Final Blog Assignment EDUC6162

While learning about international childhood education field, I learned the teachers in Africa don’t not just receive traditional education training but they must learn how to be able to teach and adjust when the climate changes when is something America teachers don’t have to be concerned about because most students learn indoors with heater and air conditioning and are all protected for the wind and the rain.

I learned that in many countries boys are the primary ones to go to school because girls are taught domestic duties. It is not until more recent years that girls are being included in education. Therefore the assumption that all children are learning around the world is false.

Lastly in some countries primary education is free. To receive secondary education which is high school, student must pass a require test and once passed they can attend secondary school. For those who don’t pass has t their pay for school or they will become dropouts

One of my goals is to one day visit a school in another country and teach young children how to read and write which is something I never thought of before attending Walden University. Walden has a passion for international education that has definitely rubbed off on me.

I wish great success for all my colleagues in the education profession. I pray that those who have yet to find their passion do so and for those who have, continue to strive for excellence in early childhood education on every level!!

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

Share at least three new ideas or insights you gained about issues related to international early childhood education that relate to your professional goals.

While researching this site I was surprised to learn that early childhood education was not a priority for children in developing countries.  The 1990 Jomtien Declaration on Education for All (EFA) stated that countries should view early childhood as part of basic education. Once countries recognize the positive value of state investment in this area, the next challenge is to mobilize funds. In general, government funding for early childhood is extremely small. For this reason approaching the private sector (non-profit and for-profit) can be an effective strategy (2013).

While reading about training teachers in Africa, it doesn’t occur to me that the lessons that students-teachers learn is slightly different from what is taught in America. Learning how to prepare lesson plans for a climate change and how to conduct a field trip is more important for that environment than something such as play theory.

Cross-sectoral coordination is difficult, especially at the national level. It is one of the main challenges facing governments of both developed and developing countries trying to promote a holistic approach to early childhood. Responses vary and some countries have sought to remove the problem by integrating sectoral responsibilities into a single ministry.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Sharing Web Resources

• Follow some of the outside links that you have not yet explored. Where do they lead? The website I have chosen is Harlem Children Zone. The only outside link that I found were reviews from several news outlets.

• Thoroughly search one area of the site. What do you find? Under the media tab I click on whatever it takes. Whatever It Takes is a book “Written by New York Times editor Paul Tough, "Whatever It Takes," is a compelling, in-depth look at the ground-breaking work of the Harlem Children's Zone and its leader, Geoffrey Canada (2013).” In addition there is a lesson plan that goes along with the book that discusses urban education issues explored in the book. This was very exciting for me because I want to replicate this program when I move to another state.  This link also led to reviews from several from The New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times
  
  
• If you receive an e-newsletter, follow a link related to one of the issues you have been studying. What new information is available? When I opened the newsletter, it was Harlem children zone wanting to send their 300 graduates of their program who are now college students, a package of school supplies to remind them that they will always be there for them.  This newsletter did not relate to any of the issues I have been studying.

• Does the website or the e-newsletter contain any information that adds to your understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education? The Harlem Children Zone strives for excellence so much so that they have been recognized by the President of The United States and  the President plans to replicate the program in 20 states.

• ·         What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain this week from exploring the website and/or the e-newsletter?  What I gained the most is the knowledge that President Barack Obama plans to replicate the Harlem Children Zone and its success across the country. I am so impressed and inspired by the Harlem Children Zone, when I moved across the country; I plan to replicate this educational system.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

1.    The multimedia video , Building Adult Capabilities to Improve Child Outcomes: A Theory of Change describes the need to focus on building the capabilities of caregivers and strengthening the communities that together form the environment of relationships essential to children's lifelong learning, health, and behavior. It goes on to say that  What children need is entire environment of relationship to be invested in their overall healthy growth. It starts will building active skills in adults and when this is done, we find that Building adult capacities and improve children outcomes. With out this strong foundation children will fall behind

2.    InBrief: Executive Function: Skills for Life and Learning, Being able to focus, hold, and work with information in mind, filter distractions, and switch gears is like having an air traffic control system at a busy airport to manage the arrivals and departures of dozens of planes on multiple runways. In the brain, this air traffic control mechanism is called executive functioning, a group of skills that helps us to focus on multiple streams of information at the same time, and revise plans as necessary. This edition of the InBrief series explains how these lifelong skills develop, what can disrupt their development, and how supporting them pays off in school and life. Acquiring the early building blocks of these skills is one of the most important and challenging tasks of the early childhood years, and having the right support and experiences through middle childhood, adolescence, and into early adult life is essential for the successful development of these capacities.

 

3.    The full range of abilities continues to grow and mature through the teen years and into early adulthood. To ensure that children develop these capacities, it’s helpful to understand how the quality of the interactions and experiences that our communities provide for them either strengthens or undermines these emerging skills. They are as follows:

1. When children have had opportunities to develop executive function and self-regulation skills successfully, both individuals and society experience lifelong benefits.

2. The critical factors in developing a strong foundation for these essential skills are chil­dren’s relationships, the activities they have oppor­tunities to engage in, and the places in which they live, learn, and play.

3. If children do not get what they need from their relationships with adults and the conditions in their environments or worse if those influences are sources of toxic stress, their skill development can be seriously delayed or impaired.

Harvard university center on developing child offers several activities. One of the programs offered is student education and leadership development: Learning opportunities.

The Center’s Education and Leadership Development (ELD) agenda is a full suite of formal and informal opportunities committed to enhancing the growth of the next generation during the critical early stages of their intellectual development. We are also focused on building the capacity of career professionals to translate research into policy and action. As such, we engage both current and future leaders in constructive dialogue to expose them to new paradigms and theories in order to guide their understanding of how to leverage this new knowledge on behalf of vulnerable children and their families.

Student Seminar Series

The Center on the Developing Child’s Student Seminar Series is designed to foster interdisciplinary conversations among Harvard undergraduates and graduate students who are interested in promoting the healthy development of young children in the United States and abroad. Led by a doctoral student facilitator, the yearlong, non-credit Student Seminar Series will focus on a variety of topics and employs various formats, including conversations with practitioners, policymakers, and researchers and discussion of current events.