Final Blog Assignment

Last week's response from my international contact:

     

1. Unfortunately nothing related to quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed here.

2. At my current school there are no opportunities or requirements for professional development. the teachers must research and seek out any professional development requirements to maintain their credential in their home state.

3. One of my professional goals is to continue my education and pursue a Masters degree in Physical Education
4. I hope to continue teaching overseas and learning more about different cultures. Some of the challenges that I face include: language, learning the language in the country I live in. Culture, adjusting to cultural difference and perspectives on things that are considered rude and offensive in America. Parent interactions, talking with parents who are not familiar with the American school system and how behaviors handled and classrooms are managed to facilitate their child's education. 

Kilah

Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for your professional and personal development:

1. Staying connected to our international contacts helps us as educators globally enhance our knowledge in this field. In this profession, it is vital that we stay abrupt on issues for the greater good of the child in our care. As professionals in the education field it is also our duty to be life long learners.
2. Sharing information with my contact from Germany, I learned the importance of integrating culture into my classroom. Today's class is so diverse and it is important to exchange stories and views to better understand backgrounds and build relationships with children and their families.
3. Every child matters all around the world. As educators, we must use our research and findings to help all children receive the education they deserve. 

I would love to one day join a global team that works on improving the school system in the early childhood field in different countries. This my include but is not limited to: working to produce high quality teachers and schools, developing standards and creating curriculums. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

My international contact went out of town last week. I still want share the information she provided.  

"Well, the school that I currently work at is not accredited so, unfortunately, it answers to no one (educational governing body/authority). Due to this fact our teacher's meetings are different. The school has not adopted any content standards but the student materials address the basic standards to a certain degree. I, personally, have had discussions with my colleagues about the lack of standards and the resulting effects on their preparation for the next grade. I believe that content standards enable equality in the sense that every students learns the same material and is accountable for the same material. Content standards also make moves/transitions from one school to another smoother. We also discuss different resources and activities to differentiate instruction for our students to promote academic excellence. Unfortunately, these things are not discussed at our staff meetings. We, the teachers, must draw from our experiences from teaching in the United States to challenge our current students." -Kilah

She has not responded the this week's questions but when she does I will update my page.

The three insights I gained from this week's alternative assignment were:

1) Most websites and research that I have done since starting my degree states that early childhood is children ages birth to five. The UNESCO catergorizes children to the age of eight in early childhood.
2) UNESCO has a unique role to play in strengthening the foundations of lasting peace and equitable and sustainable development (UNESCO, 2014).
3) The UNESCO promotes peace and strives to build networks across the world.

References

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

Sharing Web Resources Continued

Part of becoming a productive early childhood professional involves having and utilizing resources that are readily available to us. Some outside websites resources I chose to take a closer look at were:

• Early Childhhood News: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com

• Early Childhood Resource & Practice: http://www.ecrp.uiuc.edu/index.html

• Zero to Three: http://www.zerotothree.org

Each of these websites offered a plethora of information regarding various issues in early childhood education. 

In this month's newsletter for Early Childhood News; Respecting Infants & Toddlers for Best Practice by Terri Swim; she discusses ways to increase the positive and reduce the negative influences educators may have on children. "Demonstrating respect is not just about feeling good; for young children, it is about adults acting intentionally to promote optimal development and learning (Swim, n.d.)" We should provide response that allow children to make they own choices. This will helps them to build skills they need to think for themselves. As teachers, we should repeat their style of doing things. This promotes independence as well as strengthens confidence and self-esteem.  She also encourages educational professionals to listen to children with our eyes and hears (Swim, n.d.). In doing this we are allowed the opportunity to learn the child's areas of weakness and promote development. Lastly, it is important to aid in building children's social skills by paying attention to how children interact with one another. 

I receive the CCEI newsletter. Feburary's issue talks about children's heart health. This month is National Heart Month. Although many young children do not have heart problems, it is important to start them off with healthy eating habits and practices to ensure longevity. Schools and centers should serve healthy food and engage in some type of physical activity during the day. 

Both articles tie into what we are discussing this week; Excellence and Equity of Care and Education for Children and Families. Children in our care should be surround by quality child care professionals who have the child's best interest at heart. Children should have access and be exposed to educators who want to help build skills and respect each child's differences. Introducing children to healthy eating habits and exercise is also vital in promoting excellence in child care. 

The week I learned that these websites offer information to educational professionals for any branch of this field. Ongoing training, classes and educational websites helps professionals like ourselves stay abreast to standards and techniques need to promote excellence and equity of care and education for young children and their families. 

Resources

Heart Healthy Habits for Children | February 2016 CCEI Newsletter. (2016, February). Retrieved from http://www.cceionline.com/newsletters/February_16.html

Katz, L. (2015, August 6). ECRP Spring 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2016, from http://www.ecrp.uiuc.edu/v17n1/index.html

Swim, T. (n.d.). Respecting Infants & Toddlers: Strategies for Best Practice. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_home.aspx?ArticleID=468

ZERO TO THREE: Homepage. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

Unfortunately, I was unable to get in touch with my international contact from Germany. So I decided to listen to a podcast and visit the Harvard website. 

I chose the NAEYC podcast entitled, How Federal Policies Affect Early Childhood Education. Adele Robinson explains that the government has a strong impact on our field. The Federal government makes sure that the states have funding for early childhood education. This benefits all children, not just low income families. Federal dollars pay for state licensing visits to all centers who serve children, state training, and access to resources. It also helps early childhood educators by providing them with finical aid if they need it to help them obtain their degree. Although federal funding helps young children especially between birth and five years old, each state mainly regulates how and where the money is spent. This is why it is important to express to policy markers the importance of how and what to support in order to benefit to the child. 

The Harvard website lists the propositions guide the Center’s international work:

• Coordinated strategies to support child development can multiply the effects of investments in child survival, health, education, and economic development.

• We need to protect children from significant adversity, in addition to providing them with enriched learning opportunities.

• The early childhood years are critical building blocks for lifelong health, not just school readiness.

The NAEYC podcast and Harvard's website are both focusing on ways in which funding will help young children receive the start they deserve. Making sure policy makers and leaders have the child's best interest at heart is our main concern. This is a global issues "Recent reports estimate that 200 million children fail to reach their full developmental potential by age 5 (Harvard, n.d.)." Advocates role in seeing the funding is properly placed and used is vital in this field. 

References

Harvard. (n.d.). Working Globally - Center on the Developing Child. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/about/what-we-do/global-work/

NAEYC. (n.d.). NAEYC Radio | National Association for the Education of Young Children | NAEYC. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/newsroom/NAEYCradio