Consequences of International Communication

My primary connections to an international early childhood program was through Jessica Liddell from Alberta, Canada and frequent e-newsletters from Zero to Three, in addition to frequent research on international organizations that help to maintain and support early childhood education around the world and information posted by colleagues on discussions and blogs.

Through discovering new information about the ongoing of international early childhood education, I have learned a lot of how other countries perceive and develop early programs for children and families. Additionally, I've definitely been exposed to the various struggles countries face with providing opportunities for young children and families to receive care as well as the positive pushes forward that countries are pursuing for the young population. I also discovered new information about support organizations that assist early childhood facilities with managing areas such as child development and curriculum standards and funding.

It is truly amazing to take in information about the conditions in other countries and consider how much the United States has to provide and benefit young children and families. Families living in developing nations, that lack structured education, safe and sanitary living conditions, and even fresh water, struggle to provide adequate care for their children, which is why the work of organizations to support early childcare on an international scale, such as Zero to Three. Through my personal communication with Jessica and my research on various organizations, and feel that I can also bring a ton of new ideas and concepts to our facility to enhance our program and the opportunities for our students and families.

One goal for the early childhood field could be to increase the awareness of international issues and continue to provide needed support in developing areas of the world, where education has taken a back seat to other problems, by providing the resources, personnel, and knowledge necessary for the care and education of children, parents, and families. 

A big thanks to my professor and colleagues for sharing and supporting new information and experiences these past 8 weeks. I wish everyone the best of luck as you continue through the MCECS program and look forward to sharing again in the future!

Caitlin

Jessica Liddell, Mother Earth's Children's Charter School

This week my international contact, Jessica Liddell, a Kindergarten teacher and special education coordinator at Mother Earth's Children's Charter School in Stony Plain, AB, Canada, posed her responses to the questions posted.  

What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?

Our province is currently undergoing major revisions in our education model and a shift is occurring in how programs are being delivered.  There are several large initiatives and projects being rolled out right now and two in particular will have major implications on our early childhood programs.  One project - "Action on Inclusion" is focusing on how students with special needs are supported in regular classrooms including how funding is distributed, how special services are accessed, how teachers are trained to support exceptional learners, etc.  There is both excitement and some anxiety as the details for this unfold.  There has also been an Early Childhood Development Mapping Initiative that is about midway through it's five year roll out.  This promises to reveal insights into regions of the province and where students are at developmentally (Socially, emotionally, physically, readiness skills for school, etc.) during their Kindergarten year.  Reporting from other countries as well as other provinces in Canada that are already using this data collection method reveals some pretty interesting statistics so I am excited to learn more as we move further into the project in our area.  On a more localized level, our school regularly faces challenges regarding perceptions about ECS programs.  In Alberta, Kindergarten is not mandatory and we still have many families that are not fully committed to the value of regular attendance.

What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?

Our school staff have participated in many PD opportunities addressing our major school focuses for the year.  We have begun to utilize Martha Kaufeldt's brain based and thematic approaches in our planning as well as a new literacy model and so that has been where most PD has occurred.  I love having opportunities to learn from others and so I have been supported in visiting other exemplary Kindergarten classes each year.  I am still quite new to the profession - this is my fourth year however my university training was not in early childhood but actually special education and so I have much to learn about working with the littles!  There are some amazing opportunities for professional development available, and I feel fortunate to work for a school board that is quite committed to supporting my participation in opportunities that I feel would enhance my skill set.

What are some of your professional goals?

As a non-native person working in an Indigenous charter school, I am committed to learning about and understanding the culture and the history of the population I am working with. 
Our school strives to recognize the gifts and talents of students in a holistic sense and so in addition to working at building relationships with students and their families that will support nurturing of those gifts and talents, I also strive to build my toolkit of strategies and practices so that I can create learning opportunities that are meaningful and appropriate for the individuals I work with.

What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?

The reality of the students that I work with in some cases is very tragic.  There are some circumstances that these 4 and 5 year olds are in that I cannot begin to imagine how they remain resilient and hopeful.  I HOPE that I provide a safe and caring place for them to feel special and loved,  I DREAM that these amazing children will forever see themselves as capable learners and will become incredible leaders,  I am often CHALLENGED by not enough hours in the day.

