Issues and Trends Final Post

Post there consequences of learning about the international early childhood field from your professional and personal development

So for the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to “travel” to China and Colombia and learn from two EC professionals, Xiaowan and Paola about the joys and challenges related to their work both as kindergarten teacher.  First, I want to say thank you to them for giving me the opportunity to learn about to EC field from a different context   You two were great teachers for me!  That said, one consequences o my  learnings from them as well as my other colleges is that there seems to be shared issues among the various communites.  For example, Xiaowan spoke of how professional development teachers and alignment with secondary schooling is an on going issues in her country as well as here in the US.  Another consequence is that the field here in the US can learn a lot from other EC Fields.  For example, I learned from one of my peers that in Finland that their system sees early care and education as a right and provide universal access to all children.  I think the Us should move in this direction and so I see myself support the current efforts to establish universal pre-schools for children here.  Finally, another consequence is the lack of coherence with regard to state policies, hiring and professional development policies.  I had not ideal how disjoined the field is and look forward to advocating for changes in this area, much like the policy changes recommended in the Kagan article.  All of this as inspire me to stay connected and abreast on issues in the field around the globe so I joined the WoFoNet work of  World Forum Foundation. Here’s the link to learn more about this net work of EC professionals from around the world: http://www.worldforumfoundation.org

 

Post one goal for the field related to international awareness off issues and the spirit of collegial relations.

When thinking about a goal for the field as it relates to international awareness and the spirit of collegial relations,  I would say more needs to be done around that sharing of ideas, methods and best practices among and between the international communities that make up the field.    From my discussion with my international contacts I learned that many of the issues we face are very similar in nature, including access, integration of dual language learners etc.  I am encouraged; however,  by one organization called the World Forum Foundation whose mission is to promote an on-going global exchange of ideas on the delivery  of quality  services for young children in diverse settings(www.worldforumfoundation.org).The organization’s mission is accomplish through convening gathering of early childhood professionals around the world and by promoting the continuing exchange of ideas among participates(www.worldforumfoundation.org)I cannot think of a better way to promote awareness and the spirit of collegial relations then this.

 

 

 

 

Blog Assignment: Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

 

For this week’s blog assignment I was asked to correspond with my international contact on issues related to quality and personal professional goals.  My Columbian contact has been inaccessible since she returned to Columbia a week ago, so I reached out to Xiaowan, who in an assistant kindergarten teacher at an international school in China.  Xiaowan was very forthcoming in her responses to my questions.  Here is what she had to say:

• What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?The consistency of the program across early-childhood from the Nursery to ECLC2 is one of the hottest topics we are discussing all the time. As well, there is a discussion that some teachers do not have a clear understanding of our curriculum.  In addition, we need to collaborate more to improve the quality of the program, and the skills of the teachers as well.

 

• What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?                                     Hopefully, this coming September we will have Te Whariki workshop to have a better understanding of our curriculum.  In addition, Matt Glover is coming to train teachers to improve their skills in developing children’s literacy.  In addition, we are trying out different ways to make learning visible to parents, such as using e-Portfolios.  Making learning visible is one of the criteria of a quality early-childhood, and being a quality professional as well.

• What are some of your professional goals?
•  I want to continue to improve  my skills in advocating for children and parents as well. I want the children to be responsible for their own learning, and make learning visible to parents.
• What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?    I am hoping that in the future, I will make changes, even a little one,  to children, parents, and teachers by creating a safe, caring, and supportive environment.

What I learned from my correspondence with Xiaowan is that she possesses at least one of the qualities mentioned  in this week’s post on the criteria for a quality early learning professional–reflection.  Many of my colleagues listed the ability to be reflective of areas of needed growth and plan towards that growth.  I saw this in her mentioning her desire to make leaning more visible to parents and how a trainer was being dispatched to help her and her other colleagues to accomplish this goal.

 

Sharing Web Resources: Harlem Children’s Zone

 

Given my passion around issues related to closing the achievement gap I was eager to search my chosen organization’s website to see what I would discover.  I was asked to follow some of  the outside links that I have yet to explore.  There were many links but the one that captured my attention was the link to an article in the New York Times entitled,  On HCZ’s Baby College.  Here the author shared on a key component to the success of the Harlem children’s zone, its Baby College, where parents engage in a nine week course on child development.  This article features  Dr.  T. Berry Brazelton, a renowned child pediatrician and author of the best seller, Touchpoints.  Dr. Brazelton leaves his home in Boston and flies somewhere (often times New York)  to speak at day long training sessions on children’s developmental needs and mile stones (Dominus, 2008).  The article goes on to  explain Dr. Brazelton’s positive interactions with the mothers in the  HCZ Baby College program and why his philosophies on child development have been so successful, because they take into consideration that parents need just as much support as their newborns.  Here is a link on Dr. Brazelton’s  for those who are interested in learning more about him and his work: 

I was asked to thoroughly research  one area of the site and record what I found.  I chose to search their news sections and what I found was a range of articles dating back to 2008 listing the many previous individuals who have visited the  school, ranging from Prince Harry of England to Soledad O’brien of CNN.  It also listed several articles of some of the latest projects and successes of the school.

