Learning about the international early childhood field has been quite interesting for me. Even though my initial contacts did not get back to me I was able to research the areas they were at and when I see them face to face we will be able to talk about the subject of education more in depth.

I am more aware now of what are the concerns of educators in Australia and Ireland. Even though one country is in major financial difficulty and the other never suffered the Great Recession they do have issues in common with us here back at home. Reaching all young children and giving them equal opportunities for an early start is key to both countries. Having standards in place for a quality education is important too.

The most startling facts that I noticed were at the Unesco web site. I know there are poor disadvantaged children the world over but the extent of their misery is so sad. Unesco also reports though on the hopes and challenges of bringing education to the young children. Learning about the possibility of using mobile devices such as phones and computers in education was an interesting idea.

What all this means to me professionally is that our world is becoming more of a global community and we are all looking to improve the educational capacities of our countries. We would be wise to learn more about other cultures. Be open to adaptability and change as we attempt to educate the young. Professionally I could see using some of the ideas I learned about on the Australian web site, for example: including families in the planning and implementation of education programs.

As future goal it would be excellent to tour a facility in another country and be able to talk to the teachers in person about what their concerns are in their local regions. Perhaps we could share ideas mindful of the fact that there could be useful learning on both sides

What professional goals do I have? I am not sure. What I can tell you is that I am much more aware of all in inequality in education that is out there in the world. Some areas are just so devastated and yet people are stuck in those conditions.
Unesco brings many corners of the world and their populations to light. In going to their web site in have read about "Inclusive Education", which is based on the right of all learners to quality education that meets basic learning needs and enriches lives (UNESCO, 2012). "Inclusive Education focuses primarily on marginalized and vulnerable people. I learned that 75 million children "are excluded from education. We have studied about some of the inequity’s that cause this. There are other reasons in the world though besides what we thought about. Imagine, child labor, nomadic life styles or gender inequity.
One of the disadvantaged groups of children is right in the heart of Europe. They are the Roma children. Roma are gypsies, thought to have originated from Romania along time ago. They are nomadic. Fifty percent of the Roma children fail to complete childhood education. Eight European countries met recently to discuss how to solve this problem of the Roma. One solution was that people directly involved with the Roma such as teachers and teacher assistants need to respect and know more about the culture.
Another idea I learned about was the use of mobile technology to help teach some of the children in the world. This includes hand help computers MP3 players and mobile phones. Information and ideas that were not available to teach are now more accessible. The Us Department of State and Nokia are some of the partners.
Mobile phones have potential to help early learning programs lay stronger foundations for learning.
It is apparent from all I have read that the world over is looking to improve the education chances for our young with the knowledge that more education brings and improved lifestyle. Different cultures are being embraced and enhanced by the use of education. Here in the USA we would be wise to embrace our differences too as we strive to work together for the good of all, especially in the realm of early childhood education.

Inclusive Education, 2012
Vulnerable and Marginalized Groups
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strenghtening -education-systems/Inclusive-education/

I returned to Donegal County Childcare Committee website and the organization called StartStrong this week. Their latest issue of their newsletter is out and in it I went to the link called “End Child Poverty”. It is hard to think of Ireland (land of merriment, all things green and Guinness) and at the same time think of children in poverty. Because of the recession they are suffering financial budgets cuts across the board right now including education. The End Child Poverty Coalition has put forth some recommendations to the government much the same way we do. They are concerned about accessibility and affordability of education programs. They feel there will not be enough places for children of poverty in the pre-schools if funds are not kept the same or even increased. Ireland has children of immigrant families and a sub culture of people known as the Travelers. These children are missing out on early education because of all three issues of availability, affordability and accessibility.
In the same newsletter there is a news release from the Dept. of Children and Youth Affairs supporting a strategy that champions early childhood education and ways to make it available to more children.
This website and the e-newsletter have made me more aware that excellence and equity in early education is not just a USA concern. Ireland is looking to us, New Zealand, France and England as they build a new education strategy. They have found that children who experience high quality preschool are higher achievers in education and employment and these benefits are having equity enhancing effects.(Dept. of Children and Youth Affairs, 2012).
Ireland operates under a more socialized government system. I learned more about their strategy they want to put in place. Besides accessibility, they are concerned about the affordability issue. They are calling for the government to set up a national 10-year plan for early childhood where the children of the year 2020 would have all the services and education programs in place that they would need.
To have our government actually get a plan in place that we could aspire to in early education might be a trend we should follow.

