Well, well, well. We have finally reached the end of this path toward our everlasting journey toward a promise of commitment towards improving the lives for all children. By listening to podcasts and exploring international early childhood websites, I have developed three consequences. They include a positive, a challenging and a positive/challenging consequence. Let me explain.
One positive consequence is that there are a wealth of resources available from international early childhood websites and programs. These resources has enriched my professional development by enabling me to have access to information that will benefit my students and the quality of teaching I provide. A challenging consequence is being aware that other cultures have different viewpoints and perspectives when it comes to early childhood education. I have to accept these differences and embrace them, if in the long run, they support what is best for the child. The last consequence is a combination of positive and challenging. I have a renewed affirmation that there are many people worldwide that share the same passion for children's well-being as I do. But with that, is also a realization, that we can not do it alone. There is still a lot of work to be done if there is to be excellence and equity for all.
During the past weeks, my colleagues and I have continued to strengthen the bonds of a collaborative learning community. My colleagues have supported me with their endless knowledge and insight about issues and trends in early childhood education and I hope I have done the same for them as well. My wish is for my colleagues to stay encouraged and inspired for change as they continue on their professional path. Both professionally and personally, I want to continue to foster relationships and be involved in a collaborative learning community for all, including students, parents, teachers, administrators, community members, and advocates for early childhood education. Finally, I have one goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations. It is to advocate for children and bring awareness to the issues and trends that affect their quality of life.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
ESTABLISHING PROFESSIONAL CONTACTS AND EXPANDING RESOURCES
I tried to establish contact with two early childhood professionals outside the United States in Africa. I used the Global Alliance of NAEYC e-mail addresses at http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance. I sent emails to the early childhood professionals in the Federal Republic of Nigeria at arebimbo@yahoo.com and The National Early Childhood Development Alliance in South Africa at cecd@iafrica.com. Since, I have not heard back from them, I decided to call within the United States.
For U.S. contact, I called 202-232-8777, which is the Membership Department. I was unable to reach a representative, so I left a detailed message. I even sent a letter to their P.O. Boxes in Washington, D.C. Next, I visited the New Jersey AEYC website at www.njaeyc.org to search for Local New Jersey Affiliates. But my county of Essex/Hudson AEYC said the page was not found. Finally, I emailed the Administrator, Helen Muscato, at mail@njaeyc.org.
NAEYC supports the early childhood community and it offers many different ways to do so. It's "mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources" (www.naeyc.org). I chose this early childhood organization because I always hear about what they do for the field in general, but I was interested in getting detailed information.
References
http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance/
www.naeyc.org/
www.njaeyc.org/
For U.S. contact, I called 202-232-8777, which is the Membership Department. I was unable to reach a representative, so I left a detailed message. I even sent a letter to their P.O. Boxes in Washington, D.C. Next, I visited the New Jersey AEYC website at www.njaeyc.org to search for Local New Jersey Affiliates. But my county of Essex/Hudson AEYC said the page was not found. Finally, I emailed the Administrator, Helen Muscato, at mail@njaeyc.org.
NAEYC supports the early childhood community and it offers many different ways to do so. It's "mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources" (www.naeyc.org). I chose this early childhood organization because I always hear about what they do for the field in general, but I was interested in getting detailed information.
References
http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance/
www.naeyc.org/
www.njaeyc.org/
Friday, August 16, 2013
ISSUES AND TRENDS: EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY OF CARE (EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSION)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) advocates for programs that support early childhood care and education. "UNESCO works in partnership with Member States, partners and other stakeholders to encourage timely and effective implementation...so that all young children develop their potential tot he fullest" (www.unesco.org/). They work with government officials to push for policies that support development.
UNESCO believes in an integrated approach, focused on the well-being and holistic development of all children. They encourage two planning strategies of phasing and partnership. Phasing is education that responds to the needs of the child. Partnership links health, social, families, schools and communities together. UNESCO calls for an early childhood care and education system that has access and equity, quality, investment and financing and coordination and integration (www.unesco.org/).
