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/

Sharing Web Resources

On the website earlychildhoodnews.com, I explored different links outside of the "Articles" section (which I normally go to)! On my journey, I found additional information pertaining to the equity and excellence in early care and education. One link that I was particularly found interesting is the Topics in Early Childhood Blog. Previously, I explored this link but scanned the information; however, on this particular review of the blog, I read a post entitled, In Touch with a Child's Perspective. 

This post was about elementary teachers (as a part of their teaching certification coursework) should have extensive exposure to child development training as with early childhood certifications. "Understanding child development, which I think is key to working with children, is essential for all teachers.  Just like early development, middle childhood has its own developmental stages, as well, and can help a teacher respond appropriately to all the children she may teach each day." (Funk, 2013) I relate this blog posting as a new insight about issues in the early childhood field that I gained this week because in order to offer children birth - 8 years old high quality, equity, and excellence in early care and education, one must be have extensive knowledge in child development. "I have personally observed over the years how an adult with a strong knowledge about a child’s developmental stages, approaches the child differently.  The adult seems to understand that some behaviors, while not necessarily acceptable, are typical for children at that age.  That knowledge tempers the responses and helps the adult deal appropriately with any situation.  This same principle is true with comments and discussions that occur with young children."

References

Funk, J. (2013, November 8). In Touch with a Child's Perspective. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://eceducationblog.wordpress.com/page/2/

Getting to Know Your International Contacts--Part 2

"Learning to children is as natural as breathing" Wendy Ostroff

The the podcast, Early Childhood Education: Balancing Expectations and What Young Learners Really Need, outlined various reasons why play is so vital to the overall academic success of young children and how to incorporate what is expected and what children really need to learn into the classroom. The podcast opened with a question, "What does education and school mean for  young learners?" Thomas Armstrong (an award-winning author and speaker with more than 40 years of teaching experience from the primary through the doctoral level) responded with the importance of play and having access to concrete learning materials (wooden blocks, playing with sand and the dramatic play area) allows the child "to take the contents of the outer world and mix it with the inner world of their imagination." Laura Bornfreund (a senior policy analyst for the New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative) added to the conversation that building children's multiple domains of learning as well as their curiosity is what education means to young learners. Wendy Ostroff (a cognitive psychology, child development, and metacognition expert and author of the 2012 ASCD book, Understanding How Young Children Learn: Bringing the Science of Child Development to the Classroom) "piggybacked" on Ms. Bornfreund's reply by stating "Play is how children learn...providing role models, opportunities to explore, experiment, be creative, and to collaborate with others is what establishes the learning process." 

I knew this was the perfect podcast to listen to in relation to this week's coursework when the hostess asked, "How should we reconcile the beliefs that children need academic-oriented opportunities to prepare them for school and the research that says the best learning comes from play?" I found it intriguing that Mr. Armstrong would respond, "...it is a flawed understanding to think that young children should be exposed to early academic learning in order to be successful in academics later." So many "policymakers" feel the only way for our early learners to achieve academic success in school and in return become an asset to enhancing workforce development, is to expose them to "academically-structured" learning at younger and younger ages. Jennifer Orr (a National Board Certified Teacher in middle childhood and a 1st-grade teacher at Annandale Terrace Elementary School in Fairfax County, Va.) stated, "For teachers in the classroom, it is a struggle to make the things that need to happen happen but also give children the chance to play...teachers are now trying to balance what is expected versus what is needed for children really learn." So not only does this way of thinking put pressure on teachers, but parents and especially the children. How is this beneficial to the growth of the whole child?

One new insight that I gained from this podcast was the structure of the early learning classroom can negatively affect overall development of young children. Ms. Ostroff comments that developmental scientists have found that " 'formal academic activities' can harm learning in young learners...academic-based early learning programs can harm learning." I had always agreed with a play-based curriculum was more effective than an academic-based one but I had no idea it would hinder overall development. As a parent, you want your child(ren) to have the best from the beginning but from an early childhood professional viewpoint, letting children be children and explore the world as they see fit is the best parenting one can give!  If you think about it from an adult's perspective, "How many of us actually learn and absorb the world around us in a formal, structured environment?" Definitely not me!!!!

