Final Blog Assignment

I have gained a lot of new insight through listening to podcast, researching websites and from being able to read what others have posted and shared on their blogs during this course.  I could name many consequences about learning about the early childhood learning internationally.  I have learned so much through the research we were assigned to do during this course.  It has broadened by professional thinking and has given me many ideas that I believe I should try to integrate on a daily basis.  Learning how other countries try to better the lives of children by working to ensure that all children receive an education, that poverty is alleviated or at least minimized and girls having the same rights and are treated fairly.  Learning about other countries has made me realize how fortunate we really are but it also makes me strive to be a better professional and a better advocate for early childhood education. 

  

Another consequence is realizing that whether it’s in the US or in other countries, when working with children and families they all have the same goal and that’s increasing awareness, alleviating poverty and making sure each child lives up to his/her full potential.  Last but not least reading other blogs reading about other countries has given me ideas on things that should be integrated in the US, helping policy holders and other professionals know we aren’t in it alone.  No matter where you live there will be issues but working together in efforts to alleviate those issues should be our top priority in the field of Early Childhood Education.  

The goal that I have is to continuing to learn from my courses, my colleagues and the resources provided so that I can continue to grow as an early childhood professional.

Getting to know your International Contacts Part 3

At the present time there is urgency for qualified and educated early childhood staff in the state of North Carolina.  There is no longer a basis for what was once called More At Four.  At the present time in North Carolina, pre-kindergarten is coming up under the umbrella of Health and Human Services; now known as North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten programs. 

            Due to the urgency for this qualified staff for pre-Kindergarten and early childhood centers, state mentors have been put into place for the purpose of assisting those teachers with receiving and or keeping their license.  Those mentors are to go into the classrooms of these educators and observe the teachers to see where they are in the process or to find out how the teachers themselves feel about the goals for which they have created for themselves and for their classrooms.  The mentor assists the teachers in knowing where they fit in the process of becoming qualified personnel.  They also assist them in achieving the goal of being a qualified professional.                                                                            

The teachers that are in the early childhood centers and not the regular public educational classrooms also have the opportunities to have the state mentors to come into their classrooms for the purpose of becoming qualified teachers.  The great thing is; however that those teachers are able to stay inside of their classrooms instead of having to go to the school system to receive their license.

            The main concern of the state mentor is to make sure that the state and the teachers are satisfied with performances inside as well as outside of classroom settings for young children.  They also have to make sure that teacher and child ratios are in place and that proper treatment is given to young children no matter their status.  The mentor is to make sure that the teachers are meeting proper goals which sustain all mandates that are given by the state.

                        My hopes and dreams regarding this process is that children have a chance to have positive outcomes.  By successfully educating children, communities can turn around in a positive manner.  Neighborhoods, states and communities are able to become sustained in valuable morals and values, which will create stern foundations for the children of the future.

               

Sharing Web Resources

Throughout this course I have been researching and learning about The Global Fund For Children.  The Global Fund reached out to various regions.  I recently explored South Asia and the work that is done in that region through the Global Fund partners.  Some of the most poor and marginalized children and youth live in South Asia.  The Global Fund partners work with a wide range of issues which include street children, child laborers, those that live in slums and those that live in tribal populations amongst many more. 

The Global Fund for Children shared links on their web site that led to information about their mission, grantees, various blogs from those involved with the global fund and it also shared media links, and the impact on solving equity issues for our children.   

Some of the featured news is dedicated to the Global Fund’s partnership with Financial Times MBA Challenge. The MBA Challenge is a program involving nine teams of business school students working with charities to develop plans for spending the grant money allocated by the Global Fund.

In one edition of the newsletter there was a link to the recently released “Grassroots Manifesto” which discusses the organization’s approach to excelling in in efforts of change. There was emphasis put on girl’s rights to education

The Global Fund for Children provides resources for many burdened children around the globe.   The work that they do is beneficial to the children they serve and produces positive outcomes.

References

https://www.globalfundforchildren.org/

 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts Part 2

This week’s podcast came from The Whole Child Podcast website.  The title was Early Childhood Education:  Balancing Expectations and What Young Learners Really Need.  This podcast included the following professionals:  Thomas Armstrong (an award-winning author and speaker with more than 40 years of teaching experience from the primary through the doctoral level), Laura Bornfreund (a senior policy analyst for New America Foundation’s Early Education Initiative), and Walter Mckenzie (a lifelong learner, teacher, leader, and connector. A director of Constituent Services for ASCD, McKenzie served 25 years in public education as a classroom teacher, instructional technology coordinator, director of technology, and assistant superintendent for information services), Jennifer Orr (a 1st-grade teacher at Annandale Terrace Elementary School in Fairfax County, Va.) and Wendy Ostroff (a cognitive psychology, child development, and metacognition expert).

The beginning of a child’s education is as important as any other time while in school.  Children being exposed to high-quality education programs are important for lifelong development of children who are of low socio-economic status and can provide returns to its community that are many times more beneficial.