Access and equity should be for all children, especially those which live in the most disadvantaged areas. High-quality would include "pedagogy materials, personnel training, service setting and parental education and involvement" (www.unesco.org/). Countries would need to look at early childhood the same way they do basic education, recognize its value, and use financing to ensure equitable access for all children. Finally, a new approach of effectively coordinating provision and implementation across the sectors, both nationally and locally.
UNESCO's mission "is to support early childhood policy development with the aim to build a solid foundation for a child's lifelong learning" (www.unesco.org/). Their mission and strategies to further that mission relates to my professional goals. As advocates, UNESCO and I have the "mission to safeguard and promote the development of young children and to ensure their smooth transition from home to early childhood services and later to primary education" (www.unesco.org/).
Reference
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/
UNESCO believes in an integrated approach, focused on the well-being and holistic development of all children. They encourage two planning strategies of phasing and partnership. Phasing is education that responds to the needs of the child. Partnership links health, social, families, schools and communities together. UNESCO calls for an early childhood care and education system that has access and equity, quality, investment and financing and coordination and integration (www.unesco.org/).
Access and equity should be for all children, especially those which live in the most disadvantaged areas. High-quality would include "pedagogy materials, personnel training, service setting and parental education and involvement" (www.unesco.org/). Countries would need to look at early childhood the same way they do basic education, recognize its value, and use financing to ensure equitable access for all children. Finally, a new approach of effectively coordinating provision and implementation across the sectors, both nationally and locally.
UNESCO's mission "is to support early childhood policy development with the aim to build a solid foundation for a child's lifelong learning" (www.unesco.org/). Their mission and strategies to further that mission relates to my professional goals. As advocates, UNESCO and I have the "mission to safeguard and promote the development of young children and to ensure their smooth transition from home to early childhood services and later to primary education" (www.unesco.org/).
Reference
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/
Friday, August 9, 2013
ISSUES AND TRENDS: EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY OF CARE (AVAILABILITY, ACCESSIBILITY, AND AFFORDABILITY)
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), has an outside link that leads to their state affiliates. Along with NAEYC, these affiliate groups strongly believe in supporting the lives of young children and their families. I live in the state of New Jersey. So, I clicked on my state's affiliates and it lists the local offices of every county in New Jersey. When I tried to click on my county, as well as the other counties in New Jersey, I was unable to get the website to display any of the pages. Because of the website's error, I just focused on the entire state of New Jersey.
I thoroughly searched one particular area of the site, the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children (NJAEYC). On the NJAEYC site, I found links to New Jersey's upcoming events, recent news and local affiliates. This website discusses how important it is to act now for New Jersey's children. Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) is committed to equity and excellence in early care and education for young children in our state. ACNJ firmly believes "if we are to preserve and strengthen funding streams to preparing young children for school success, and support families with access to full day programs to enable them to work, advocacy is critical" (www.njaeyc.org).
From exploring the website, I learned that NAEYC has almost 80,000 members, including over 300 state and local affiliates. One of which includes NJAEYC, which has 4,000 members. NJAEYC's "primary attention is devoted to assuring the provision of high quality early childhood programs through improvements in the professional practice and working conditions in the field of early childhood education, as well as by improving public understanding and support and funding of high quality programs in centers, homes, and schools" (www.njaeyc.org). I realized that I am one of many voices dedicated to advocating and improving the lives of young children and their families.
References
www.naeyc.org/
www.njaeyc.org/
I thoroughly searched one particular area of the site, the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children (NJAEYC). On the NJAEYC site, I found links to New Jersey's upcoming events, recent news and local affiliates. This website discusses how important it is to act now for New Jersey's children. Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) is committed to equity and excellence in early care and education for young children in our state. ACNJ firmly believes "if we are to preserve and strengthen funding streams to preparing young children for school success, and support families with access to full day programs to enable them to work, advocacy is critical" (www.njaeyc.org).
From exploring the website, I learned that NAEYC has almost 80,000 members, including over 300 state and local affiliates. One of which includes NJAEYC, which has 4,000 members. NJAEYC's "primary attention is devoted to assuring the provision of high quality early childhood programs through improvements in the professional practice and working conditions in the field of early childhood education, as well as by improving public understanding and support and funding of high quality programs in centers, homes, and schools" (www.njaeyc.org). I realized that I am one of many voices dedicated to advocating and improving the lives of young children and their families.