References

The Whole Child Podcast. Early Childhood Education: Balancing Expectations and What 

       Young Learners Really Need. Retrieved on October 5, 2014 from 

       http://www.wholechildeducation.org/podcast/early-childhood-education-balancing-     

       

       expectations-and-young-learners-needs

Sharing Web Resources cont...

On the earlychildhoodnews.com website, I read an article entitled Does Parent Involvement make Your Job Easier or More Challenging? This week, I had parent-teacher conferences with my oldest and middle daughters' teachers (one daughter in Kindergarten and one daughter in middle school). This article intrigued me because as an early childhood professional, I have asked myself this question many times! But, from a parent point of view, I gladly accept the offer to volunteer at my daughters' schools! In the parent-teacher conference for my kindergartner, her teacher seemed timid in a sense. But, sense I was able to observe her teaching ability through various occasions of volunteering in the classroom, I could openly compliment her on her teaching style and her interaction with the students. It surprised me when she said she was grateful for my compliments and that as teachers, "you never hear you're doing a good job; only complaints about what you're doing wrong". When she said this, it made me reflect on my experiences dealing with parents and it made me realize that because I had the opportunity to be involved in my child's learning environment and to informally observe the teacher, I had a better understanding of her teaching personality. To bridge the gap between home and school as well as establish a solid line of communication between the parent and you, the early childhood professional, I feel parent involvement is a must! When parents enter the classroom, even if it's for a few minutes, they have a chance to see the other side of the center (outside of paying fees and signing papers)! "Parents develop positive attitudes toward school and better understand the schooling process, which eventually builds more effective programs with higher community awareness and support." (Beery, n.d., p. 1)

 There was a section in the article that talked about how beneficial parent involvement is for the overall success of the center's program. "Parents who understand and provide input often complain less and offer more support to staff and teachers. This in turn strengthens staff morale and stress management—ultimately causing less staff turnover." (Beery, n.d, p. 1) I thought this was interesting because I never considered that simply inviting a parent to read a story or do a puppet show for the students could possibly cause less staff turnover!

As early childhood professionals, especially those who are in the classroom, some of us dread having parents and their "ideas" come into "our" learning environment. But, from what I have read in this article, such involvement and support greatly enhances both the educational experience of the students as well as eases some of the stress for the teachers.

Reference

Beery, M. (2014, September 27). Earlychildhood NEWS. Retrieved September 27, 2014, from

        http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=144

Sharing Web Resources

The name of the organization that I chose (I'm not sure if this is an appropriate organization) is Earlychildhood NEWS  (http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/). I chose this website because I receive their newsletters and they offer enlightening articles. I originally was introduced to it through purchasing various items from the website.


One current issue/trend from the newsletter from the website that caught my attention is Ask the Expert: Teaching Culture Through the Arts by Anna Reyner Art Therapist. This article talks about incorporating culture through different themes such as: seasons, life-cycle, and vacation.
 
                                             

"One good way to incorporate multicultural learning into the classroom is to follow cultures by seasons. Take winter, for example, when many cultural holidays and celebrations occur. A teacher can easily teach and compare a wide variety of winter holidays by having the classroom create ritual objects for display and study. For example, the African winter holiday of Kwanzaa can be contrasted with the Judaic winter holiday of Chanukah. Both cultures use a candleholder to celebrate these holidays, but their candleholders look different and have different meanings. A classroom can create both a Chanukah "menorah" and a Kwanzaa "kinara" and talk about the differences and similarities between the two."

                                             


I thought this information was interesting because most children know about Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Mothers day! So these are easy topics to use to implement culture into the classroom through an array of pictures, items, or stories of how different countries celebrate such holidays. I think it would be creative to, also, show students how various cultures celebrate birthdays!

