Final Blog for Issues and Trends

Wow, where to begin to thank all of the websites I have visited in my exploration for information.  The Internet can be a positive force in this sense.  Three consequences of learning about early childhood internationally is that I have learned the issues effecting others outside the US, I have become inspired and motivated by what is being done in some of the poorest parts of the world, and that I have been able to share stories with my colleagues and am able to get the word out. 

My goal for the field of early childhood and international awareness of issues and trends is that the Global meetings do not stop, but only multiply.  I understand that the field is slowly gaining the importance that it deserves and through the process of speaking up and speaking out we can make a difference globally. 

The importance of collegial relationships to me is the bond that takes place when people with similar interests get together.  But in this case not only similar interests, but similar passions and the want to make changes happen.  I like the fact that I can bounce ideas off of colleagues and receive feedback that is part wisdom, part experience.  This has been a great journey in education and one I plan to keep repeating. 

Three New Ideas Learned from UNESCO

The most saddening side to not hearing back from my international contacts is the gained professional contact and information that I have missed out on.  I was really excited to hear from Italy, a place I have always wanted to visit.  However, thanks to knowing the website for their UNICEF program, http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/italy.html, I am able to visit and get to speed when needed (thank you Internet).  

 

On the website for UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, I watched a short video about Moscow’s kindergartens.  It was nice to see the children experiencing their culture and learning with adults as well as their peers.  They emphasized singing in their language as well as learning English.  They dressed up with their parents in traditional garments and the excitement displayed by the adults to sing and dance encouraged the children.  It would be nice if in America parents could attend the kindergarten setting with their child to sing and dance, but I feel that art and expression is being pushed far out of the boundaries for kindergarten. 

I was made aware that the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education website has stepped up their own language barriers.  Besides English, there are now four other languages available in which to view the website material, those include, French, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese. 

There was also an article that caught my attention regarding the inequality of child care quality versus costs.  “Good quality childcare comes at a price, said Helen Penn from the University of East London. She estimated the cost at between $7,600 and $22,000 a year. In many countries she added, it is provided mainly by entrepreneurs.  This exacerbates inequalities, the rich being able to pay more for higher quality service” UNESCO, 2010)  This headline is something we have been steadily talking about in class.  How can we improve on quality care when the funding is non-existent?  Also, why is it so easy for some to see the benefits and need for quality education and care for all children, but others seem to think it is okay for now to set on the back burner? 

UNESCO-United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/world-conference-on-ecce/single-view/news/market_control_of_ecce_is_not_an_option/

Sharing my Web Resource- Save the Children

I chose a different approach to reviewing my Save the Children website.  I had noticed this link before but had never followed it.  Up at the top of the main home page, under Ways to Give, there was something called a Gift Catalog.  Gift Catalog?  After clicking on the link I was able to find out that this was a place where you can directly purchase an item for a child and their family.  But unlike regular catalog items there is no option for this fall’s latest J.Lo cardigan.  These items are cows, donkeys, goats, a child’s education, and ready-made food to name some of them.  I was really surprised that I would be able to buy such useful items up front. 

There was also a link to their blog, and they have started a Twitter account as well. 

Under What We Do, I found a title called Success Stories.  Who doesn’t want to read something like this when all around are famine and heartache?  I clicked on it and was able to read many stories of how Save the Children has been helping to save lives and bring hope to many, many families. 

I read a story about a mother in Egypt who had three miscarriages because there were no health services for pregnant women in the area in which she lived.  Can you believe that?  She was unable to obtain care in the city because of the cost of getting there.  She was a farmer’s wife and they didn’t have a lot of money.  So she would just wait and see how long she could carry each baby.  That is her child’s earliest care, in the womb, and he/she is unable to receive it due to lack of income, and lack of services.  After three miscarriages I am sure this mother was wondering if she should or even could keep trying.  She found out from word of mouth that Save the Children had come to her village and through their help she was able to carry the baby full term with the proper medical care, and deliver him.  The inequity that she faced before Save the Children helped her is something that even the poorest in America do not know anything about. 

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

International Early Childhood

I have not received any responses from the many emails I have sent to childhood professionals around the globe.  This week I have gained insight into what is going on in the world around me through a Harvard University website http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/.

I looked up the Harvard University’s website about the “Global Children’s Initiative” and learned that Chile is doing something about their early childhood programs.  An organization called Un Buen Comienzo, or A Good Start, plans to help teachers and childhood workers further their “professional development” (Harvard University, 2011)   They plan on doing a study of 60 early childhood programs that involve children from ages four to six.  The most interesting part is that Chile is the first South American country to start something like this.  This could really revolutionize a start to improving early childhood programs throughout Latin America.   

There was also a conference in Moscow around this time last year, where a goal of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization was revisited.  The goal was “In 2000, the world’s governments established a set of ambitious international goals—such as ending extreme poverty and hunger, ensuring that every child worldwide completes at least a primary education, and reducing child mortality by two-thirds—to be achieved by 2015” (Harvard University, 2011)  To me these goals are great but we all know how fast 2015 is approaching.  How can the UN possibly fulfill them all now?  It will however, be great to see how far they have come in 15 years. 

From reading through this website it is hard to take in all that is happening in the huge world around us.  It is also hard not to want to jump in and help.  What seems to be the best remedy for this is to find a place locally that I can volunteer or donate to.  At least starting somewhere has its advantages because the help grows and grows from that point on and a little help goes a long way to providing a safer and healthier life for a child. 

Harvard University. (2011). Un Buen Comienzo. Global Children’s Initiative. Online article retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/ubc/

Harvard University. (2011). Global Gathering in Moscow Put Spotlight on Early Childhood Issues. Global Child Development. Online article retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/topics/global_child_development/moscow-conference/#