Getting to Know Your International Contacts--Part 3

The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization:

Mission

The mission of the UNESCO Education Sector is to: 

• provide international leadership to create learning societies with educational opportunities for all populations.
• provide expertise and foster partnerships to strengthen national educational leadership and the capacity of countries to offer quality education for all.
• work as an intellectual leader, an honest broker and clearing house for ideas, propelling both countries and the international community to accelerate progress towards these goals. 
• facilitate the development of partnerships and monitors progress, in particular by publishing an annual Global Monitoring Report that tracks the achievements of countries and the international community towards the six Education for All goals.  

Upon entering this website of United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (www.unesco.org), I clicked on the Access and Equity (under the Early Childhood section) tab. In considering the coursework I have been conducting for this class, I thought it would be interesting to see how this organization views accessibility and equity in regards to early childhood education. The information I found included, "Countries often promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative, but often raise concerns about sustainability and quality. In cases where the government has limited resources, a pro-poor policy can redistribute resources by reducing state support for the more privileged." I thought this information was worth mentioning because of previous discussions on accessibility, affordability, awareness, and quality. It is interesting to read that the government has put into place a policy for dealing with early child programs that serves more affluent families...to reduce there resources in order to support another program which serves low-income families. Could this be the answer to obtaining quality and accessibility for all?

Under the Quality tab, "Early childhood care and education programmes should emphasise the child’s holistic development and extend beyond assisting the child’s transition to formal schooling...There are no universally agreed criteria for quantifying ECCE quality but useful factors to consider include pedagogy materials, personnel training, service setting and parental education and involvement. Learning materials should be quantitatively, culturally and developmentally adequate and focus on child-centred interaction. Where appropriate curricula exist, there can be problems with implementation with the emphasis remaining on early primary education and preparation for formal schooling due to pressure from parents and the fact that it is easier for teachers than child-centred learning...the last year of pre-primary education is frequently placed in a formal school setting or there may be efforts to lower the entry age. Such trends dilute the importance of holistic development by placing too much emphasis on preparing children for formal schooling."

I use this extended excerpt because it shows that other early childhood professionals in other countries understand the importance of educating the "whole" child yet experience the same issues including parents and policymakers pushing for more of our young learners to enter a "formal school setting" at earlier and earlier ages. But as we know, this does not better prepare these young students for academic success but hinders overall development (social, cognitive, imaginative, and creative developments) because of the intense academically-structured environment.

Under the Coordination and Integration tab, "Cross-sectoral coordination is difficult, especially at the national level. It is one of the main challenges facing governments of both developed and developing countries trying to promote a holistic approach to early childhood. Responses vary and some countries have sought to remove the problem by integrating sectoral responsibilities into a single ministry." I have a better understanding in knowing that other governments, on a national level, experience difficulties promoting and implementing quality standards among the early childhood field. Is it because this field has an array of sectors to it that local, state, and national governments have a hard time coming with policies that benefit and endorse early childhood, the children, families, professionals, communities, and the economy.

References

United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Early Childhood Care and Education webpage. Retrieved on October 19, 2014 (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/