Final blog for EDUC 6162

Well, since I never did hear back from my international requests, I will have to rely on the posts of others and webpages I have explored.

By taking a look at ECE around the world, I discovered that:
     1. Sadly, funding for ECE is a major issue for many countries around the world.
     2. The importance of ECE is recognized in most nations worldwide.
     3. ECE educators worldwide are feeling some of the frustrations experienced here in the USA.

One goal for this field would be for educators to take advantage of the ease of communication. Today, you can talk to just about anyone, anywhere. Teachers should be utilizing this to work together for the betterment of education worldwide.

I wish my classmates well on the next leg of their journey.....

International Contacts--Part 3

 

            Since I have yet to receive any type of a response from any of the international contacts I reached out to, I have once again opted to complete the optional assignment. This week, it is to explore the following website and share my insights:

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

            The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization have a mission similar to many of the organizations I have researched lately: providing young children the tools and assistance they need to be healthy, strong, and well-educated.

            Unlike many of the webpages I have explored, however, was the lack of appeals for funding. There were no “click here to become a member” ads, no money-making conferences: nothing but actual information.

            The next thing I noticed was that this website is not pushing their own agenda on nations world-wide. They acknowledge that, while we know early childhood services are vital, they also acknowledge that there is no one accepted answer to the question “What is high quality?”

            The last thing that impressed me was the fact that this organization understands the importance of the fact that there is only one planet, and we all have to share it. The betterment of life for all mankind is more important than nations.

            I must say, that I have become more than a bit discouraged over the last few weeks. My experiences have led me to distrust educational organizations rather than rely on them. This website was a refreshing change from my experiences of late.

Exploring the Head Start website...again

For this week, I am supposed to further explore the Head Start website, although I really don’t see the point. The information is pretty basic, and doesn’t really change all that much from week to week. The biggest items are the upcoming 50^th anniversary, requests for money, and celebrating those organizations which give them money. In fact, of the six main headings, four of them deal mainly in the financial end. Yes, I include conferences under financial, because they are quite costly and make money for Head Start. This is not to say that I don’t believe in the Head Start Program, it’s just reporting on what I am actually reading.

Part of the assignment was to find new information which adds to my understanding of equity and excellence in early childhood education, as well as new trends or issues. Again, the information doesn’t really change all that much, so there aren’t any new revelations. They do have links to several studies, but the results are all pretty much what we already know: early childhood education is vital to children’s development, high quality programs give children the best chance to succeed, and so on.

Sorry, but I really just can’t find anything new or Earth-shattering to report upon.

Getting to Know Internation Contacts Pt 2

 

As I have not heard from anyone regarding my requests for international contacts, I opted to explore the website http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/. The Global Children’s Initiative was born out of a realization that we have an obligation to see that all children worldwide are healthy: physically, mentally, and developmentally.

The first thing that stuck me while reading the website is that they base their work on what they learned while working in the United States. I find this funny, as much of what I have read lately says that the United States is trying to catch up to the rest of the world. The recent battles over the Affordable Health Care Act are proof that the health system in the U.S. is clearly not ideal, and the push for standardized testing is an attempt to improve education to be more like other countries.

The next thing which struck me was the fact that this Global Children’s Initiative is using the science of early childhood development to create early childhood programs worldwide. We don’t even do that in the United States! We IGNORE the science, and instead focus on the methods with quickly reportable assessments.

Un Buen Comienzo (A Good Start) is another program—this time in Chile—that resembles the Head Start Program here in the United States. They focus on educating not only the children, but the families as well. This is great—except that my recent research into Head Start shows that they are so severely underfunded, that they hit up the very people they serve and the people who work for them to raise funds!

While I know that the need for early childhood education and healthy development are an important need worldwide, I find it ironic that an American University is working on improving other countries, when our own country is so desperately in need! I am certainly not saying that we should ignore the plights of other countries. What I am saying is that maybe we should spend some of those resources fixing what is wrong here before we start telling other countries how they should be doing things.

