Research Around the World

I decided to answer the following questions through the website, EECERA, the European Early Childhood Education Research Association.  The link is http://www.eecera.org/conferences/. 

What are some of the current international research topics?

                I read that the organization just had a conference in September of this year in regards to how researching is being done in early childhood, and where exactly can they expand and improve.  In fact, to word them correctly, “This theme focuses on what practices exist for early education and what should be developed?” (EECERA. (2011)

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

                From the notes of the conference, I was able to observe that the same issues they were discussing, economic versus education, obtaining an inclusive classroom, educator training and qualifications, are the same issues we have been discussing throughout our Walden journey. 

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

                I found a topic titled “Aims of EECERA” and within this tab I read the organization lives up to.  They perform and create new and advanced ways to research everything that deals with early childhood.  With the changing times and more and more people suing over every little thing, I would guess that finding ways to research without crossing anyone’s boundaries would be a little difficult.  I also read that they offer awards to students who are currently enrolled in a postgraduate college who choose to write research papers and present them to the organization.  Many of the requirements were familiar to me from what I have learned from my current class. 

EECERA. (2011) 21st EECERA Annual Conference Switzerland 2011. Retrieved from http://www.eecera2011.org/.

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Strange but true, the assignment this week about providing an example of how research conducted proved to be positive on children and/or families, directly made me think of the show “Wife Swap”.

I have only seen a couple episodes, but I can say that families experience a huge wave of change and it is the children as well as the husband who express frustration.  The families are able to see that getting along outside of their bubble is sometimes harder to do than they believe.  The wives are thrown into other ways of doing things, sometimes experiencing great heartache, grief, and embarrassment along the way. 

And if that wasn’t enough, at the end of the show or experiment, the two families can get together and talk about what they liked and disliked about the change.  I believe this experiment creates positivity because it alleviates the sometimes felt; the grass is greener on the other side theory.  It reminds families of what they have together and often that their so-called routine needs working on so all members are happy. 

My Personal Research Journey

My original topic that I am interested in regarding early childhood is infant temperament.  I have wondered if infants who have calm and easy going parents are more likely to have a calm and easy going baby.  Or if parents who are high strung would have a high strung baby.  To narrow down my topic I had subtopics that included, is a baby’s temperament predetermined or shared with a parent(s), does the mother’s stress have any effect on the baby’s temperament, and what are the temperaments evolution over time.  
 

To choose one of the subtopics was a little difficult for me and hopefully my colleagues will be able to assist me in this.  I am more interested in a baby’s temperament in regards to the mother’s.  But since I haven’t done any research on the topic and don’t quite sure know whether a mother’s temperament has any effects on her baby, I wondered as well if a calm mother were to have an ill-tempered baby.  And if she did, would that just be how the story goes, or did the mother’s perhaps stressful pregnancy have anything to do with the baby having such an opposite temperament from her? 

So ultimately to wonder if a baby’s temperament stemmed from the mother’s actual temperament or from the infant’s unique own, or if the mother’s stress during pregnancy had anything to do with it, was a hard decision to make in terms of a subtopic.  I think it would be difficult to research whether a mother’s child had a temperament normal to what they should have or due to something like stress because the baby cannot be reborn to different circumstances to test out the waters of the other side. 

Although we have an assignment due this week asking us to pick a subtopic for our simulations, I am at best a little undecided and am hoping my colleagues will read this and be able to give me a little help.  I will report back with anything new.

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/#