Standards and academic achievement is the current focus today and many believe that learning and testing is coming to early.  Curriculum and assessment should be based on the best knowledge of theory and research about how children develop and learn, with attention given to individual children’s needs and interest within a group and in relation to programs goals (Whole Child Podcast, 2013).

The Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” was founded in 2006.  The initiative believes that the strength and sustainability of any culture depend on the magnitude to which it increases chances early in life for all children to attain their full potential and interact in accountable and productive social responsibility. 

Their mission is to advance their vision by using science to enhance child well-being through innovations in policy and practice.  The initiative has three strategic objectives:

·         To reframe public discourse about the early childhood period

·         To support innovative, multidisciplinary research and demonstration projects and

·         To build leaderships capacity in child development research and policy.

Based on these three objectives they have begun to build a portfolio of activities in three domains:

·         Early childhood development

·         Mental health and

·         Children in crisis and conflict situations

After listening to this week’s podcast I have come to the conclusion that issues in early childhood education is universal.  Many have the same concerns and many are attempting to come up with a resolve for these current and ongoing issues such as the Global Children’s Initiative through Harvard University and it all comes back to one thing advocating for children and families so that their lives can be strengthen and for the long term benefits of receiving early learning. 

References

Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

The Whole Child Podcast—Whole Child Education

http://www.wholechildeducation.org/podcast (October, 2013)

Sharing Web Resources

I continue to assess the impact that I have on children's lives as I learn and grow in my early childhood profession.  The section of the Global fund for children that I believe is relevant toward my professional develovopment is the impact  they have on children.  The Global Fund has helped more than 9 million children but they continue to meet more in hopes of reaching another million by 2015.  This affords children the opportunity to an education versus having to go to work, it also strive to keep children from catching infectious diseases by providing health services, protects them from slavery and to escape the slavery that some children already live in  and these opportunities simply allow children to be just that "children". 

The Global Fund sets out to find grantees in marginalized communities and help with funding, they invest in groups as they are identified and help them to expand.  They keep community organizations who thrive to help children  informed and provide them with the support that they need to continue to grow and to ensure success they determine if their efforts are successful by looking at the outcomes of those that they helped to ensure that they are helping the lives of children.

"We believe that money alone is not enough—for lasting change, you need strong leadership and healthy organizational development. We support our partners through management assistance, capacity building, networking opportunities, and additional strengthening services" (Global Fund). 

Funding in every organization is important.  One insight that isn't new to me is that it is important is making sure that when working with children is to ensure that the impact that is measured on the lives of the children that I served is a positive impact and if not ways to better this impact.  Although most grantees that the Global Fund supports are small the impact that they have on children's lives are huge and this is my goal to have positive impacts that will changes children's lives forever.

References

The Global Fund for Children http://www.globalfundforchildren.org

Getting to Know Your International Contacts--Part I

Childhood poverty affects many children and families on a day to day basis. After numerous attempts to contact child care professionals in other countries without any replies I chose to listen to some podcast.   I had a very difficult time finding a podcast concerning poverty in other countries however I did find a podcast on the website The Whole Child, the name of this Podcast was titled “The New Poverty:  Dealing with Economic Change”.  

The podcast participants included professional Deborah Wortham, Superintendent of the School District City of York, Pa, Felicia Dehaney, President and CEO of the Nation Black Child Development Institute, Kathleen Budge, Coordinator of the Leadership Development Program and William Parrett, Director of the Center for School Improvement and Policy Studies.  

Poverty is complex and there are different circumstances to why children and families are in poverty, according to the Podcast members poverty can be, situational, generational, absolute, relative, urban and rural.  Situational poverty is caused by sudden changes due to unforeseen circumstances such as the loss of a job.  Generational poverty is passed down from one generation to the next, may consider this a mindset.  Absolute poverty is the lack of basic needs for survival including food, medical care, safe drinking water shelter and education.  Relative poverty comes from the society one lives in and may differ from country to country. Urban and rural poverty are communities with reduced circumstances.

These professionals discuss ways that professionals can address poverty issues by extending boundaries, understanding your cultural biases, reducing situations and providing safe havens where children can be successful.  If children’s needs are placed at the top of our priority list they believe that we as professionals can make drastic changes and there will be dramatic progress in the lives of our children.

After visiting the website of the Childhood Research and Policy Centre’s page the country that I chose to share information about is China.  

Poverty is an almost exclusively rural occurrence, with 99% of China’s poor hailing from rural China, though national statistics count migrant workers in cities among the rural, not urban poor.  Levels of poverty are higher and more severe in China’s western regions, but nearly half of the poor are in other parts of the country. People living in remote, mountainous areas are two to three times more likely to be poor than those who live in more central areas, and the incidence of poverty among ethnic minorities is two to three times higher than among the Han Chinese. Still, about half of the poor in China are neither living in remote areas nor members of an ethnic minority.  overall, poverty rates for male and female adults and the elderly population is very close – between 12% and 13%. But poverty rates are higher among children under 16 years old: 16% of boys and 17% of girls are poor. Girls are also more at risk than boys of becoming poor.

Reference

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s page (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/)

http://www.wholechildeducation.org/podcast/tag/Supported