One of the insights that I have gained throughout this course was that there is a strong passion for offering quality early childhood programs to children that is shared all around the world. I saw this passion directly when reading the news articles provided by UNESCO's Early Childhood and Care webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/). I was excited to see that even though we may come from different cultural backgrounds, we as educators strive to provide quality education to all children in the early years.
I also learned that poverty-related conditions are not limited simply to third world countries, where poverty is highly emphasized. Poverty is seen all around the world and impacts millions of children each year (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/). As a result, children are faced with the task of fighting the effects of poverty instead of focusing on being a child and enjoying the basic benefits of childhood that many people take for granted. Children experiencing poverty lack the opportunity to participate in early childhood programs, which can often lead to poor educational performance throughout their childhood. If these children are denied access to early childhood programs because of their "quality of life" status, how are they supposed to overcome the barriers necessary for them to ultimately progress beyond poverty?
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Another insight that I gained over the past several weeks was that professional development is key to improving the quality of early childhood programs around the world. I am a strong believer in staying up to date with current trends and issues in any career field, but educators around the world agree that this is a necessity in order to maintain early childhood programs. In Turkey, the ACEV provided professional development opportunities to assist their teachers in learning how to help needy families access assistance programs throughout the country (http://www.acev.org/en/anasayfa).
As I mentioned earlier, one goal that I have is to continue to try to initiate and maintain contact with early childhood professionals from around the globe. I think that it would be a great way to learn about early childhood programs from other parts of the world and see if there are any practices that we can put in place here in the United States. In the meantime, I will continue to explore the websites that I have listed in the past weeks to continue to learn about current practices and issues happening in the field.
Hi Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and I agree with you that Professional Development is essential in maintaining a level of professionalism in our field as well as staying abreast of the latest trends and developmental discoveries in education.
I am really sorry that you weren't able to establish contact with an international educator however, it seems as if you have learned a wealth of information from the alternate assignments.
Thanks again!
Berdetta
Hi Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI also found the issue of poverty very insightful. It is a sad situation that needs much attention. I also sympathize with your having trouble connecting with an international contact. I came across mine quite by accident. I had joined a blog, Early Childhood Educators and was reading a post. The author said she taught ESL is Spain, so I commented on her post and that's how we started! There is also a blog called Early Childhood Education that you might find helpful. Good Luck in your future endeavors. I hope to have another class with you!
Lynn
I also looked into poverty very hard and how much it is effecting the children all over the world and also in our very own country. It was amazing to me to see how much our own country and children that we work with everyday are struggling to make ends meets. The poverty website is a great resource to learn about to families around you. I also have the goal of opening a quality low-cost center for all children to have the same education no matter how much their parents income is.
ReplyDeleteHi Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed reading your blog this semester. I too am very concerned about poverty, not just in other countries but in our country as well, especially in my own community. The childpoverty.org is an awesome website to further our understanding of poverty related issues. I too had no luck establishing international contacts but hope that I make some contacts in the near future. Thank you so much for all of your insightful posts and I wish you the best of luck as your continue your studies and your advocacy efforts on behalf of young children.
Thanks,
Monette
Hi Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading your posts. I think you have provided me with much great and insightful information that I will be able to carry with me throughout my early early childhood profession. I too have not had a very good chance with communicating with someone international, but I will also continue to try because I think that it is very vital that we are inform about young children and early education throughout the world. I just want to thank you for all of the informational and I wish you the best throughout for early childhood profession.