ISSUES & TRENDS: CHANGE, CONTEXTS, CONSEQUENCES, AND CONSTRAINTS REVISITED

During the past eight weeks, I have researched various early childhood professionals and organizations.  These resources have supported my professional growth in many ways.  I have refined my perspective about the early childhood professional journey on which I embark.  I have learned that having a desire to educate, aid, or service young children is one thing, and knowing HOW to accomplish these feats is another.   

The consequences of my learning expedition have been resultant in (1) a keener vision towards the specifics of my professional development, such as learning how to use particular elements of research to gain deeper knowledge of contexts, trends, and issues relating to early childhood care and education; (2) an acute ear to listen to the views and experiences of my colleagues, as this supports me through influences that stretch my thinking to a broader awareness of the  early childhood issues and trends that affect early care and education; and (3) a deeper level of compassion that causes me to look within myself for the clearest path toward my goal—my perspectives on life, education, children, families and communities have all dramatically changed through much reflection. 

The one goal that I endeavor to accomplish related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations is to someday make a substantially positive impact on bringing forth equity to care and the education of early childhood students—those with Sensory Processing Disorder as well as other physical, emotional, or otherwise challenges.  Also, it is my prayer that my colleagues will find deeper, broader, and more substantial platforms that will lift their vision to another dimension for greater change in the early childhood field as well.  Well wishes to all!

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS—Part 3

Professional development is one of the necessary tools for developing quality in early childhood care and education (Carter, 2008).  In dealing with the how to of professional development—regarding the approaches, models, or methods used to support self-directed, highly relevant  learning (Buysse & Winton, 2009)—the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has created a very convenient tool for gaining necessary information to aid in the continued development of early childhood professionals.  Policy Briefs (UNESCO, n.d.1) support policy work through its publication of two-page flash notes on policy issues.   This quarterly publication on early childhood policy issues seeks to answer questions on the planning and implementation of early childhood policies.  Prior to publication, the Policy Briefs are reviewed by a group called the peer reviewers mechanism.   This group is made up of professionals of various walks of life from all over the world—Senior Researchers, ECD Consultants, Directors, Professors of Social Work, and visiting scholars from France, Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Canada, Ghana, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Thailand, South Africa, and the U.S.A.  Hard copies of these Policy Briefs reports can be obtained by contacting earlychildhood(at)unesco.org. 

Using this helpful tool, I’ve gained the following three insights related to international early childhood education that relate to my professional goals:

The three building blocks of education are literacy, teacher education, and TVET.

Literacy – Today one in five adults is still not literate and about two-thirds of them are women while 67.4 million children are out of school.  Since 1946, UNESCO has been at the forefront of global literacy efforts and is dedicated to keeping literacy high on national, regional and international agendas (UNESCO, n.d.2).

Teacher Education – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) launched its education reform strategy for 2011 to 2015 on October 5^th in order to improve the quality of learning for students and to meet the evolving demands of an education system for the 21^st century; the strategy focuses on teacher development, curriculum and student assessment, inclusive education, and technical and vocational training (UNESCO, n.d.3).

TVET – Systemic pressure to expand general, technical, and vocational secondary education has resulted from the success of universal primary education in developing countries over the last decade.  Skills are seen as critical to educational development, labor market inclusion, and economic growth which makes Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) one of the four priority areas in UNESCO’s education program.  TVET is now an integral part of the Education for All initiative which promotes economic growth, and contributes to poverty reduction by helping learners acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to develop professional careers, active citizenship, and lifelong learning (UNESCO, n.d.4).

Reference

Buysse, V., Winton, P. J., & Rous, B. (2009). Reaching consensus on a definition of professional development for the early childhood field. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 28(4), 235–243. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the ProQuest Central database.

Carter, M. (2008). Assessing quality: What are we doing? Where are we going? Exchange, (184), 32–35. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (n.d.1). Policy Briefs on Early Childhood [Webpost]. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/unesco-policy-briefs-on-early-childhood/

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (n.d.2). Literacy [Webpost]. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/education-building-blocks/literacy/

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (n.d.3). Teacher Education: UNRWA Launches education reform strategy on World Teachers’ Day [Webpost]. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/education-building-blocks/teacher-education/single-view/news/unrwa_launches_education_reform_strategy_on_world_teachers_day/

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (n.d.4). Technical and Vocational Education and Training [Webpost]. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/education-building-blocks/tvet/

Sharing Web Resources

The National Black Child Development Institution (NBCDI) just finished up its annual conference this past week (Oct. 8^th-11^th).  Its theme: The effects that shrinking economy and poor quality education has made on the educational futures of our children.  There were some fabulous conference presenters, including early childhood supporters from various venues—psycho-social , medical, and physical health fields, policymakers, EC administrators and educators. 