Links from Start Strong website:

Department of Children and Youth Affairs March 6, 2012
Government Approves Development of Ireland's First National Early Years Strategy for Children from birth to 6 years
http://www.dcya.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=1809%20

End Child Poverty Coalition
Action Required by Government
http://endchildpoverty.ie/solutions/index.html

Hello everyone, my blog is divided up into two posts this week. Please read both as they go together. Thank You.

Countries such as Brazil and Chile do have populations that are wealthy and can afford the best educations for their children that are available. They also have terrible slums, particularly Brazil where people live in garbage dumps and barrios where conditions are very dismal. The policy makers of countries like this are looking to countries like ours for what is working to decrease the inequities in the early childhood education. Some programs in Chile have been in place for a few years so they are starting to do longitudinal studies. It will be interesting to follow these countries and see how they address the issues of early childhood education programs in the coming years.
What they all agree on is early childhood education is necessary for the continued improving of their society. To attain that they need more educated instructors following similar guidelines, spread across the country, sensitive to cultural differences and parents working with teachers to make their children’s lives fuller and richer.


References:

Langman, J., July 2010
Latin America Focuses on Early Learning
Global Post
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/education/100716/early-childhood-education

Center on the Developing Child
Global Children’s Initiative
Harvard University
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/ubc/


Policy Review Report, 2007
Early Childhood Care and Education in Brazil
http://www.unesdoc.unesco.org/images /0015/001512/15127le.pdf

This week I visited Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” and explored their interesting website. One item that caught my attention was the work they are sharing with Brazil and Chile. Both are up and coming South American Countries.
Brazil in particular aspires to the social and econimonic standards of the USA and other advanced societies. (Unesco, 2012) One can witness this happening as more Brazilian tourists are showing up in Florida during the winter. They have their own beaches etc., but they want the consumable goods and lifestyles we have and their economy is growing. Brazil struggles though with the lack of universal access to early learning programs.
Chile is known as a model economy for Latin America because of its political stability and high growth rates. Now it is partnering with Harvard to work on early childhood development. Other countries are now asking Chile for help to set up their own systems. Entertainers, scientists and wealthy individuals are working together to create high quality programs for young children (Langman, J., 2010).
To help with their endeavors in the early education field Global Children’s Initiative has translated a quick moving video called “Brain Hero”. This video states that what happens in the early years of a children’s life are the most important issues in the formation of the child’s brain and how they get along later in the rest of their life. This video champions early education, health care and parents involvement. The video also states that negative stressors can change a person’s outcome also.
On the website there are other videos that are of interest whether they pertain to here or other countries. In one called “ The Impact of Early Adversity on Children’s Development “I learned about the theory that stress can actually change the development of a young brain. Scientists suggest that extreme stress can change the way children learn and mature. Children’s mental health is an under addressed issue. Children surviving crisis such as earthquakes, war and famine are being studied. The hope is that collaboration between agencies will help bring focus to immediate needs and long term plans in the development and eventually the education of our children.
Another video, “ Early Childhood Program Effectiveness” talks about how to improve education programs. Some of the suggestions are small groups of children and high adult to child ratios, warm responsive interactions between teachers and children, and a language rich environment in a safe location. Qualified personnel that are well compensated are suggested too.
On the same video a three-tiered approach is suggested. Basic child and health care for our young children. Extra support for lower income family’s and Intervention of toxic stress situations. If these issues are addressed the scientists believe a young child could absorb more as they are learning and in turn lead a more satisfied life as they grow up.

The link to Strong Start is:http://www.startstrong.ie/

Easy to read and interesting information.