Over the course of the seven eight weeks by researching various websites, listening to podcasts, and reading my classmates posts I have gained new insights and knowledge about early childhood issues around the world.
The first insight I gained is that many issues that educators and policy makers face in the United States in regards to education are actually global issues. I found that in many places around the world the issues were on a greater scale and at a much higher level than in the United States. For example accessibility for early childhood programs is limiting here in the U.S. however in places such as Africa not only is there limited or no accessibility for early childhood programs, there is limited or no accessibility for children to attend school in general.
The second insight I gained is that there is still much gender inequity in education I found it alarming that in 2014 there is inequity for girls in obtaining an education in various parts of the world. Work efforts that were noted in Education for All: Global Monitoring Report stated at current rate it will take till 2086 to achieve the goal of having poor girls in rural Africa in school despite the fact it was a goal to be accomplished by 2015. Much work still needs to be done in providing educational opportunities for young girls around the world.
The third insight I gained is through the websites of the various global educational organizations. I found the World Forum Foundation, The Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI), and UNESCO's Early Childhood Care and Education websites to have a wealth of information and many great resources that I considered to be an asset in learning about educational issues in a global context.
A goal related to international awareness of issues and trends within the early childhood field is to continue to review the websites to stay current of global issues, trends, research, solutions and success stories from around the world that may assist in my work with children, families and early childhood professionals.
Thank you to my classmates in sharing such insightful information through your blog posts. I learned a lot from each of you and wish you all the best with your future endeavors within the field of early childhood education.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 3
I first reviewed the World Forum Foundation website. I found a video on the WoFo TV by Dr. Susan Linn. This was a short video but I felt with other components it could be used as part of professional development as the presentation talked about play. Dr. Linn used a puppet during the presentation to talk about how children are not using creative play instead they are exposed to commercialization of play. By this Dr. Linn discusses how toys of today leave less to children's imagination in that toys are linked to media or have a computer chip. She posted different pictures of puppets giving the example that children can still play with a puppet but since most of them were recognized by children through programming or imagines their play was limited as most children would not use the "Cookie Monster" puppet as an elephant. Dr. Linn states that children are born to engage in creative play and our society seems to do everything possible to stop it. It was very interesting when she said she has many preschool teachers tell her that most of the children of today coming into preschool do not know how to play creatively. She gave the reminder of how much children learn through play and they various ways they are learning through play and how it helps prepare them for life.
In reviewing the UNESCO's Early Childhood Care and Education webpage I found numerous resources on early childhood care and education in various parts of the world. The first section of the webpage I reviewed was Country Policy Reviews. This provides a report of early childhood education policies from around the world and shares various demographic information as well as a wealth of other content relating to early childhood. The second section I reviewed was Country Profiles. This has information on various components within the field of early childhood and policies, also updates on any reforms or initiatives that have been developed. Examples of content include the following:
- Type of personnel involved
- Type of staff training
- Recent national policies and reforms
- Efforts targeted at vulnerable or disadvantaged children
- Information concerning the ECCE curriculum or the contents
A third section I reviewed was titled Holistic Early Childhood Development Index. This is an action agenda called upon UNESCO to have a work group develop an instrument to track progress towards goals paying specific attention to quality and the holistic aspects of early childhood education. As such UNESCO is working with a wide range of partners to develop the Holistic Early Childhood Development Index (HECDI). As of June 2013, an agreement was reached with identifying 6 core indicators of early childhood development: health, nutrition, education, parent support, equity and social protection, and alleviation of poverty. There is a series of reports that relate to each core indicator.
The UNESCO Early Childhood Care and Education webpage has a wealth of information about early childhood education from around the world. I find this to be a resource I will utilize.
In reviewing the UNESCO's Early Childhood Care and Education webpage I found numerous resources on early childhood care and education in various parts of the world. The first section of the webpage I reviewed was Country Policy Reviews. This provides a report of early childhood education policies from around the world and shares various demographic information as well as a wealth of other content relating to early childhood. The second section I reviewed was Country Profiles. This has information on various components within the field of early childhood and policies, also updates on any reforms or initiatives that have been developed. Examples of content include the following:
- Type of personnel involved
- Type of staff training
- Recent national policies and reforms
- Efforts targeted at vulnerable or disadvantaged children
- Information concerning the ECCE curriculum or the contents
A third section I reviewed was titled Holistic Early Childhood Development Index. This is an action agenda called upon UNESCO to have a work group develop an instrument to track progress towards goals paying specific attention to quality and the holistic aspects of early childhood education. As such UNESCO is working with a wide range of partners to develop the Holistic Early Childhood Development Index (HECDI). As of June 2013, an agreement was reached with identifying 6 core indicators of early childhood development: health, nutrition, education, parent support, equity and social protection, and alleviation of poverty. There is a series of reports that relate to each core indicator.
The UNESCO Early Childhood Care and Education webpage has a wealth of information about early childhood education from around the world. I find this to be a resource I will utilize.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Sharing Web Resources
This week in reviewing the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) I followed the General Links and Resources tab and chose the link for wiki progress which took me to the Child's Well Being Portal. This website had numerous links such as the Community Portal and Family Portal. It had many media reviews in various topics relating to children's health and well-being such as McDonald's and Burger King's Healthy Kid Meal Ads Confuse Children About Nutrition and The Link Between Family Structure and Poverty. The website included articles such as The State of the World's Children: 2014 Every Child Counts and Motherhood in Childhood: Facing the Challenges of Adolescent Parents. The website also had an events section which listed events coming up around the world that supports child well-being. Some events listed were World Health Day and Women's Issues in Transportation.
