International Contact - Part 2

For this blog assignment I was communicating with one of my international contacts, Jodie Riek, a pedagogy teacher from Australia.  We discussed equity in education and what quality education should look like.  Riek shared a little about the education system in Australia as well as information about her thoughts and feelings on quality education and our role as educators.

Jodie Riek shared the following about equity in schools:

We have a national curriculum that is being implemented for the first time this year, so that is being met with lots of conflict and of course different state education departments have their own interpretation of it. Which means that the true intent of the documents have been watered down significantly. 

The issues are generally the same as what you have there in the US. We need high quality teachers - not enough of them. The unions tend to protect and support the lowest common denominator in quality of teachers unfortunately.

In our early years centres (child care) qualified staff is an issue - there's just not enough of them out there. The staff turnover is very high too, with many of the staff very young and inexperienced. 

In regards to quality education Riek shared her personal opinions:

Political agendas should not be the foundation our educational visions are built upon rather they should be there as scaffolding supporting the vision designed and developed by those who hold the expertise, the educators themselves. Accountability should still play a role in our education systems, but it should not be linked to funding, nor should standardised testing be our only criteria of accountability. We need to look at the journeys taken of not only our children during their learning periods, but also that of our educators. Our future, our children, are not identical beings and as such require different considerations, different approaches, and different learning experiences. They too have a vision, they want to be treated with respect, they want to learn in a way meaningful to them as individuals, and they want to be able to express themselves and be heard. We need to seriously consider our clientele, the future, our children when writing the narrative which will formulate the vision for our education systems. What is the end product, the vision we hold for them? Do we want them to become citizen which have developed a love of learning and therefore are lifelong learners; or do we want to ensure they have been taught only what is on the political agendas? We need to be united in our vision, we need to move beyond political agendas and write narrative with the inspirational change we know we can achieve WITHIN Education.

Sharing Web Resources Week 4

As I have explored the website Zero to Three further, I have found many podcasts that share a great deal of information about children and how to take further action in policies.  There are several links in which one can access to take action on behalf of children.  There are alerts that you can register to and keep up to date on changing policies as well as link in order to contact my local electives to advocate for the importance of children’s early education.

Through the links, I was able to send an email to my local affiliates in order to advocate for early childhood and the importance of new funding.  I have always desired to take the opportunity to be more involved in community awareness and advocacy, but wasn’t sure where to begin.  I felt a sense of gratefulness that I took a step forward to help children.

I could not find any direct information in regards to economists, neuroscientists, or politicians on the website.  There were however, indirect citations in regards to policies and how it relates to children.

Zero to Three has given me greater insight to health and development as well as maltreatment of children.  The maltreatment link gave alarming statistics.  Infants and toddlers are disproportionately at risk for maltreatment. They account for over three-quarters of child maltreatment fatalities (http://www.zerotothree.org/maltreatment/child-abuse-neglect/child-abuse-and-neglect.html).  Children deserve a better life than what some are experiencing.  It is important that website like Zero to Three be shared with other to continue the education of adults. 

Reference:

http://www.zerotothree.org/

International Contacts - Part 1

I was fortunate enough to make contact with a professional in Moyobamba, Peru.  His name is Odaer Aflatoun.  I have found our conversations to be very interesting since he does not speak English and I have had to rely on Google for translation.  Not everything he has written has translated perfectly to English.  

I recently asked Odaer how poverty is effecting the education of children in Peru. Odaer (personal communication, May 10, 2012) stated that the conditions of poverty are greatly effecting quality education.  Some children are not able to access quality education due to lack of state funds.  Classroom materials are insufficient and schooling is only available in urban areas.  This means that if children want to attend school, some are walking one to two hours just to get there.  From Odaer’s perspective, little is being done to help change the poverty issues in Peru, but he is an advocate supporting many organizations in their efforts. 

Through my conversations with Odaer Aflatoun, I have better insight about how poverty is effecting children outside of the United States.  It is sad to me that some children do not have school readily available for them.  This is a concern for the future of these children and their families.  Odaer referenced a couple websites that he uses for resources on poverty that I explored for further information about Peru as well as other countries.

www.worldvision.org 

and

www.care.org

  

Sharing Web Resources

One of the professional website that I chose to follow and subscribe to their monthly newsletter is ZERO TO THREE, www.zerotothree.org.  ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit that informs, trains, and supports professionals, policymakers and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers.  Their mission is to promote the health and development of infant and toddlers.  The tools provided on the website derive from research and is presented in many formats for adults working with young children.  The website contains materials that promote the understanding of key issues affecting young children and their families, including mental health, language development, early interventions, and the impact of culture of early development.  