                                                

Getting Ready- Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Due to time constraints, I was unable to communicate with any of the major early childhood organizations on different continents; faculty of early childhood departments of universities in different parts of the world; or ask early childhood professionals you know in this country if they know any colleagues in different parts of the world. When I tried to review the World Forum websites, they were are not accessible at the time and received an error code (Not Found
The requested URL /wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio was not found on this server.
Apache/2.2.15 (CentOS) Server at www.worldforumfoundation.org Port 80). In reviewing the Save the Children website, I could not find any specific person to contact to get further information about who they are and their background with Save the Children. One the Contact Us page of the website, it was outlined with the following information:

Contact Us

Thank you for contacting Save the Children. To help increase efficiency, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page first, to see if your question has already been answered. For Donor Services Please call toll-free 1.800.728.3843 (8:00am-5:00pm EST, M-F) or emailsupportercare@savechildren.org For Inquiries about Major Gifts Please e-mail MajorGiving@savechildren.org Save the Children U.S. Headquarters 501 Kings Hwy E, Fairfield, CT 06825  1.203.221.4000 2000 L Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20036 1.202.640.6600 (8:00am-5:00pm EST, M-F) Save the Children U.S. has regional fundraising offices in the Midwest and on the West Coast. For more information please contact our home office listed above. Read our: Donor Bill of Rights Frequently Asked Questions Frequently Asked Questions about Sponsorship To unsubscribe from all emails please click here. U.S. Press Contacts International Children's Issues/Programs: Eileen Burke 475.999.3044 (W); 203.216.0718 (M) Phil Carroll 267.992.6356 (M) Wendy Christian 475.999.3059(W); 203.465.8010 (M) Ajla Grozdanic 202.640.6709 (W); 202.251.5859 (M) Jeremy Soulliere 475.999.3245 (W); 203.295.5842 (M) Francine Uenuma 202.640.6810 (W); 202.450.9153 (M) U.S. Children's Issues/Programs: Tanya Weinberg 202.640.6647 (W); 202.247.6610 (M) With this format, I was unsure as to how and whom I should contact someone on this website. I guess I could send a general inquiry and see what I receive back. However, through the Global Alliance for the Education of Young Children on naeyc.org, I have contacted Dr. Betty Chan Po-king (Pacific Early Childhood Education Research) in Hong Kong; Nives Milinovic with Open Academy "Korak po Korak" ("Step by Step") in Croatia; and Dominique Hudicourt with "Tipa Tipa" ("Step by Step Program") in Haiti and awaiting correspondence. I chose these contacts because they are very distant parts of the world and it would be interesting to see how each country advocates for their children. Do you think these "Step By Step" Programs is the equivalent to the Early Head Start programs in the US? What type of rules and regulations these organizations implement? I am excited to find out!

My Supports

The factors in my daily environment that are supportive to me are my physical, emotional, and practical supports. My physical supports include belief in my Higher Power, my body, the roof over my head, the cars that I drive, the nature trail that I walk 4 miles through every morning, the nourishment I place in my body, the back rubs that I receive from my husband, and the daily hugs and kisses from my daughters. My emotional supports mostly include the support of my husband, my daughters, and my in-laws. My practical supports include the money used to purchase things, my laptop, my phone, my pen, and my notebook! The benefits of these different forms of assistance are endless!

The encouragement of my physical support allow me to be the best possible “Monique” that that I can be! These factors offer security, freedom, and rejuvenation which helps me to grow daily as a person. It is reassuring and uplifting to always “have someone in your corner”! To have that voice in your ear saying "You can do it!" "I'm proud of you!" The emotional support that I receive from the above mentioned have helped me to become the person I am today! Like most people nowadays, I use my phone for everything! To check the weather and the time; as an alarm clock, a listening device, and a book’; my health mate as it tracks how many steps I take a day and how many calories I intake; and to communicate with the outside world!

The benefits of my pen and my notebook are (when used together) they help me to center my thoughts and express my intentions. All of these aids and their gains are the force that keep me alive and moving forward on a daily basis and would be unthinkably difficult to exist without them! They would have a tremendous impact on my life if they were gone because I have incorporated them into my daily living! It would be like starting life all over again! It feels weird to make this statement but I say this because “support” is such a strong concept. When you are supported by something or someone, you rely on it (to a certain degree) and can put you weight on it, whether it’s emotional or physical weight. Whatever the support maybe, you have made it a part of who you are because of its strength to hold you up/together when you can’t do it for yourself.