International Consequences

Three consequences of international early childhood studies:

Learning about the wide variety of organizations that are available and how you can help to donate money or become a member to majority of these websites such as NAEYC and UNICEF.

To discover that the United States is trending behind in education compared to some countries.

I learned there are ways to communicate with other educators international but it may be hard to come in contact with someone.

My goal is to continue reading articles and newsletters from some of the websites I learned about from class.   

International Contacts

After reviewing the website www.unesco.com I learned about the Leuchtpol project. This is a project that teaches small children ages 3 – 6 about how they can help conserve energy in their environment. Many children are curious about their nature and want to know more. This program will allow them to explore more and gain knowledge about nature. There are many ways children can explore nature by playing with the blowing wind outdoors, learning to turn off lights in the home, learn different types of leaves and so forth.

This site also mentioned quality in the early childhood classrooms. The ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) focuses on the holistic development of children. This program helps to assist children that are transitioning from preschool to formal schooling. School is a diverse place with children and teachers of all backgrounds. The educators are well trained training to maintain a good reputation for that school. Having a great quality promotes confidence, school readiness and motivation. It informs the parents that the school is high quality and well prepared to teach their children. There are some schools that require their educators to attend workshops, conferences and online training so they will updated with the daily changes in early childhood. “Learning materials should be quantitatively, culturally and developmentally adequate and focus on child-centered interaction” (UNESCO).

I found the investment and financing information to be informative. I learned that most countries are unable to expand or improve the quality of their early childhood care. The governments rarely deal with the issues ever. If the government does issue any funds they are very small. The governments use complementary financing measures to ensure the equity of access for the poor and disadvantaged children of their country.  

Reference:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/. Retrieved August 11, 2012.

Web Resources

The site I have been following was NAECTE which linked me to a site ACEI Association for Childhood Education International. On this site I found a Love Me Teach Me Program. This program wanted to promote the needs and rights of children all around the world. The program is built upon four cornerstones that contribute to the well-being of children.

 The first cornerstone was See Me: The Child’s Right to Identity. This section makes sure that children are registered at birth having a name and nationality.  The second cornerstone was Hear Me: The Child’s Right to Participation. This section explained how “participation is how children not only learn about the world around them, but also experience their environment” (ACEI). The third cornerstone was Love Me: The Child’s Right to Security, Stability, and Protection. A parent’s job is to take care of their child. “To provide them with a nurturing family environment where they are treated with dignity and respect and are free from abuse and neglect.” The fourth Teach Me: The Child’s Right to Education. A child should have access to educational resources.  Efforts must be made by parents, caregivers, and community members to ensure that education continues to promote the development of the child from birth throughout adolescence.

This program explained the needs and concern of our children. Each cornerstone explained how to help promote the needs of children all around the world.

http://www.acei.org/programs-events/love-me-teach-me.html

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.