References
www.naeyc.org/
www.njaeyc.org/
Saturday, August 3, 2013
ISSUES AND TRENDS: EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY OF CARE (POLICIES)
I listened to TJ Skalski, on the World Forum Radio podcast (www.worldforumfoundation.org). TJ is the principal of The Mother Earth's Children's Charter School (MECCS) in Canada. She comes from strong Aboriginal family values, including having a grandmother who was a huge influence on her life. The women in TJ's family, including all Aboriginal women in Canada, were victims of gender discrimination. Since 1876, these women were refused the same legal rights as men, under the Indian Act. In 1985, Canada passed Bill C-31, which allowed all Aboriginal women to gain their rights back federally. It gave them access to federal programs and services (www.elections.ca).
There is still inequity, because Aboriginal women are still denied rights in their own community. Because of this injustice, TJ wants to foster equity and excellence in her students. "Many of the children MECCS serves suffer from some form of adversity. Resilience is the innate human ability to rebound from adversity with even greater strength to face future obstacles" (www.meccs.org). She wants to instill in them the values she learned from her grandmother. TJ's goal is to inspire and build hope for all of her students, by reinvesting culture, language and giving them stability and support.
After reviewing Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative website, I found an article on building America's future workforce (Knudsen et al, 2006). The article explained that in order to strengthen our future workforce, we must invest in resources for children that come from disadvantaged environments as early as birth. Investing in the earliest years will yield the greatest return. "This high rate of return is much higher than the standard returns on stock market equity and suggests that society at large can benefit substantially from these kinds of interventions" (Knudsen et al, 2006).
I've also acquired additional information from an article from June's issue of the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) E-news publication. The article highlighted the University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Education Youth Research Centre, in Australia, under its awards and grants section. The Centre's Equity and Childhood Program offers three awards/grants to "support educators working in early childhood, who do not have access to funding to attend professional development, especially in the area of equity and social justice" (www.acei.org).
References
Knudsen, E., Heckman, J., Cameron, J., & Shonkoff, J. (2006). Economic, neurobiological, and behavioral perspectives on building America's future workforce. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(27), 10155-10162. Retrieved from developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/download_file/_view/439
www.acei.org/e-news/june-2013-e-news
www.elections.ca/res/eim/article-search/article.asp?id=29&lang=e
www.meccs.org/site/about-us/philosophy
www.worldforumfoundation.org/world-forum-radio/
There is still inequity, because Aboriginal women are still denied rights in their own community. Because of this injustice, TJ wants to foster equity and excellence in her students. "Many of the children MECCS serves suffer from some form of adversity. Resilience is the innate human ability to rebound from adversity with even greater strength to face future obstacles" (www.meccs.org). She wants to instill in them the values she learned from her grandmother. TJ's goal is to inspire and build hope for all of her students, by reinvesting culture, language and giving them stability and support.
After reviewing Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative website, I found an article on building America's future workforce (Knudsen et al, 2006). The article explained that in order to strengthen our future workforce, we must invest in resources for children that come from disadvantaged environments as early as birth. Investing in the earliest years will yield the greatest return. "This high rate of return is much higher than the standard returns on stock market equity and suggests that society at large can benefit substantially from these kinds of interventions" (Knudsen et al, 2006).
I've also acquired additional information from an article from June's issue of the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) E-news publication. The article highlighted the University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Education Youth Research Centre, in Australia, under its awards and grants section. The Centre's Equity and Childhood Program offers three awards/grants to "support educators working in early childhood, who do not have access to funding to attend professional development, especially in the area of equity and social justice" (www.acei.org).
References
Knudsen, E., Heckman, J., Cameron, J., & Shonkoff, J. (2006). Economic, neurobiological, and behavioral perspectives on building America's future workforce. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(27), 10155-10162. Retrieved from developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/download_file/_view/439
www.acei.org/e-news/june-2013-e-news
www.elections.ca/res/eim/article-search/article.asp?id=29&lang=e
www.meccs.org/site/about-us/philosophy
www.worldforumfoundation.org/world-forum-radio/
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