Consequences and Goals

Consequences of learning about the international early childhood field can be negative or positive. I tend to take an optimistic view point on life and so I have when it came to looking at the consequences of learning about the international early childhood field.

First, there is so much new information and knowledge to gain from others in our field and that information can be valuable. We can take the time to learn from one another what approaches are successful and which ones need to be rethought. If countries did not communicate about early childhood education there would not be Montessori preschool approaches used in the US.

Secondly, by communicating with other professionals from the field we will be able to learn about one another. About our cultures, values, and beliefs’. This knowledge will only make our classrooms more diversely rich. Every child will feel like they are appreciated and that they belong.

Lastly, we could band together as one. The early childhood field makes a huge impact on the world. If we would stand as one we could possible get the pay and benefits we deserve on a world wide scale.

My personal goal for international awareness of issues and trends with the early childhood field in mind is for there to be quality childcare for all children world wide. That children would be valued and supported within their class and that early education would be available to them. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

The communication with my contact in Australia was labored this week. She had a very busy week with her classes and home life so it was more difficult to establish the back and forth contact we have been having.  I asked her what are some of the issues in quality they face as professionals. Her response was, “There is no consistency for parents. We have what I consider a high quality program. There are some down the street that are not up to par. They are mostly government funded because they are the workers child cares. The owners of the diamond mines fund the child care I work for for their children and the children that are the managers of the mine.” She did describe how the education was not different between the two facilities. What were different, were the materials for children to play with, the environment, and the size of the environment. 

Some of her professional goals were to become the “head master” of the child care (I am assuming that is like director or principal), to go back to college, and to make more money.

When I asked her what her dreams were for the early childhood profession she states, “I dream that all children across the world would receive great early care when they are wee ones. That they would all learn and be in environments that help them to learn. I dream that things were more fare and not based on status and titles of the family.”

I am always surprised at the information I glean from our conversations. I know the country has wonderful healthcare and welfare (DOL) system, so I never thought their early learning programs would have similar issues as we have.

Sharing Web Resources: Taking another look at NAEYC

Again it is time to look into the NAEYC website and take a closer look.     

I looked over the quick links and noticed that most of them were tied to NAEYC in some fashion. However one like in particular peeked my interest. It was Young Child Past Issues, (http://www.naeyc.org/yc/pastissues). The issues available went all the way back to January of 2001. This is such a valuable resource that it will be something I flag into favorites.

Upon further investigation I found NAEYC radio (http://www.naeyc.org/newsroom/NAEYCradio). There are some interesting links and also some that are important to my professional life. Some that I found interesting are “Who Will Save Kindergarten? 
” by Vivian Gussin Paley, “Big Body Play: Why It's Important
” by Frances Carlson, M.A.Ed., and “How Federal Policies Affect Early Childhood
” by Adele Robinson. This is one are of the website that I could spend a lot of time viewing. I felt like a sponge at some point and was just soaking in all the information either because it was new or because it affirmed what I already knew.

Currently some of the topics that are being discussed on the NAEYC website are DAP, Learning from nature, Obesity Prevention, play and Anti-Bias Education Holidays. I think the website has a plethora of information that support what we are learning in our Masters program or the information furthers our learning in a meaningful way.  

I am enjoying the information gleaned from the NAEYC website and know that without this class I would have never had the opportunity to dig this deep into it.