Final Blog: Three Consequences

The three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field are:

1. Trying to make contact with someone in the early childhood field that lives in another country that you don't know. People are not always so inclined or open to returning phone calls or emails from strangers for other countries.
2. Trying to find and get information about early childhood centers in other countries. The people who work in those centers and schools don't want to give information to someone they don't know. And I really can not blame them for acting like that. I would probably be the same way.
3. Not being able to go to that country that you are trying to learn about and see for yourself what you are reading about in an article or an interview. Sometimes it is hard to picture what the situation or environment is like by just reading about it.

The one goal for the early childhood field that I have that is related to international awareness is to help end poverty for children and their families. Poverty is something that is global and no matter where you live everyone sees poverty in their community and in their state/country.

I also think that it is very important has a professional early childhood teacher to have good relations with my fellow peers. I would like to thank my peers here at Walden University for their wonderful blog posts and very useful information that they have provided through out this course.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 3

UNESCO's Early Childhood Care and Education:

Access and equity

© UNESCO/Rocky Roe
Vulnerable children need equal access

The 1990 Jomtien Declaration for Education for All stated that learning begins at birth. A decade later, the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action reaffirmed the importance of early childhood by including the development of early childhood care and education as the first of its six main goals.

Participating countries committed themselves to “expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.” Governments were particularly urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy in favour of the poor.

Countries often promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative, but often raise concerns about sustainability and quality.  In cases where the government has limited resources, a pro-poor policy can redistribute resources by reducing state support for the more privileged.

Central governments must ensure an equitable distribution of resources among different populations and especially those who live in the most disadvantaged regions. This approach aims to expand access without creating serious regional inequities. However, where there is universal provision for a certain age group while the overall enrolment in other age groups is low, this policy can create inequity.

Today, UNESCO's message has never been more important. We must create holistic policies that are capable of addressing the social, environmental and economic dimensions of sustainable development. This new thinking on sustainable development reaffirms the founding principles of the Organization and enhances its role: In a globalized world with interconnected societies, intercultural dialogue is vital if we are to live together while acknowledging our diversity. In an uncertain world, the future of nations depends not only on their economic capital or natural resources, but on their collective ability to understand and anticipate changes in the environment - through education, scientific research and the sharing of knowledge. In an unstable world - marked by fledgling democratic movements, the emergence of new economic powers and societies weakened by multiple stress factors – the educational, scientific and cultural fabric of societies – along with respect for fundamental rights - guarantees their resilience and stability. In a connected world - with the emergence of the creative economy and knowledge societies, along with the dominance of the Internet, the full participation of everyone in the new global public space is a prerequisite for peace and development.

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

 

Sharing Web Resources

Child Care Aware® of America News

• April 11, 2014 |  Report
  NEW! Child Care Aware® of America Releases 2013 Annual Report
• April 9, 2014 |  Report
  NEW! April is a big month for children
• April 1, 2014 |  Resource
  Child Care Aware® of America Announces Winner of Leadership Award
• March 31, 2014 |  Resource
  Too Small to Fail’s Ann O’Leary to Speak at Child Care Aware® of America’s 2014 Symposium, Kicking Off Tomorrow
• March 26, 2014 |  Resource
  1K for Kids: Participate in Symposium from home!      

 

 

These are just some of the reports and resources that I found on the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies

 

http://www.naccrra.org/

 

Child Care Aware® of America understands that preparing families to make the best child care choice is important. Preparing those caring for their children is equally important. Research overwhelmingly finds that provider training, retention, and compensation are the best indicators for child care quality. A well-trained child care workforce is needed to meet increasing demands.
We are dedicated to supporting prospective and current child care providers. Child Care Aware® of America has partnerships, programs, and resources that are designed to help child care providers learn more about how to start a child care business, sustain their child care business,  keep  informed on current legislation and policies affecting young children, continue professional development and have access to hundreds of fun, learning activities to do with children in their care.

The safety and well-being of children is a primary concern of child care providers. It takes a great deal of trust for parents to leave their children in child care, and when disasters occur, this trust takes on a new dimension. Child Care Aware® of America understands this and is leading the first-ever nationwide initiative to prepare child care programs for disasters. To help you ensure that children are safe, Child Care Aware® of America offers resources that you can use in planning for and recovering from any catastrophe that strikes. You may also be interested in the tools for helping children and families cope with the tragedy, as well as resources for recognizing early warning signs which may lead to youth violence.

I have not gotten a newsletter yet, but I did learn about how Child Care Aware of America is helping professionals and families to have better child care in their communities in every state in America.

I really enjoyed exploring this website and I would recommend it for other professionals in the Early Childhood field.
 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 2

I still have not heard back from anyone, so I went to Harvard University's "Global Children's Initiative" website.

The information that I explored was the article, "Studying the Effects of Global Adversity, Two Generations at a Time".  The article states that when humanitarian crises hit around the world, nongovernmental organizations rush into the fray, intensively focused on urgent survival needs, not necessarily on longer-term impacts that may take an even greater toll on the country and its citizens. Theresa Betancourt, a Center-affiliated faculty member who studies children in adversity and has worked alongside NGOs, wants to help them see that farther horizon: Combining short-term survival efforts with attention to children’s developmental needs only magnifies the long-range benefits for individuals and societies.

I also learned that NGO is studying both former child soldiers in Sierra Leone and children who's parents have or had HIV/AIDS in Rwanda in order to learn more about the global mental health of children.

I think that this website is a great resource and has wonderful information about global issues that need to be supported and taught.

Resource

Harvard University's "Global Children's Initiative" website
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global/