Final Blog Assignment~ Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field (EDUC - 6162 - 1)

When learning about the overall early childhood educational impact here in the U.S. and then around the world it’s the general consensus that we need to advocate, educate, and encourage not just in our hometowns, but around the world the importance of the early childhood years. One goal I believe that we can support each other throughout the world in early childhood is the issue of poverty. It is here, whether behind closed doors or broadly out in the open. Together we can work to fight the issue of poverty starting in our hometown and spreading out over the world.

Through my research in this class I have gained a better understanding of the consequences of poverty and how greatly it affects families and the children in the early childhood years. As I continue to advocate for children and their families I will continue to educate myself with resources for families who live in poverty. Through my own personal experiences I will be able to remember that poverty, even when not visible to the eye, can still be a large issue in a family environment.

Also while I continued my research internationally I found that poverty can be such a grand issue that policy makers and the communities will put early childhood education aside because they feel it is not a priority. It is sad that children are taken out of school to make money for their starving families and are missing out on important milestones. 0-8 years of age is the most vital in the development of a human being and it has a role in the future of our society.

I was disappointed to not have actual communication with another educator internationally, however I learned a great deal from the other resources and from my colleagues. I would like to thank everyone for sharing such valuable information and continuing to interact with myself and one another to continue the momentum of education. Starting from within utero a child’s brain is actively developing. Once a child is born it is dependent upon parents, caregivers, and educators to continue to stimulate and educate.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

This week I researched the website UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/). One of my professional goals has and will continue to be and advocate for children and their families. It is important for children to have a voice, I will continue to make it a professional goal of mine to make sure their voice and concerns are being heard. “The Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by 193 countries, is the most widely accepted human rights treaty” (UNESCO, n.d.). There is a conference every November where advocates, policy makers, and educators come together to express the importance of early education and its direct affect for them to become full global citizens.

The main adversity that early childhood education faces is the lack of financial resources. This issue obviously hits the under developing countries the most. When these countries are already battling poverty, health concerns, lack of overall education, and much more they do not see early education as a priority. When this occurs the reality of the importance of this resource is obscure. Again, this is where the advocating needs to be at the top of its game. We need to give data, proof, and futuristic outcomes of the positive aspect of early childhood education. Investing in early education can be the positive turn for the community as a whole.

“High quality childcare, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, promotes motivation, confidence, good cognitive and linguistic development and school readiness” (UNESCO, n.d.). I always wonder to myself when I read quotes such as this. I think why doesn’t everyone understand this, isn’t that the natural thought? Maybe because I am a mother and my education has been based in the educational field it comes naturally to me. It seems like such a simple concept to understand that high quality educators should not only educate, but also should care about the children they serve. In any educational setting, young or old, I expect educators to have the compassion to educate and make a difference in a child’s life. Is that so much to expect? When I meet educators who are not fully motivated to do this I wonder why on earth they are in the field. So for me, I will continue to advocate, express the importance of financial resources for early childhood education, and continue to use my compassion for the field to be my driving force.

Sharing Web Resources…. A Closer Look

  

I decided to navigate and research more closely into the resources for parents. For the most part I have been looking at it from an educator’s perspective. I found a link that led to Tips for Your Child’s Developmental Assessment. I was intrigued by this because I have recently had some issues with my son’s education and assessments that had to be implemented. Reading through the tips I was comforted by the information given reassuring me of the feelings that I have had about the process. Some of the tips that stood out to me included; I am the parent and I should acknowledge the gut instinct, I do not need to know all of the technical terms, I can find outside support, and I am allowed to disagree. These tips are very important for any parent to know before they go into an assessment. These processes can be intimidating and this makes parents nervous. When I went into the few meetings at the school I was faced with the two teachers in the room, the principal, school psychologist, and the school counselor. This is ratio that had me worrying that I was alone in my fight for my son’s education. I wanted to be armed with the correct information and I was worried about knowing the law and all of the technical terms and acronyms. This knowledge can be extremely overwhelming. The main thing I needed to remember was that I am the parent and I know my child more than anyone. Also, there are resources out there that can help and support. For example, I learned of the Coalition for Education for Children with Developmental Disabilities. This coalition will give you a plethora of information, resources, and provide you with an advocate in your area that will attend meetings with you.

This site has always reinforced the importance of equity and excellence in early childhood care and education.  After reading this article I am reassured of the purpose of the website. The Zero to Three website is a place of useful information, resources, and advocacy for children, educators, and their families. There are many children that need proper assessments and when parents are faced with this process, it can be stressful. Through this website parents can find useful information to help ease the stress and reassure them that they are in fact doing what is best for their child.