ECE and the almighty dollar

           During further investigation into http://www.nhsa.org/, I am once again hit with the cold hard fact that early childhood is all about the almighty dollar. Trainings and conferences are offered to staff and parents, but at a cost—sometimes in the amount of several hundred dollars! This does not include the cost of lodging, food, and transportation. Teachers who work for this organization do not make a large salary, so attending one of these sessions could prove to be cost prohibitive if not subsidized. Is this the best use of the dollars allocated to Head Start? As for parent conferences, I cannot imagine how parents could afford to attend, given the fact that they have to meet low income guidelines in order to qualify for services in the first place!

            Instead of feeling enlightened or inspired, reading the information found on this website is making me feel discouraged. On every page are links: “Donate Now” “Become a member” and notices about budget cuts and how “you” can and need to fight for this program.

            We have more research than we know what to do with confirming that investing in early childhood education is not only a good idea, it is a NECESSARY investment to make (even if everyone jumping on the bandwagon doesn’t necessarily understand how or why this investment is a good thing). But yet, one of the biggest organizations concerning early childhood education is devoting much of their website to trying to raise funds—through expensive trainings and conferences, through donations and memberships—by whatever means necessary.

            If politicians and people in power truly supported the idea that early childhood education was vital and necessary, then why aren’t the funds in place? Why do organizations need to keep begging for them, lobbying for them, and supplementing them?

             When is REAL change going to occur?

 

Getting to Know International Contacts

 

Although the only responses I have received with regards to establishing international contacts have been of the "Thank you for your interest. Your request will be sent to the appropriate person" variety, I did manage to learn a few things by reading teacher blogs from other countries: although we may live oceans away, teachers all over the world have many similar concerns: how to stretch their budgets, how to best meet the needs of their students, and sharing ideas with others.

By checking the webpage: http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/index_childpoverty.html, I was able to become more aware of poverty as a worldwide issue. I became acutely aware that, while teachers around the globe share similar concerns, the challenges they face may be quite different.

1.      The lack of education of girls around the world is still of major concern. According to this website, over 60 million females of school age were not enrolled in school in 2011. UNICEF is working to remove obstacles that prohibit girls from attending school and gaining much needed education.

2.      Poverty is an issue in every country in the world. The struggles may not look the same in industrialized nations as it does in others, such as war-torn regions, but the heart of the matter is the same: lack of food, lack of adequate shelter, lack of clean water, lack of safety.

3.      Health issues are a major concern among those living in poverty. Malnutrition, lack of clean water, lack of sanitation, lack of health care services and lack of education all contribute to dire medical concerns.

Instead of being inspired by the progress made thus far, I am heartbroken to realize that in this journey of a thousand steps, we seems to have made but a few.

Making Connections

For the making connections portion of my current course, I have chosen to examine the National Head Start Association (http://www.nhsa.org/). According to the information on their webpage, the main idea behind Head Start is that every child, no matter what disadvantages he or she is faced with, should and can succeed. Since 1974, it has been working to do just that. They believe that they have to provide services for the child, as well as be a voice for the child.

Through their own research department, the NHSA has determined that the benefits of Head Start are far-reaching. In addition to the educational advantages, students who participate are healthier, less likely to be dependent upon subsidy programs, and less likely to have trouble with law enforcement.

Many of the items I read dealt with budget cuts, funding, and how the government shut down drastically disrupted services to those in need. For every dollar invested in quality early childhood education, the return is approximately $7.00. Despite this, funding is a serious issue. Much of the page is dedicated to the many ways in which the NHSA is struggling to raise awareness, secure funding, and collect public support.

The NHSA is currently serving over one million children, and could be serving more if they had sufficient funds to do so, showing that the issue of poverty and young children is growing. I shall be interested to see how this page addresses the upcoming mid-tern elections, and the results thereof.