International Research

I finally heard back from my international contacts. They were both unable to assist me because they did not have the time to write me week to week. However I reviewed the Harvard University website and gained insight to some things. As we all know children are quite active at young ages and able to do about anything. At a young age, children begin to learn things quickly having a great memory, vocabulary and imagination. The older they become the more their bodies develop more information. This allows the child to become more engaged into activities. Children are our future and we must protect them and look out for their best interest. While reading I discovered that  Harvard’s President Drew Faust wanted to” promote a supportive climate for student inquiry, create exciting activities and programs that will prepare young leaders to succeed, both in and outside the classroom” Ideas such as these enhances the growth amongst our small children that will follow them throughout life.  

Educators play a huge role for children and their families. The Education and Leadership Development center strives to prepare children and their families for today’s society by creating policies, constructive dialogue and various activities. I also learned that the ELD activities are “designed to introduce undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals to new paradigms of thought and to enhance their work”.

I also looked into Global Initiative learning and discovered that in 2009 Harvard University launched the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project. The project was an attempt to measure the effects of an ongoing anti-malaria initiative on the children’s development within Zambia. They used an instrument that assessed the child’s physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout their schooling careers (Harvard University). The assessments would help the children individually providing them with an opportunity to identify key interventions towards the improved outcomes in this constant changing world.

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http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/students_eld/

Sharing Web Resources

When looking at the website for this week I noticed the doctoral scholarship the NAECTE were offering to doctoral students. The scholarship will go towards candidates who show growth and leadership in the early childhood field. This scholarship will help a teacher whose pursing goals of helping children. Scholarships are great to have and can be beneficial towards tuition costs or books.

In region 10 the governor along with the state commission, policy makers and more forged an alliance bringing Reggio children exhibit to Portland. The exhibit focuses on efforts to improve the quality of early education in the Pacific Northwest Region. The exhibit is called the Wonder of Learning with different events such as images, children’s work, symposia and more. This exhibit gives people an idea of the work of young children by the reflection of their work.

Members of the NAECTE and early childhood advocates in the state of Connecticut have been trying to create an Early Childhood Teacher Credential. The state has changed some laws in regards to teacher qualifications for centers that are state funded. There are seven institutions of higher education along with other institutions interested in joining. In New Hampshire is in the process of building a comprehensive early childhood system known as Spark NH. The program vision is to see that all New Hampshire children and their families will be healthy, learning, and thriving now and in the future. The program will be supported by federal funding. Its target will focus on children prenatal to 3rd grade and their families, with the mission of developing a comprehensive and coordinated sustainable early childhood system with positive outcomes for the many children and their families.

http://www.naecte.org/

CHILD POVERTY RESEARCH

While reading upon child poverty in China I learned that 4.2 million of the Chinese children live in poverty while another 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions. During 1995-2001 many of China’s state owned enterprises lost 31 million jobs causing an unemployment rate of 12.3 per cent. Many of the families were without jobs causing them to move to the city areas for a better opportunity. In china the education and health levels are much higher compared to the numbers in other countries that have equivalent incomes. Years later China’s social security system had to reform ideas to protect people from becoming back into poverty. During 1992, the urban areas  where people had no work, no savings, no family were eligible for financial support. In between 1997 and 2002 a minimum living standard system developed which covered 23% of poor urban households.

Poverty is a serious matter that no one should have to face. Country leaders should take time learning about the cases of poverty that are taken place and find solutions towards resolving them. One of my biggest concerns that I see is unnecessary money being used in these countries (ex. War, new cars for police squads) another issue is celebrities and professional athletes making too much money and not donating enough to help end causes like poverty. I guess this is an ongoing trend that will never end because others are too selfish to find the cause of poverty. Many job companies need employees but quick to turn them down for having little to no experience in that field. We should be willing to give a person a try and remember that someone once gave us an opportunity to prove ourselves worthy. At the end of the day we are all human, and we have family counting on us to provide.

References:

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo

My personal resource - NAECTE

I chose the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators organization. The link to this organization website is: http://www.naecte.org/   Their focus is

To promote the professonal growth of our membership

To discuss educational issues specific to our membership

To advocate for improvements in early childhood teacher education

Provide a forum for consideration of issues and concerns of interest to educators of early childhood teacher educators

While reading their newsletter I discovered that the state of Arkansas is in the process of changing their teacher certification licensure from PK-4 to K-6. This is a huge change that will affect the community, families as well as the children. It is important that children receive a great education. Having an extra year of school would help prepare the children minds. They would be able to develop more cognitive and social skills. I hope the state of Arkansas reconsider their decision because early childhood is an important factor that should not be ignored.

I also learned about the Growing up Wild program. This program involves a childhood activity guide and training for schools through a nature exploration. This program has reached out to many nationwide educators. It teaches the educators how they are able to develop children that have a passion for nature new learning skills.