For parents that will face any assessment here is a link to the tips to take into consideration.

http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer;jsessionid=98711F648B2FF36526E28A9DF0A7949B.app247c?pagename=ter_key_childdevt_assessment

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

I am very sad to say that to date I have not made contact with the professionals out of the U.S. I have sent emails and waited patiently, however there have been no replies. While reading up on thru the Global Children’s Initiative through Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child I have learned that the vital constant is that early childhood development needs more attention.

One of the insights that I gained is that a goal is for the initiative to attempt to educate the higher-level decision and policy makers. This is so important and I feel that even as important that this is in other countries we could use this advice in our own country as well. It seems to be that in the U.S. and I am learning, in other countries, policy makers who make important decisions about the education of children, do not have backgrounds in education. An example of this just in my hometown is the decisions of a governor who has not worked in the educational field. I have never worked in the fast food business. If I would get a job running a fast food restaurant and try to make changes, most of my decisions might be off base, and the employees would not appreciate where I was coming from. When there is a policy maker who wants to implement changes, who has worked as a teacher, principal, or other educational professional, then I will believe that they have a better advantage at making a true change for the better.

The Center’s first effort outside of the U.S. was in Brazil. The main effort there is to educate the policy makers along with implementing more effective policies and practices to produce a more productive healthy society. While implementing the project in Brazil one of the most important activities is translating the Center’s resources, multimedia, and agendas to the people so that there is proper communication. The Center is ensuring that not only are they just translating, they are adapting their work to the Brazilians so that there is an understanding to carry on their practices. Early childhood education is important no matter where you live. I know that it might sound cliché but the children are the future to our society.

In Zambia there was a lack of knowledge about the progress of early childhood development. The Center decided that it was important to open up a project to learn more about the region and help them with early childhood programs. One of the resource tools I looked at was a survey that they Center used for children and their parents. I was amazed that one of the questions asked if the parent knew what a well-check doctor’s visit was. Then I realized how much we all sometimes take for granted. There are people in this world that do not have the luxury to take their child to a doctor to ensure that their children are properly developing. The thought of doing this might not even come to mind.

Sharing Web Resources

   

I have been researching the website Zero to Three. I currently work with adults with disabilities. One might think that there could be no way that I could use the information from this website in my current position. However, this is farthest from the truth. When working with individuals with Developmental Disabilities you need to know everything you can about them, including their history. When I see a diagnosis I am able to go back and look at this website to research how, why, when, where the diagnosis could have come from.  For instance, if an individual of mine has been has issues with poor development in a certain area I can look at what they missed and where they missed it.

In an e-newsletter The Issue and Why It Matters, they talk about the controversy between Autism and vaccines. As I am sure that we all know the argument still remains on what causes Autism. Many parents of children believe it is the vaccines and in turn have scared other parents off from getting the appropriate vaccines for the children. I will not go too much into my opinion, because that could be a paper in itself; however I do not believe that vaccines cause Autism. To further read on the article you can link it here: http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/ZTT28-4_mar_08.pdf?docID=7246

On the website they have a section for Public Policy. They note that they are nonpartisan and that they are a research based company. I believe that this organization helps economists, neuroscientists, and politicians with decisions they make about early childhood education with their data that they collect through research. They can collaborate with doctors, policy makers, economists, and other professionals who are involved in the decision making for our children.

   When searching through this website if you cannot find the answer you are looking for they do have a search engine and different ways to contact someone in order to find the correct answer. I like that you can search, for example, an issue such as poverty and there will be a plethora of information for you to look over. There will not only be articles to read but also multiple links to other resources.

I have used this site before and will continue to use it throughout my professional career. I like that the website it very easy to navigate. This website is user friendly which helps those parents looking for information, who might not be very computer savvy.

Poverty in Russia

For this Blog assignment I decided to look at childhood poverty in Russia. Russia is in the spotlight right now because of the upcoming Olympic events; therefore I was interested to see where this country stood on poverty. The first insight that I found to be a profound statistic is that the highest rate of poverty and deterioration is that of the age group 0-14yrs. The children, the future of their country, are living in deteriorating, poverty stricken environments. During these young years is where development is the most vital and the children are growing up in poor environments with an idea that this is the norm. The second insight that I found to be interesting is that parents are actually looking at poverty rates and considering that having more than one child could be a factor. Because of this parents are electing to not have more than one child. This can and will have a huge impact on the future of their society. The impact on the country’s demographics could be irreversible. There also seems to be an assumption by the policy makers that policy and practices that will work for adults will also help the children. It seems as though the elderly are better protected from poverty then the children in this country. To me this article states that the key component that is missing is the idea that the children are the future of this country and it is already off to a really bad start.

No matter what country you are in the children need to be at the top of your priority list. They are the future policy makers, leaders, and educators of society and when left to such deteriorating environments their development is negatively affected. We must promote healthy and nurturing environments that will ensure the progression of positive development.

Reference

http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/media_3372.html