Getting to Know International Resources

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization

Website:  (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/)

Insights related to my professional goals:

In Africa the UNESCO works hard to keep education on the agenda in political and financial decisions. The organization aims to improve the quality of teacher education in the region and improve teaching tools. The UNESCO admits that defining quality is complex however it is fashioned by issues such as class size, student resources and access to the basic necessities, running water and electricity.

The UNESCO organization has six educational goals to meet the learning needs of children. Educational goal number one is especially linked to my professional goals. Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

Also, UNESCO advocates by hosting annual "Global Action Week" and it is campaigns that raise awareness worldwide for education for all. This year's focus was on early care and education. Their goal was to assemble more political and financial support to achieve their goals, early care and education for all children.

World Forum Radio: Episode 5 Irma Allen

Website: http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/

Irma Allen works in Africa to train teachers and train community members to become early childhood teachers. In Africa there are no classrooms and nature becomes the classroom environment. The weather, trees, rocks and etc. become the teaching resources.  The environment is a great teacher’s guide and encourages children to have respect for the environment.  Irma also discussed the speech of fond memories from a former student of a colleague in an early learning center. The former student expressed feeling loved and welcomed even though he is an orphan. His life changed because someone made him feel like he had a purpose. He recalled the teacher smiling and being loving. This made me reflect on the things my students will remember about me when they are adults.

                                                                             

Resources

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/worldwide/education-regions/africa/

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/)

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/efa-goals/           

Sharing Web Resources

NIEER (National Institute for Early Education Research)

http://nieer.org/

Exploring the NIEER website I came across a link Child Trends and the link took me to their website http://www.childtrends.org/. The organization conducts studies on various issues and trends in child development. Also gather evidence-based data on children at various levels of development. Their goal is to inform the public of issues and trends in early childhood by identifying children’s needs through high quality research.  Their motivation is to improve policies and support of healthy development of all children.  The website offers a wealth of information, research, data about various happenings and concerns in the early care and learning.

I explored another link http://www.nncc.org/about.html it is a National Network for Child Care. It is an internet source of research based publication associated with child care.  The network’s goal is to share information on child care from various perspectives, from parents, general public, professionals and experts. 

Newsletter: Volume 11, Issue 12 June 1, 2012

http://nieer.org/publications/online-newsletters/volume-11-issue-12

This week in this course, Trend and Issues in Early Childhood, we are continuing to learn about quality and excellence in the early childhood field and in past weeks learned about new voices advocating for quality early education. In the June 1^st Newsletter, under the Early Education News Round Up section, there is a link to an article titled, “Business Leaders Seek Greater Preschool Access.”  In this article business leaders are seeking changes in policies to eliminate the shortage of access to quality programs for disadvantaged children.  The leaders complain that inadequate preschools are causing children to fail. Michigan children that are not exposed to quality early education are unable to catch up by fourth grade; about seventy percent are non-proficient readers (Flesher, 2012).  As a result Michigan is unable to create the workforce necessary to be competitive.  A union of business leaders recommended a plan to increase funding, increase professional development and foster healthy child development.

Link to article:  http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-05/D9V39IN80.htm

It is important to gather resources to stay informed with matters related to early education and care. The article by Flesher helped me understand the necessity to promote equity and excellence in early care and education. When 70% of a population is considered non-proficient reader there is a severe problem. All children should have a right to access quality care and learning. It is essential to their healthy development and future success.

Resources:

http://www.childtrends.org/

Flesher, J (2012). Business Leaders Seek Greater Preschool Access. Business Week  http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-05/D9V39IN80.htm

http://nieer.org/

http://www.nncc.org/about.html

Getting to Know International Issues

World Forum Radio:  Episode 10 Suzan Lyon

http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/

Susan Lyon described the moment her passion was ignited by a child’s understanding of the word “city”.  The young boy stated that the word city was a small word for a big place. His concept of the word sparked her passion in learning how children think and understand how children view the world. Lyons brought The Hundred Languages of Children exhibit to San Francisco and created pilot programs in two local areas. The Hundred Languages of Children exhibit encourages participation of all education professionals, children, parents and the public to have mutual discussions about improving early childhood care.  The exhibit focuses on professional developments to teach strategies to cultivate children’s learning. Strategies promote practices that encourage professions to learn from children by listening to their interests and observing their actions.

                                                

Center of the Developing Child

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/

Global Projects Influencing Excellence and Equality in Early Childhood Development

 Many studies have researched the benefits of early childhood education on children and families in developing countries. However, little research has been done on its impact on children in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Five organizations collaborated and started the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project.  The program is an anti-malaria initiative and it measures the effects early childhood programs in Sub-Saharan have on children’s development in Zambian.  

Un Buen Comienzo (UBC) means “A Good Start” and it is a project in Santiago, Chile aspiring to improve children’s early development and learning. The project encourages families to get involved in their children’s education, advance early childhood education with teacher development, and help decrease health issues to improve school attendance.  This is the first project of its kind in Latin America and Chile is the example for prompting quality education.

Brazil’s Global children’s initiative is using the science of children health and development to improve polices and investments in early education.   Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância is the first program outside of the United States to work with experts to improve programs that benefit children and families.

