Research Around the World

The website I chose to explore was http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/. Some of the current international issues that are present in the website regarding Early Childhood Australia are facing roles as advocacy. Some teachers feel as though their role as teachers and teachers first and foremost, which is true, but is leaving them with no time to take active roles as advocates in young children. This would give voices to children.  The issues that arise from lack of advocacies are resources, referral agencies, affordable child care, accreditation, licensing requirements, staff support and salaries.

It’s not necessarily a new insight, but I like how Australia has a code of ethics. I feel as though a code of ethics creates an expectation across the board for all education professionals. I think it is a great benefactor to see that other countries are using a similar means of standard.

Noteworthy information that I found was The Research Practical Series. This series provides practical, easy to read resources for those involved in the early childhood field (Early Childhood Australia, 2011). I like that the website provides a convenient ad quick way to find resources. It seems like it would be beneficial to have the books which are designed to assist with challenging issues which arise in the care and education of young children by offering effective, new approaches.

Early Childhood Australia. 2011. http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/.

Uplifting Stories: Option 2

The major positive contribution that I would like to recognize would be creating a healthy and positive beginning to education. As we should know by now in the education field, education is more than just what the child is learning. It’s about the support and attention that not only the family is providing but the educator themselves. The topic I would work on would be fostering and establishing a healthy beginning to education. I could see the positive contributions being that once it is time for the child to be in a classroom, the basics of education like grammar will already be in place for them. Another positive contribution would be that the families of the children entering into school would be more comfortable about the structure of how school operates. My ultimate goal would be making sure that the transition from daycare to school would be as comfortable and effortless as possible. I feel this would benefit everyone involved, from the families to the educators.

Personal Research Journey

For the simulation in this class, I have chosen to research Poverty. I personally have never experienced poverty, but where I am currently teaching in Oklahoma we are considered a Title 1 school whihc has to do with testing schools, which ultimately comes from the students not having the greatest home lifes. Poverty has affected these children lives in many ways. I would like to spend my career not changing their home lifes but figuring out ways to provide them with the same opportunities to succeed as though who do not have to worry about their next meal or if the light bill is going to be paid.

Some things I may need help on from my colleagues would be to learn some things you all may doin your classrooms to not eliminate the problem but work with it. Are there any insights or f.y.i's I should prepare myself for? Any and all suggestions will be helpful. If you have any resources to help out I would love to read through them. Thanks and I look forward to hear about anything you have experienced.

The Consequences

It’s crazy; it took me 3 days to figure out what this assignment was truly asking me. At first I was thinking, “Consequences, why would there be any type of consequence learning about anything international.” I asked my mother to elaborate and when her answer frustrated me even more I then turned to my best friend. He told me to look at the word consequence as something negative, but as an end result of some learned. So that is what I am going to do.

My three consequences are how the Philippines believe:

 The early a child learns to read the better off the child will be

The idea of convincing officials that play in the classroom is essential to a child’s development

The issue of poverty exists there as well, with about 5 million families being affected

What I really learned and enjoyed about learning about the Philippines was that as much as they are different from us here in the United States, we still have some of the same values. The best part is that even though sometimes it seems as though the reason are not genuine, both countries value their children. They go into national debt trying to create and make sure they establish programs which provide a beginning level to their education.  

Blog Alternative

This week for the blog assignment I chose to do the podcast assignment, and I have yet to receive my response, so I am doing the assignment from the webpage which allows me to share 3 new ideas and insights I have learned and gained related to issues in the international early child.

In the November 2011 the Regional Conference on Early Childhood Development was held in Singapore. At this conference, the supporting core organizations were the UNICEF, UNESCO, Plan International, Open Society Foundation and Save the Children. The conference was aimed at focusing on the needs that can be done to decrease under-five mortality rates, reduce malnutrition, increase access to services from children under 3. The conference focused on so many new insights that have enlightened my understanding of the importance of creating a healthy beginning to a child’s developmental beginning.

The highlight of the conference was the launch of the “Resource Package for 0-3”. This package’s goal is to help inform and prepare policy makers, practitioners and parents with a variety of information on early childhood development for children under the age of 3. There are also a number of hands-on workshops formed to utilize resource materials along with policy consultations. This is great to know about. I personally would like to attend a few of their workshops in order to experience the new standards.

What really has enhanced my understanding of the webpage is the fact that more than just the United States is taking a better look at their children at an earlier standpoint. The People’s Republic of China, Pakistan, the Philippines and Mongolia just to name a few that are also beginning to put a focus on the importance of the foundation of a child’s education. I think we as an educational field, whether in the United States or other countries are on a great road to helping develop minds at an earlier age. I am proud to say that my heart belongs to this profession.

Sharing Web Resources

At the top of the home page, it gives you the option of clicking on T.E.A.C.H.  After I clicked on the link, it leads me to a page that gives information about the scholarship available through T.E.A.C.H. When I searched this area better, I found an actual application for the scholarship, the requirements for the program, and all the good it has done. The best part about this program is that it is geared towards educators. It helps pay for books and any other needs a college student may need. It is available to educators who live in the D.C area.

I have yet to receive an e-newsletter. Not sure I will know how long it will take to receive one either. After I looked through the website I did find a headline talking about empowering middle school children and their parents with the information they need to help start and fill out applications for college. It is called the ECZ, Entering the College Zone. I feel like this relates to the issue of inequity, and it is almost like a problem solving mechanism.

The website talks about PreK-3 and its promise to provide an environment based on improving children’s chances for success starting with the PreK-3^rd policy initiative. This policy includes a range of activities in the home base area of D.C. Their improvement aims at seamlessly connecting high-quality early childhood programs with high quality elementary schools.

Although this particular website is based out of D.C I feel as though it is a very good website. It looks at early childhood in an all together way. It looks at preK-3^rd graders, as well as middle schools and most of all it provides a way for those of us who want to educate others a ways. It helps to fuel the passion the rest of us have for the profession. If nothing else, this website keeps you up to date on the issue and trends such as health in the early childhood field. Being healthy can contribute to a lot when dealing with education, and the website http://nbcdi.org raises awareness of the issue very well.

Getting to know you...

This week, Elizabeth Santos expressed to me about how the Philippines do their K-12 programs. She said that in the Philippines, grade school only goes to the 10^th grade. Yet in order to compete globally, the Filipino government implemented an additional two years like we do in the United States. Even though this may seem very logical in more than one sense, there are mixed reactions around their country. A few objections to the implementation are the addition cost for parents and a delay in the joining of the work force for young adults. Elizabeth says that play in the early childhood programs and progressive philosophy have been very hard to sell in her country due to most Filipinos think that as far as reading the earlier the better. They even have a large amount of children entering reading and math programs starting at the age of 2. Which the theories for these actions of her country is that they will encourage your child to read by the age of three.

Learning this information from Elizabeth was eye opening. I truly never thought about other countries not continuing required education through the 10^th grade, but it does make me understand why a lot of foreign country graduates are younger than most American graduates. Also the notion and ideas to start children reading and doing math at an early age is similar to our Pre-K program, but at such an early age, it puts more responsibility on the parents which I also think is excellent. If there are more people caring for a child’s education, it will make a huge difference in their development. I like these international conversations, because they give me the opportunity to think beyond just the information I know about. It will help me become not just a better teacher but a more rounded person. Really puts my life into perspectives.