I do not receive a newsletter, however the ACEI website has the section for ACEI news and Global News. Under Global News there was an article titled Corruption in Education. The article discussed how corruption takes in place. Such as bribes within the educational system. With the average documented percentage of bribes within 27 countries being 15% with a high of 40%. The article also describes how 48% of people in Peru believe the education system is corrupt or highly corrupt. The article provided some ideas for solutions to such corruption such as developing codes of conduct.
This week I found the article Education for All: Global Monitoring Report. This report provided updates on each of the goals that was set within international community of various world leaders committing to education equality for all. The update shows the goal of reaching the goals and objectives by 2015 will not happen. The report described how 57 million children are not in school and at the current rate it will take till 2086 to achieve the goal of having poor girls in rural Africa in school. The report also describes this as a global learning crisis especially for poor countries.
As I continue to review this website and outside links I keep discovering the massive amount of information that is available about various topics in education around the world. The more I explore the more information I find, it seems to be no end to resources and information. I find this website to be very useful.
I do not receive a newsletter, however the ACEI website has the section for ACEI news and Global News. Under Global News there was an article titled Corruption in Education. The article discussed how corruption takes in place. Such as bribes within the educational system. With the average documented percentage of bribes within 27 countries being 15% with a high of 40%. The article also describes how 48% of people in Peru believe the education system is corrupt or highly corrupt. The article provided some ideas for solutions to such corruption such as developing codes of conduct.
This week I found the article Education for All: Global Monitoring Report. This report provided updates on each of the goals that was set within international community of various world leaders committing to education equality for all. The update shows the goal of reaching the goals and objectives by 2015 will not happen. The report described how 57 million children are not in school and at the current rate it will take till 2086 to achieve the goal of having poor girls in rural Africa in school. The report also describes this as a global learning crisis especially for poor countries.
As I continue to review this website and outside links I keep discovering the massive amount of information that is available about various topics in education around the world. The more I explore the more information I find, it seems to be no end to resources and information. I find this website to be very useful.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Getting to Know Your International Contacts Part 2
In completing the alternative assignment I first went to the World Forum Foundation website and reviewed a presentation called Indigenous Children's Rights: Equality, Inclusion, Human Development by Martha Llanos, PhD. The presentation talked about the indigenous population in Latin America and how to protect the rights of these children. Key concepts that were focused on were to ensure indigenous children were protected and had the following: birth registration, health and nutrition, education, and protection from abuse and protect children from armed conflict, child trafficking, child labor, and separation from family. These seem like basic rights but many of these children their basic rights are not protected. Some example of statistics included the Peruvian indigenous children and how only 37% had access to services, 20% had potable water, 20% suffer malnutrition and 49% are poor. As such the presentation also discussed the Convention on the Rights of Children which is listed as follows:
“Indigenous children shall be taught to read and write in their own Language or in the language most commonly used by the group to which they belong."
“The development of respect for the child’s own cultural identity, language and values”
“In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origins exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.”
The presentation also focused on how and what education should look like in order to provide equality for indigenous children as follows:
• Curricula based on Community Interests and Collective Values.
• Programs based on Rights
• Mother-Tongue & Bilingualism
• Interculturalism
• Promotion of Resilience
In reviewing the Global Children's Initiative at the Developing Child at Harvard University website I gained insights in that the Global Children's Initiative focuses on three strategic areas. These strategic areas are reframing the discourse around child health and development, supporting innovative, multi-disciplinary research and demonstration projects, and building leadership capacity in child development research and policy.
The Global Children's Initiative strategic areas has also generated a portfolio of activities in the developmental domains of early childhood development, child mental health, and
children in crisis and conflict situations.
The organization also provides information on various research that is taking place around the world. One example is the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project. This project was to
to measure the results of the ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children’s development in Zambia. The results of this project is to provide more understanding of child development and to assist in identifying key interventions to continue to improve child outcomes.
References:
Global Children's Initiative
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/
World Forum Foundation
http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/
“Indigenous children shall be taught to read and write in their own Language or in the language most commonly used by the group to which they belong."
“The development of respect for the child’s own cultural identity, language and values”
“In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origins exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, to enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language.”
The presentation also focused on how and what education should look like in order to provide equality for indigenous children as follows:
• Curricula based on Community Interests and Collective Values.
• Programs based on Rights
• Mother-Tongue & Bilingualism
• Interculturalism
• Promotion of Resilience
In reviewing the Global Children's Initiative at the Developing Child at Harvard University website I gained insights in that the Global Children's Initiative focuses on three strategic areas. These strategic areas are reframing the discourse around child health and development, supporting innovative, multi-disciplinary research and demonstration projects, and building leadership capacity in child development research and policy.
The Global Children's Initiative strategic areas has also generated a portfolio of activities in the developmental domains of early childhood development, child mental health, and
children in crisis and conflict situations.
The organization also provides information on various research that is taking place around the world. One example is the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project. This project was to
to measure the results of the ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children’s development in Zambia. The results of this project is to provide more understanding of child development and to assist in identifying key interventions to continue to improve child outcomes.
References:
Global Children's Initiative
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/
World Forum Foundation
http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/
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