I hope this is helpful and if you have the time I would be interested to hear more about your program and your responses to these topics.
Thanks - Jessica

After doing some research, I found that Martha Kaufeldt presents motivational presentations and dynamic workshops throughout the U.S. and Canada that address the fundamentals of Brain Compatible Learning, Differentiated Instruction and Integrated Curriculum for all grade level staff (Kaufeldt, 2005). I think this is a terrific addition for a program's educators as part of professional development. I also enjoyed reading that the professional goals of their program is to recognize the gifts and talents of students in a holistic sense, build relationships with students and their families that will support nurturing of those gifts and talents, and incorporate more of the natural and indigenous environment and history into their curriculum as a way of enriching the lives and education of each child. 

Jessica's personal goals provided a connection to my own personal experiences as a new member of the early childhood field. We both are reaching out in our positions to learn about these young children, to take on positive and hands-on participation in enriching the lives of each child we serve, and grow as a professional in the early childhood education community.

References
Kaudfeldt, Martha. (2005). Begin with the Brain. Retrieved from http://www.beginwiththebrain.com/index.php

Analyzing Organization Website

The Zero to Three website not only has a ton of information, but also links to other site for organizations, including four main links on the home page for Early Head Start, National Training Institute, Military Family Projects, and National Infant and Child Care Initiative. The first link for the Early Head Start leads to their website which includes EHS program locations, activities and upcoming conferences, news, and the mission of this federally funded community-based program for low-income families with infants and toddlers and pregnant women to promote healthy prenatal care, development of young children, and family functioning.

This week, I took a closer look at the Zero to Three Care and Education pages regarding the need for positive early learning experiences to foster their intellectual, social and emotional development and lay the foundation for later school success (Zero to Three, 2011). Zero to Three specifically mentions the growing number of infants, toddlers, and young children who spend more of their day with people other than their parents - including program caregivers, babysitters, family members, and friends. With that in mind, they promote that it's important for parents and families to understand the pros and cons to look for the type of child care facility best suited for their child. For instance, there's public and private center-based centers, family, friend, and neighbor arrangements, personal nannies and sitters, etc.

In the e-newsletters I receive from Zero to Three, hot topics are discussed from news going on in early childhood education around the country. For example, this week Alison Gopnik questions if too much direct teaching in Pre-K limit kids' curiosity. The pressures of reaching high academic levels and readiness for primary school through teacher directed learning is suppressing the time allotted for creativity and imagination in prekindergarten programs. Developmental scientists are studying the basic science behind learning and what we know about how teaching affects learning (Gopnik, 2011). 

Zero to Three promotes both federal and state polices that push for equity for children and families to receive proper early childhood care and services, including Title IV of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221) authorizes the Early Learning Challenge Fund, a new federal funding stream to promote State early care and education systems for children birth to five (Zero to Three, 2011). 

References

Gopnik, Alison. (2011). Why Preschool Shouldn't Be Like School: New Research shows that teaching kids more and more, at ever-younger ages, may backfire. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/id/2288402/pagenum/all/#p2

Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2011). http://www.zerotothree.org/

New Resource: Global Children’s Initiative

The Center on the Developing Child through Harvard University believes that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it provides opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship. They build a multi-disciplinary science of health, learning, and behavior, advance our understanding of how to reduce preventable disparities in well-being, catalyze the formulation and implementation of effective, science-based policies, and prepare future and current leaders to make science-based policy decisions (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010). Having a strong interest in the sciences myself, I really found that the biological and psychological research being completed on behalf of early childhood learning and development has strong significance on standards and decision making in the field. I think that considering scientific evidence of healthy learning and development in young children provides different and accurate benefits for early childhood programs.

The Center on the Developing Child also promotes other initiatives and organizations that use scientific evidence for early childhood and early brain development on positive early childhood education policies (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010).

I feel that using scientific study to support the curriculum and standards we set forth for early childhood learning and development would allow for greater unification and equity of programs on a larger scale. Although science does not always fit every circumstance, through ongoing study it can provide more accurate confirmation of the physical, cognitive, and emotional development of a child’s body and mind.

Resources

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2010). Global children’s initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/