Week 8

Overall, I feel I have learned a lot about the international early childhood field through my colleagues, their blogs, through websites and podcasts. The blogs have provided information and real world example and experiences that I have learned from. The websites and podcasts have provided information and continuous support or findings that I can use and share with others. I feel I have truly:

1.      Increased my awareness and understanding of poverty, how it influences the growth and development of young children, and what/how other countries are doing to handle poverty.

2.      Increased my understanding of the importance of equity and excellence in early childhood and the support to prove that all children should have equal access to an early childhood education, no matter their race, ethnicity, ability, parental income, etc.

3.      Developed and enhanced my passion for diversity and understanding how to help and support immigrant families.

4.      Gained a better understanding of high-quality programs and how other countries implement high quality programs.

My goal is to continue to learn more about the issues and trends in other countries and how those countries have made progress or had success in solving their issues through implementation of support/service programs or high quality early childhood education programs. I believe it is important to remain aware and knowledgeable about early childhood education around the world, in order to help our own early childhood education field in the US.

Week 7

After researching on the UNESCO website, I gained some interesting insights about early childhood education.

One new insight I gained was that the importance of access and equity in early childhood is reiterated, including the development of early childhood care and education. Although countries promote other services for poor children, there is also “limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services” (UNESCO, 2013). Governments struggle to ensure that resources are dispersed among all populations, rather than targeted one specific group. “A policy of universalisation with targeting can minimize inequity where governments aim for universal access…” (UNESCO, 2013). I believe the biggest struggle is that coherent, equitable policy so that all children are receiving support and the opportunity to access education.

Another insight that I gained was that “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” (UNESCO, 2013). I found this interesting, as I experience wanting to implement child-centered learning, rather than having to teach to prepare children for first grade and curriculum that is not developmentally appropriate. I believe that part of the reason some teachers would rather teach without a child-centered curriculum is because they do not have the available resources and tools, or lack the knowledge to teach them effectively. This could be partially improved through focused funding and professional development or classes for teachers.

I also found that “The greatest difficulty faced by countries in their efforts to expand and improve the quality of early childhood care and education is the mobilisation of resources. This is particularly daunting in developing countries, where early childhood may be overshadowed by other pressing priorities, such as universal primary education” (UNESCO, 2013). It was interesting to me to find that some countries, especially underdeveloped or developing countries prioritize education in the primary grades than at the start of early childhood. I believe maybe they need to rethink their priorities, as learning begins at birth and we as educators know, how crucial early childhood learning can be. Learning at younger ages sets children up for learning in the future. I believe these countries could improve education for children if they invest in early childhood education from the start. While government funding may be small, the appropriate steps need to be taken to advocate for early childhood education and its importance in the future of the country.

Overall, it was interesting to me to read about the education around the world, and gaining some insight on education in other countries. I think this website is a great resource, and can keep educators like myself informed.

UNESCO (2013). Early Childhood Care and Education.  Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Week 6

As I look through the NAEYC website I am always drawn to the Topics tab. It offers a range of topics, all with very valuable information from which to learn. I did sign up for the E Newsletter, but I have yet to receive it. There is also a section at the top, called Newsroom, which has been very informative as well. Press releases and other important information is listed there.

There is a recent news release called "A Call for Excellence in Early Childhood Education". I believe I've spoken about this release in a recent blog post or discussion board, but it think it really speaks volumes to the equity and excellence in early childhood education. To summarize, it basically explains how all children deserve excellent care and education, a high quality early learning experience that has lifelong influences, that programs need to be accessible to all families, the educators need to be educated, prepared, continually learning, and compensation for their qualifications and experience, and that the child's actual education needs to be challenging and appropriate to young children and their culture and needs. All of this, tied together with family involvement and a stable, structured system through funding and other resources, in order to provide the best, most successful education for our young children. All of these key points are very familiar to me now and this article summed it up well. It was refreshing to me to find this on the NAEYC website and know ing that it is accessible for the public and other educators to see is very important. I think everyone needs to read this to understand the meaning and importance of equity and excellence in early childhood education.

A section at the top called "For Families" gave me more insight on what information is accessible for families of young children. I was excited to see a tab on the right of the page that says "signs of quality". When I clicked on it, I was intrigued by the "standards" that were provided, giving information on the signs of quality early childhood programs, education, and care. I think this is a great way for parents to be informed, and a great way that NAEYC is reaching out and sharing significant information to the public and these parents of young children.

Resources:
www.naeyc.org