Final Blog

Through out  this course I have been able to learn much more about the early childhood field  and how other countries are helping in field as well.  I was not able to make an international contact The podcasts and reading my colleagues blogs has afforded me a wealth of information to be shared with my coworkers.Many countries are struggling with low salaries for those in the the EC field,standards and quality programs. 


The three consequences of international learning is global awareness because sometime every country think they know more than the other when the reality is we all can really learn from each other. In this course I learned that all countries have the same problems as the united states, but we have one thing in common and that's the love of the early childhood education. Over the past eight weeks I have learned that it is important to make contact and learn what what other are doing in the field. You can learn so much from the culture demographics of other countries. The next consequence of international learning is cultural diversity, the pod casts allowed see how other professional in the field share their  thoughts about the field. Learning about other countries cultures offers me the chance to learn about reading the articles and browsing through the websites when was so informational. The third consequence of international learning is building partnerships 

The final consequence of learning about international early childhood programs is building partnerships with global contacts.  Throughout the course, I was not able to establish a contact with a global contact.  I learned so much from reading others blogs which was very beneficial to learning about other countries and the developments in the early childhood field in other countries.  Building partnerships is very essential to any job within the early childhood field which is valuable in helping us create classrooms with global awareness with  respect with cultural diversity. When we build partnerships with contacts from other countries we are able to gain and share information along with  ideas that can help us all. One goal I have for this field is for more international contact be made with local programs to share insights and thoughts in the field. Lastly I would like to say, To Dr. Giordiana, class and group colleagues, I have learned so much from each of you!

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

The podcast Episode 10,by  Susan Lyon which was about how  small child’s conception of the word “city”, and therefore she started learning and reading about young children think, after research on the cognitive development of young children Susan brought the  “100 Languages of Children” exhibit to the San Francisco Bay area. Susan Lyons began work with the Innovative Teacher Project, and she also taught at the Presidio Child Care Center and the San Francisco public schools. She is presently working at a San Francisco Italian immersion preschool.  

UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/), after reading and navigating the website,  I learned about  the  2000 Dakar Framework for Action and their work with  the  early childhood field. I also learned that  other countries have that same issue of money and finance  in their efforts to expand and improve the quality of early childhood care and education as our country does. I think that by communicating and have international contact we are learning from each other and that will be able to help each other’s country. I really enjoy reading and learning about the work that other outside of this country is doing in the field to help children.

I have not received a response from my contacts by I will continue to try other until I have made a contact with an international contact. My professional goals include to be the best teacher and educator I can be and to continue to be an advocate for children and families.  My professional hopes and dreams include to make sure that all children will one day be able to have access to quality education with high quality teachers, materials and standards. I do not see any professional challenges because I will try my best to follow through on my goals in life because if I can beat cancer I can beat anything in life. 

Sharing Web Resources: The National Head Start Association

The National Head Start Association is a great resource for early childhood educators, teachers and parents. The website offers an abundant amount of information about staff development, training, learning opportunities, blogs, parent radio. For this week, I took a look a the Keep the Window Open! tab. I don't know how I had missed this tab before but is GREAT. I got a chance to see what others had to share about their story about head start. On the tab there a link where you can see testimonials from every state. I am going to try to read some from every state, I have already started, it is just amazing how head start has touched the lives of so many and continue to do so. The association has goal of 27 million to tell their story about head start and how it has touched their  lives and changed them forever.


I am a member of the organization, and I receive the newsletter, the newsletter which shares the most recent information about upcoming training and advocacy opportunities and much more. The association is a great resource and that is why I am sharing it with others to share with their co-workers and parents.


As educators we must be able to have resources that can help better the lives of children and families and this is a great resource.






Reference


http://www.nhsa.org/

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

I listen to the podcast this week on

Episode 3: Delfena Mitchell

Delfena Mitchell is Director of the Liberty Children’s Home, on the outskirts of Belize City. This program opened in the summer of 2005 and is licensed to house up to 40 children, predominantly between birth to 5 years of age. However, older children who have younger siblings in care are and will always be accommodated.

All of the children at the care center have been abandoned, abused or orphaned and many have disabilities, special needs or are HIV positive. Further information on this program is available at www.libertyfoundation.org.uk.

This week podcast hit home because in my city there is not children's home, and I was at a store and met this young lady who said she was homeless and had been abused and I asked her if she need someone to talk to and I gave her my address. She came to my home and I gave her a meal and a place to stay for the night. I so fortunate to read about people who do deeds for others. 

For the alternative for this assignment allowed me to learn about  The Center's Global Children’s Initiative has begun to build a portfolio of activities in three domains: early childhood development; mental health; and children in crisis and conflict situations.

Early Childhood Development

The first priority in this area is to learn the successful work the Center has conducted in the United States for a broader range of strategically selected audiences, in an effort to energize and reframe the global dialogue around investments in the earliest years of life.

Child Mental Health

Mental health concerns is addressed issue that has significant implications for the broader health and development of children and societies. There is an urgent need to identify the scope of the problem within and across countries and to develop evidence-based approaches in policy and service delivery that are responsive to diverse cultural contexts. To respond to this challenge, a working group of Harvard faculty is developing a focused agenda in research, education, and public engagement to address significant gaps in knowledge and service delivery.

Children and Crisis 

The goal of this effort is to foster interdisciplinary collaboration that incorporates a science-based, developmental perspective into the assessment and management of child well-being in a range of natural and man-made crises, focusing on both immediate circumstances and long-term adaptation. Two issues are the initial focus of activity in this domain:

• Exploring comparable approaches to surveying child status in post-earthquake Haiti and Chile.
• Bringing the science of child development into strategies for addressing acute malnutrition.

This week assignment allowed me to learn more about the equities of early childhood education and it helped me understand that there global countries that have a focus on quality early childhood education. After listening to the podcast I learn that there are a number of professionals who are as passionate as I am about the field. I look forward to learning and hearing from my international contact.