I’ve gained deeper insight on how NBCDI has been very instrumental in addressing equity and excellence in early care and education by meeting the needs of parents.  Understanding the trilemma of the United States’ patched system of child care (Lash & McMullen, 2008), NBCDI reaches out to parents by offering those relevant tools and practices that will enhance parents own personal social and emotional development—addressing the challenges of quality, availability and affordability for African American children and their families.  NBCDI is committed to re-energizing parents to increase their involvement as effective advocates for their children and providing necessary resources to empower African American families to gain access to quality early childhood care and education.

Visit these links to find more information regarding NBCDI’s extensive resources designed to address the challenges of equity in quality, affordability, and access to early childhood care and education for minority children and their families:

www.http://nbcdi.org  - this link leads to the main website of NBCDI where you will find the organizations history, mission, and an overview of their offered services.

http://nbcdi.org/conferences/nbcdi-annual-conference/ - this link will take you to the page of conference speakers from the annual national black child development institute, inc., there you will find highlights of the conference

http://nbcdi.org/blog/category/early-childhood-education/ - this link leads to the early childhood education initiatives of nbcdi; there you will find several of the events that address EC issues as well as ncbdi’s involvement with each.

Reference

Lash, M., & McMullen, M. (2008). The child care trilemma: How moral orientations influence the field. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 9(1), 36–48. Retrieved from http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pdf/freetoview.asp?j=ciec&vol=9&issue=1&year=2008&article=5_Lash_CIEC_9_1_web

Exploring International Contacts Pt. 2

So, it appears that all of the basics have been covered in the Center on the Developing Child’s efforts to improve or rebuild the infrastructure regarding global children’s initiatives.   After viewing the information from Harvard University’s website, the buzz words that brought the greatest enjoyment to my reading are the words child health and development.  The Center’s key components towards tackling their agenda for improvement are the domains of early childhood development, child mental health, and children in crisis and conflict situations.  These are without doubt the major areas of significance for early childhood studies across the board.  Complete recognition and understanding of the intricacies of childhood and their development; insightful training regarding the patterns and nuances of early childhood mentality and mental heal, how they learn, and the most successful means of educating early childhood students; and reaching out to the various sectors that are intertwined with the early childhood field, i.e. educators, researchers, policymakers, etcetera, to thoroughly train and educate them  as influential leaders for the global children’s initiative cause will cumulatively add support for the Global Children’s Initiative.

However, there are yet other key words that tune my reading ear toward the inequalities of such an honorable gesture for positive change.  The information I recovered shared the insight that these efforts were primarily for the majority world.  Although the Center’s initial focus will explore comparable approaches to surveying child status in specific at risk areas, and bring the science of child development into strategies that address malnutrition and other health challenges, there is the seeming glitch of inequities in who attends the program, and state investments (Kagan, 2009).  While the format is highly commendable, there are still separation factors of race, socioeconomic status (SES), language proficiency, geographic locale, as well as funding sources to consider.

 Reference

Harvard University [Website].  Global Children’s Initiative [Blog Entry]. Retrieved October 8, 2011, from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

Kagan, S. L. (2009). American early childhood education: Preventing or perpetuating inequity? (Equity Matters: Research Review No. 3). Retrieved from Campaign for Educational Equity website: http://www.equitycampaign.org/i/a/document/9833_EquityMatters_Kagan_Final.pdf

Sharing Web Resources

The National Black Child Annual Conference convenes this month, and its theme for this year is relevant to our current course studies—the effects that shrinking economy and poor quality education has made on the educational futures of our children.  It was both comforting and discomforting for me to find that the challenge to be creative and innovative in our work as educators is ongoing; it is good to know that educators all across the globe are on the same page when it comes to addressing the needs of children early in their development, but it is disheartening to see that we have not yet turned the page in moving forward.

The Parent Empowerment Program (PEP) is an innovative service designed to re-energize parents and increase their involvement as advocates for their children.  Culturally relevant tools and practices to promote literacy, social and emotional development, and other skill areas of children are concentrated towards the enhancement and celebration of African American children.  These are some of the areas that are being addressed by the National Black Child Development Institute, Inc. (NBCDI) Conference and should be addressed even here in our own community.

I was pleased to find that conference presenters include professionals in the psycho-social and medical health fields to address the social-emotional development issues as well as the physical health related issues of early childhood development. The NBCDI conference begins on October 8^th, 2011 and ends on October 11^th, 2011.  It will take place in Nashville, Tennessee.  Visit http://nbcdi.org for more information.