I was also asked to follow a link related to one of the issues I have been studying via their newsletter. I haven’t gotten their newsletter as of yet;however,  I did find a story related to my study of equity and access to quality early childhood programs. The article, also found in the NY Times entitled:  Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy Charter School, Built with 60M from the City, talks about the opening of HCZ’s newest campus right in heart of a city public housing unit called St Nicholas.  I couldn’t help but think how great of a model this was in providing access to disadvantaged/poor communities where large numbers of immigrants live as well.  When asked why Mr. Candada, founder of HCZ build the school in its current location he stated,  “we want to make sure children of the community and neighborhood have access to quality education…..we want to get the most disadvantaged kids and give them a shot”(Barron, 2013).   The five-story building-in the middle of the city’s St Nicholas housing projects-will accommodate 1300 K-12 students and provide free medical, dental and mental health care services to students as well as healthy breakfast and lunch with cooking classes (Barron, 2013)

Regarding the website containing any information that adds to my understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education; I would say that the early care and educational model HCZ uses is the most effective when looking at quality/excellence for poor and or immigrant communities.  One of the reasons that theHCZ model has been so successful in getting poor children ready for school and excelling on statewide test is because the model understands that the needs of poor/immigrant children are unique and require  a network of support systems not only for the child, but the family unit as well.  When we look  at such issues of awareness, access and responsivness, I believe this model does an excellent job of eliminating these barriers for poor and immigrant children. The HCZ models show a tremendous commitment to removing such barriers by building their school in the middle of a housing project!  You can’t get more accessible and responsive then that. Futhermore,its location lends to the communities awareness, which means  the children who might not have had to opportunity to be served will now.

References

Barron, L (2008, June 6th) Harlem Children’s Zone’s Promise Academy Charter School Built with 60M from City Opens. The New York Times

 

Dominus, S ( 2008, Feb. 18th) The Harlem Baby talk and the Art of Dipolomacy. The New York Times

 

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Equity and Excellent Issues in Early Childhood

This week in Issues and Trends in Early Childhood we were engaged in a conversations about the various issues has they relate to equity and excellence in the field. We were then asked to reach out to our international contact for information as it relates to the major issues of equity and excellence in their home countries.

I reached out to Xiaowan Chen who is an assistant kindergarten teacher at Shekou International School in China.  I asked Xiaowan, what issues related to excellence and equity is at the forefront of professional discussions in China and her local district?  I also asked her what policy recommendations are being offered to address these issues.

Her response to the first questions was as follows:

-According to statistics from the China Development Research Foundation, around 8.5 million children aged from three to five live in villages in Western China, and only 30 percent of them have access to kindergartens. Therefore, these children lag behind their urban counterparts in many aspects, such as language skills and developing social skills. Experts suggest the country pay more attention to early childhood education in rural western regions.

-There are many factors that hinder the development of early childhood education in China, let alone excellence of care and education. The quantity and quality of early childhood programs in China, especially in rural regions cannot meet the requirements because of a great number of the young population.

-Location and family income are the two major factors that determine children’s early education level in China. The more remote places from urban areas the children live in, the less chances they can have to go to pre-k. This also results from the family income. Families cannot afford the tuition and the transportation fees. Out of safety issue, families would rather keep their children at home than send them to a further place to receive early childhood education.

-Another factor lies in the quantity and quality of teachers. Not so many people would choose to be an early childhood teacher because of the future payback and the awareness of the importance of early childhood education for young children. Even people choose to teach in early childhood field, the standards of becoming an early childhood teacher are not as strict as becoming an elementary or high school teacher.

Xiaowan didn’t really share much in the way of any policy initiatives that her government is working to implement to address the issues she mentioned.  She did; however, comment that she believed that the government and the citizens realized the importance of early childhood education for children and are trying their best to resolve the problems regarding excellence and equity of care and education for children and families.

What I have gained from these conversations as they relate to equity and excellence this week, is that the issues are varied, complex and often times interconnected.  For example, the issue of access to quality early childhood programs are linked to teacher preparation and salary.  We know from studies that those EC programs that hire degreed professional tend to do better as far as impacts on child learning is concerned. However, hiring such professional often time’s means increasing slaveries for workers, which in turn makes access limited to those families that can afford such care, which is often times high quality.  I have also learned that the issues found here in the US are very similar to the issues found in other countries, like that of my international correspondent, Xiaowm.  For example, we too have some of the same issues of achievement gaps between the have and have nots, low quality programs and problem attracting and retaining qualified teachers to the profession. finally, this conversation as peeked my interest in learning what those policy initiatives in country like China might be that are working to address issues related to equity and excellence.   I will let you know what I fine in my next post!