I found many resources within ZERO TO THREE's website that linked a child’s diverse culture into learning and development.  The newest resource for parents is the e-newsletter.  It offers science-based information on how children learn and grow each month from birth to age 3. The monthly e-newsletters include:

-Age-based information about child development

-In-depth articles on common child-rearing issues and challenges

-Parent-child play activities that promote bonding and learning

-Frequently asked questions

-Research on child development and what it means for parents

Another resource included on this website is podcasts.  I listened to a couple of them in regards to this week’s topic of diversity and found the information helpful in understanding the upcoming demographic changes.  There were multiple resources available on this website alone, that I spent hours just perusing many articles.

Global Contacts

I have taken several steps in order to obtain professional contacts outside the United States.  I used the resources given through the course as well as a few of my own personal leads.  I have attempted to make contact through two community college representatives, a cousin who lived in Germany for ten years is getting my a couple phones numbers, and I have also emailed some contacts through searching Google.  None of my attempts have paid off yet, but I am hopeful that in the upcoming week I will establish communication.

The early childhood website I decided to study is Zero to Three, http://www.zerotothree.org/ .  I particularly liked this website due to the various topics the website addresses.  Zero to Three mission is to inform, train, and support professionals, policymakers, and parents to improve the lives and promoting the health and development of infant and toddlers

"My Supports"

I am a mother of three beautiful children, a wife, a manager of an early childhood facility, and currently pursuing my masters.  My daily environment, often times, is very exhausting and there are days I am not sure I can fulfill all duties.  To me, support is the foundation of life.  A person needs to have sources of support emotionally, physically, and practically.  Each day I am thankful for the support given to me from all the fabulous people in my life.

My husband is my number one support.  He is supportive of my emotions, dedication to higher education, my work, our children, our home and every single aspect of daily life.  Without him, my world would not be the same.  My children provide me with unconditional love.  They bring out my inner child and a smile to my face.  At work, my employees and the children we provide care for give me strength and motivation to continue to provide a safe and fun learning environment.

The challenge I thought about was the ability to not work.  Not working creates new challenges that support would be necessary in life to survive.  If I was not able to work, financially our family would need to tighten our life style and most likely down grade our home.  Our children would need to readjust their lifestyles and how they are used to living.  My husband would need to support our family financially. Without these supports my life would feel empty.  Life would be difficult to set goals and strive for better things without the cheerleaders on the sidelines cheering me on.

"My Connections to Play"

Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.

Michael Jordan
American basketball player

Play allows us to develop alternatives to violence and despair; it helps us learn perseverance and gain optimism.

Stuart Brown MD
Contemporary American psychiatrist

Growing up I had an old milk truck for a fort.  I spent countless hours using my imagination as I played.  I remember taking trips across the world, being a mom, delivering milk, or just having good ole fun with cousins during play.

As a young child, my brother Matt was my best friend.  We played together all day long (even when he didn’t want to).  As we got a little older, our play become more cooperative and we played together taking turns.  Our little red wagon is an example of a play time that represents my younger self.  Matt and I would pull each other around everywhere as we went exploring the world around us.

As a young child, I was pushed into the world to explore on my own.  I was the oldest of my siblings and many times was left in charge of watching them as we played outside.  We basically had two rules:  look out for each other and come home when it starts to get dark.  I can’t say that I remember really being supported in play as a child.

My definition of play has been clearly define as an adult and differs greatly from what I knew play to be as a child.  Today I have learned the importance caregivers have of guiding children’s play to support their growth and learning.  I hope to educate more caregivers on the significance of play.  Specifically the staff at my center as well as the families I provide care too.  Educating caregiver’s is vital to a child development.

Play is vital for both children and adults.  Play is as important to our physical and mental health.  It can be a stress reducer and adults still have the capabilities of learning new skills or becoming more comfortable with uncommon concepts.