotes gender equality in national education laws, policies and plans

§  seeks to expand access to learning opportunities, in particular for girls and women, in both formal and non-formal education

§  develops the capacity of education policy-makers, planners, teachers and other education personnel regarding gender-sensitive approaches

§  supports countries to make education content gender-sensitive and free from discrimination

§  seeks to address obstacles to learning such as gender-based violence and HIV-AIDS

 

UNESCO is a global organization working towards solving global issues. I will add UNESCO to my bank of resources.

 

References

UNESCO

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Sharing Web Resources

This week I further explored the news and publication section of The Association for Childhood Education International website. Under this section I reviewed global news. I found an interesting article entitled The Starting Well Report.  The Economist Intelligence Unit developed this report to rank preschool conditions of 45 countries, including the United States. The goal of the study is to measure availability, affordability, and quality of early childhood education programs in each of these countries. 

Findings from the research show a strong correlation between a country’s per capita income and its overall ranking in the index, especially the affordability of its preschool education programs.  The report also shows how lack of policy attention could hinder progress in child development efforts, in both high- and low-income situations.

The findings could inform policymakers about the need to invest more on early childhood development.  This could be achieved through reduced education costs, increased labor productivity, lower welfare payments, and a reduction in crime. The complete summary of this report can be found at http://www.lienfoundation.org/pdf/publication/sw_report.pdf .

While reviewing the global news section of the website, I realized the issues the United States has with affordability, access, availability and equity, are not isolated to our country.  Some countries have made strides in these areas and some are further behind in the progress. 

Although our early education progress is not where it should be, I feel confident we are headed in the right direction.   

References

Association for Childhood Education International
http://www.acei.org

 The Starting Well Report retrieved from http://www.lienfoundation.org/pdf/publication/sw_report.pdf

Getting to Know Your International Contacts--Part 2

Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative

            Global Children’s Initiative seeks to advance the Center’s mission by implementing compelling research, public engagement and leadership development agenda in child health development that is grounded in science and engages researchers, public leaders, practitioners, and students from a wide range of institutions around the world.

Three strategic objectives:

To reframe public discourse about the early childhood period by educating high-level decision-makers about the common underlying science of learning, behavior, and health;

To support innovative, multidisciplinary research and demonstration projects in selected countries or regions to expand global understanding of how healthy development happens, how it can be derailed, and how to get it back on track;

To build leadership capacity in child development research and policy among individuals and institutions in low –and middle-income countries in order to increase the number and influence of diverse perspectives that is contributing to the global movement on behalf of young children.

New insights from articles read on the website include:

Applying the Science of Early Education in Brazil

~The aim is to use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit children and their families in Brazil.

Zambian Early Childhood Development Project

~Effort launched in 2009 to measure the effects of an ongoing anti-malarial initiative on children’s development in Zambia.

Studying the Effects of Global Adversity, Two Generations at a Time

~Theresa Betancourt, Center-affiliated faculty member, conducted the study of combining short- term survival efforts with attention to children’s developmental needs.  Betancourt stated, “Just keeping children alive isn’t sufficient, given the leveragable opportunities that exist to invest in their social capital and to maximize that next generation of young people.

 

Podcast

I chose to listen to the podcast of Meridas Eka Yora.  Mr. Yora built 3 boarding schools for orphans of the 2009 tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia.  He uses a holistic approach when caring for the children. Months after the tsunami, the children still experienced trauma.  Some children still could not accept the deaths of their families.  The teachers must be the father and mother for the children before becoming their teachers.  Older siblings are allowed to act like siblings.  This gives a family feeling for the children.  He and his wife took orphans in to live with them.  He has dedicated his life to the care of children.

 

References

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.  (2010). Global children’s initiative.  Retrieved from http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative

 

World Forum Foundation Radio.  Retrieved from http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php

 

 

Sharing Web Resources

I have become increasingly interested in studying children’s rights around the world.  The Association for Childhood Education International highlights a program named Love Me, Teach Me.  The purpose of the program is to promote the needs and rights of children everywhere.  The campaign is built on four cornerstones, each contributing to the well-being of children and related to children’s needs and rights.  The four cornerstones are See Me, Hear Me, Love Me, and Teach Me and they apply to children, worldwide.

While exploring the website, I found a tab called Global News Archives.  In this section, you can find a variety of issues related to many trends and issues in early childhood education.  I found many related to our current discussion of how economists, scientists, and politicians support the early education field.

I read an article entitled, The competition that really matters:  Comparing U.S., Chinese, and Indian investments in the next generation workforce.  This article talks about the ambitious Chinese national goals, aim a 50% increase in preschool enrollment by 2020.  The push is an outcome of strong public commitment and national economic strategy toward improving early childhood, education, and technological advancement in China. It is an interesting view of what other countries are doing to improve early childhood education.

There is a “Giving” section located on this website.  I assumed the section was one asking for donations for the organization.  However, this section is asking for donations for other projects.  One that is highlighted is in the village of Kitenga, Tanzania.  The country is building a preschool for young girls.  In 2000, Tanzania has abolished school fees in an effort to improve access to education for children.  It seems like a worthy cause to contribute.

 

References

Association for Childhood Education

www.acei.org

Cooper, D. & Hersh, A.  (2012). The competition that really matters:  Comparing U.S., Chinese, and Indian investments in the next generation workforce.  Center for American Progress.  Retrieved from http://www.thenextgeneration.org/files/The_Competition_that_Really_Matters.pdf

 

 

 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

Well, disappointment has set in.  I didn’t hear back from any of the international professionals I contacted.  So I will proceed with the blog assignment and use the pod cast alternative.  This week I chose to listen to and learn about Irma Allen who is the chairperson of the Swaziland Environment Authority.  Swaziland is an interesting country.  It is the only country that continues to have a king.  It is a small kingdom between South Africa and Mozambique.

Ms. Allen is passionate about Early Childhood Education, specifically the nature dimension.  She feels there is a challenge to train community people to become teachers of young children.  Ms. Allen believes there are no classroom walls.  Nature is the classroom.  Teachers should rely on nature to teach children.  Nature includes the local environment, trees and the weather.  Teachers should further create respect for the environment.  Educating the children on the life and death in the environment is important.  An example given was decomposition of leaves and trees.

 

Childhood Policy Research and Policy Centre

I chose to learn about childhood poverty of children living in India. 

v  India accounts for 20 percent of the world’s out-of-school children.  Of those children nearly one third are under the age of 16. 

v  Caste, class, ethnicity and gender affect access to resources of all kinds.

v  Efforts for reform are being attempted.  In 2003, attempts to create a Child Policy for the state of Rajasthan were started with participation of civil organizations, donor agencies and academic groups.

 

References

World Forum Foundation

http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php

 

Child Poverty Research and Policy Centre

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/

 

Sharing Web Resources

 

I have recently joined the Association for Childhood Education International organization. This organization promotes education based on universal human rights principles and rooted in the values of human dignity and respect.  They advocate for education as a means of achieving social justice, equity, and peace. 

Their motto is:  Bright Futures for Every Child, Every Nation.

 I look at the issues of early childhood education as a global issue.  Although each country has its own issues and trends, the ultimate goal is the same.

An article that was of particular interest is "What learning is important for all children?"

This article examines should learning assessment focus on children in school or all children, regardless of where they are learning?

And should global learning be  measured in a comparable international way?

If you would like  more information about this organization the website is http://www.acei.org