Final Blog Assignment

The biggest consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for my professional and personal development is that I now understand that there are no borders for early education in the world. We can learn from each other and help each other. I think, of course, personal connections with early education professionals around the world are beneficial but interactions between governments should be more active so that national level revision of systems and supports for developing countries are encouraged.

 Another consequence is that more support is needed for developing countries. There are countries where basic things such as children’s health and children’s rights have not yet been guaranteed.

A third consequence is that I understand that the early childhood field in the world is changing.  The connections between countries are tighter and research corroborated by early educators in different countries is not rare now. So, it is our job to keep up with the changes by visiting the websites we found during the blog assignments.

 My goal for international awareness right now is to learn how children are taught in different counties and how early educators encourage international awareness in children because I will be working at an international school until the middle of June.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

I listened to Susan Lyon’s podcast. She is pursuing the Reggio Emilia Approach and started the Innovative Teacher project. Since she did not explain Reggio Emilia much, I visited the website of the Innovative Teacher Project to learn about it. The base concept of it is “educators [should] view education as a relationship among three protagonists: child, teacher and parent. Exchange and dialogue is valued between children, teachers and parents”.  I agree that all the teachers should keep this in their mind for quality education for children.


One of the insights I gained from UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage is solving access inequity issue is not easily solved just by government’ providing supports for the most devastated children. Since those supports are limited to certain aged groups, areas or incomes, there are many children who are excluded from targeted groups even though they also need support.

Another insight I gained is that the world has started to value early education. The government of Gambia has a plan to create ECD Centers for 3-6 years old children in disadvantaged areas. The government’s goal is to increase the enrollment rate from 20% to 70% by 2015.

The third insight I gained is about early education in Singapore. Childcare and preschools are much more affordable and available there than in America. More than 99 percent of children have experienced preschool education. This is mainly because the government supports early education so that women can join the workforce. The Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS) and the Ministry of Education (MOE). MCDS purviews childcare centers for children between 2 months and 6 years from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. MOE purview preschools for 2- 5 hours. The fees are state-subsidized and further financial assistance is eligible for poor children from NGOs.


Sources

http://www.innovativeteacherproject.org/reggio/values.php

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

Sharing Web Resources

I have been studying the NIEER’s website. This week, I followed some of the links. My favorite link was one that leads to their YouTube website where you can watch videos about preschool press conferences, mothers’ voices and so on. These videos reminded me that preschool teachers must keep learning because we are involved with different children, families and their lives every year, and we need to find out the best ways to support them. I especially like the video titled “Growing and Learning in Preschool”( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or10f-YcM8Q&context=C40dac15ADvjVQa1PpcFM2h-dm5fGo3d2OTHOXnl6ZJe1sNhTXq9Q=) because I can actually see techniques about how we can maximize children’s eagerness to learn.

NIEER’s website had an article about state’s supplements for Head Start. The trend is unfortunately downwards. Even though a state understands the importance of investments in early education programs, the supplements decrease as the economy gets bad. This is not the way government should work, but I understand the difficulty with getting financial resources for equity. (http://preschoolmatters.org/2012/03/27/state-support-for-head-start-over-the-years/)   

One of the new insights I gained is that half of preschoolers are not taken outside for play by parents or caregivers, even though playing outside is crucial for children’s physical development and mental health. I believe this is also an equity issues because preschools and daycares that offer big yards or even a swimming pool require expensive tuition rates that poor families cannot afford. (http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/02/half-of-pre-schoolers-not-playing-outside-daily/)