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/