Sharing Web Resources

NIEER National Institute for Early Education Research

Website: http://nieer.org/

NIEER E-Newsletter Volume 11; Issue 11

Relevant Professional Development:

In the Hot Topics Section, Growing Up Bilingual talks about the study of literacy outreach for low income Latino families. Families participating in the study read to their children resulting in ELL (English Language Learners) children reading by the time they reached kindergarten. As I continue to learn best practices and improve my professional development in supporting my ELL population it is important to stay current with the results of new studies. Also learn strategies on how to establish communication with non-English speaking parents.

Link: http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_512JCR.pdf

 Adding to my understanding of economists and neuroscientists supporting the early childhood field:

The e-newsletter contains a link to an article “Early Learning Costs are Worth It”, written by Tim Kleisner Chairman of Hersey Entertainment and member of Pennsylvania Early Learning Commission. Kleisner affirms that investing in early education is critical. He describes the hiring process for young people in the summer to work in Hersey Park. People are selected based on their abilities to be courteous, pleasant and work well in a team. The fact that these are learned behaviors Kleisner believe that it is crucial to invest in early care to build problem solving skills, team work, communication skills, as well as language and math skills (Kleisner, 2012). He argues that science affirms that if children lack these positive learning experience it will affect their brain development, social development and academics (Kleisner, 2012). Investing in programs to reach economically at risk children under five will improve their skills before fourth grade. Investing in children early in life influences learning and development programs, save money and most importantly influence children’s lives.

Link: http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2012/05/early_learning_costs_are_worth.html

Other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field

In the section, New on Preschool Matters…Today! An article examines the four states with the highest Pre- K enrollment. The four states are New York, California, Florida, and Texas. Although these states have the highest enrollment, quality is another issue. New York ranked best out of the four, meeting seven out of the ten NIEER Quality Standards. The other states met approximately three out of ten quality standards. The average NIEER Quality Standard Benchmark is at least eight out of ten.  As a kindergarten teacher in NY this sheds some light on the vast differences in school readiness skills among children exiting preschool and entering kindergarten. These issues made me think about the access to preschool programs in NY a little deeper, children may attend preschool but do not have access to preschools that offer quality early learning and development. This results in children not being equipped with the necessary skills to flourish in kindergarten and beyond.  What’s the point of children attending preschool without receiving services to develop their skills and abilities?  

Link: http://preschoolmatters.org/2012/05/15/fdrs-advice-to-pre-ks-big-four/

Resource:                                                                                                                   

http://nieer.org/publications/online-newsletters/volume-11-issue-11

Getting to Know International Issues

World Forum Podcast:

I decided to listen to the work of Delfena Mitchell, Director of the Liberty Children's Home in Belize. In Episode 3, Mitchell discussed her experiences with an abused boy transition into the home. When he first entered the home he did not talking at all and eventually he began to speak about the abuse he had encountered. Unfortunately child abuse is an issue that affects children worldwide. Organizations stepping in and taking a stand and stretching out a helping hand help mold and shape children to become healthy productive member of society.

Insights on poverty in China

1.       Poverty in China mostly affects children and families in urban communities and families of migrant workers.

2.      Many families in urban areas were laid off and struggle to find employment and depend on the government to meet their basic necessities.  

3.      98% of poor families believe that education is important and aspire to motivate their children to pursue higher education despite their economic situation.

Resources:
http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=chipactivities-nat
http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php/action=documentfeed/doctype=pdf/id=83/
http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/

Sharing Web Resources

NIEER National Institute for Early Education Research

Website: http://nieer.org/
                 
The NIEER newsletter, volume 11 issues 10, focuses on a variety of issues affecting children, families and professionals in the early childhood field. It is outlined with five sections. Hot Topics: provides information about funding issues and its influence on quality early education, resources to improves program practices, information encouraging family involvement, mental health, language development and nutrition.  New On Preschool Matters…Today: highlights professionals and organizations making a difference in children lives by researching, advocating and investing in early education. The Calendar displays upcoming national events for professional developments such as National Conference for, Principals and Child Care Directors and many more. Early Education News Round Up provides news about the field in different states and lastly Resources provides further reading on selected topics in the newsletter.

Under the Hot Topics section, I read A Legal Right to Early Education? It was a summary of the profile on state funded preschool programs, The State of Preschool Yearbook. I was shocked to learn that in American only 28% of four year olds were enrolled in state funded programs in the 2010-2011 school year. It is imperative that children have access to quality early education. I was also surprised to learn that 7 states do not offer preschool services.

 Newsletter Link:

http://nieer.org/publications/online-newsletters/volume-11-issue-10

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

This week attempting to locate and contact two professionals outside of the United States was a bit challenging. I started my quest by asking my friends and colleagues to help me find someone to network with. I am waiting to hear from someone who relocated to Paris and is currently working in education. I then turned to social networking and emailed a moderator of an online community I was introduced to in my undergrad studies and I am waiting for a reply.  I explored the website World Forum Radio, in the meantime, I am going to attempt to contact professionals from the website and listen to the broadcasts so that I am able to participate in upcoming class discussions.

I decided to study the National Institute for Early Education Research website, because it offers research based advice in various issues in the early childhood field. It also conducts research supporting quality early childhood education and I can learn information specific to the state I live in.  I aspire to start my own day care center and as I immerse myself in the early childhood field it is important to stay up to date with issues and changes in the field. There are many valuable website and resources but I would like to take a deeper look at the resources this website has to offer. It also has a Pinterest application, an online pin board where I can follow the site’s interests and read articles from my phone.

I look forward to learning about the issues and trends in the early childhood field and I am also excited about sharing experiences and learning from my colleagues.