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