Issues & Trends Final Blog Assignment

Hello Everyone!

So I‘ve come to the end of yet another course, and I must say that I have greatly enjoyed exploring the current issues and trends in the early childhood field in our nation. While many of the truths I discovered made me sad, I am hopeful that our nation will be able to develop the appropriate solutions for many of these problems in time. I must say that it has also been very interesting keeping in touch with my international contacts  E. Priest and M. Rathburn. I thank them both for taking the time to talk about less than interesting things (usually our discussions consist of current life events, gossip and girly stuff) with an old friend. I find that there are numerous benefits to exploring the international trends and issues in early childhood education.

1.       I have become more knowledgeable in what is going on in the international aspect of my chosen field of study.

2.       I have gained a different perspective and outlook on common issues, and am more inclined to think” outside of the box” when considering possible solutions.

3.       I have gained a newfound appreciation for the state of education in our nation, and find that my outlook is not as negative as it had been when I consider some of the crippling issues affecting children in other nations. Essentially, I am more hopeful.

When considering a possible goal for the Early Childhood field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations, it is my hope that our nation can be inspired by other nations who are seeing success with some of their educational initiatives. I also hope that the U.S is poised to assist those nations who are in need of guidance and resources when it comes to offering quality care and education to their children. In conclusion, I have truly enjoyed being a part of this course and getting to know all of my peers. I thank my professor for her thoughtful and constructive criticisms, and I thank my peers for their mindful commentary. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

Hello Everyone!

This week in class, we have been discussing our professional goals a great deal. This has not been the first time that I have been asked to consider my professional goals while in this program. I must say that this is one aspect of the Early Childhood Education program at Walden University that I really like. Challenging us as prospective educators to revisit our goals helps to keep us focus on why we are in this program to begin with. It reminds me why I continue to work so hard and push myself through this program.

One of my primary goals as a prospective educator is to remain a lifelong learner, continuing to challenge myself, study and remain current in knowledge and practice.  Coincidentally, this has also been a hot topic in our field as experts look for ways to ensure that high-quality educators are being paced in schools. Keeping all of this in mind, I asked my contacts M. Rathburn and E. Priest.  What some of their professional goals and dreams were, and if there were similar issues in their current nation.

For M. Rathburn in Scotland, early childhood education was not her primary professional goal. If you remember, she went to school for Medieval Studies and hopes to one day be a college professor. She did figure that by teaching younger children, she would begin to develop the necessary skills to teach older individuals. Coincidentally, high quality teacher placement doesn't seem to be much of an issue in Scotland.  However, Scotland has extremely high standards for educators compared to the U.S and much is expected of teachers if they are to remain in the field.

E. Priest’s original professional goals did not originally lie with early childhood education either. It was through happenstance that she began to work with the nonprofit she so currently employed by in placing teachers in the remote and struggling areas of China. Since becoming an English language teacher and experiencing the struggle for quality education in some parts of this nation, E. Priest said that she would like to continue her work and advocacy for better education which include placing quality educators in these villages. As with anything in China, everything is strictly controlled by the federal government. Thus, unfortunately, there is only so much a foreign nonprofit can do and many villages will have to wait for federal initiatives to be approved and enforced. 

Sharing Web Resources!

Hello Everyone!

As you all know, my chosen organization website is the official website for the NAEYC. For this week, I was asked to take a closer look at the website and see if I could find any resources that may relate to the issues of certain barriers that keep families from quality early child care and education. It is an unfortunate truth that many families do not have access to quality care due to many barriers, such as availability. In relation to this website, there weren’t really any links that I hadn’t already explored and there was very little new information on the website as of today. As school is about to start again, many of the articles discussed Back To School topics. Interestingly, I did come across an article I had not seen before entitled “The 10 NAEYC Program Standards”. This article discussed what parents should be looking for in quality education programs for their children. I thought that this article was gold mine! To keep things brief, they basically stated that parents should be paying close attention to these 10 areas:

1.       Relationships

2.       Curriculum

3.       Teaching

4.       Assessment of Child Progress

5.       Health

6.       Teachers

7.       Families

8.       Community Relationships

9.       Physical Environment

10.   Leadership & Management

I was beginning to lose hope in my chosen organization’s website in terms of finding anything particularly new or interesting, but I am happy that I came across this article. It is truly a useful read for any industry professional or parent. If you’re interested, please follow the link embedded in the article title.

Link: “The 10 NAEYC Program Standards”

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

Hello Everyone!

This week in class we have been discussing education inequity in our nation. I keep saying that this is an issue near and dear to my heart because I've attended both urban and suburban schools growing up, and have seen the severe differences in the quality of the education provided. Surprisingly, it is something that I always think back on, and it still angers me to this day that there are children who are not as well-quipped as others to succeed in their academic pursuits.

So, I thought I would ask my international contacts M. Rathburn and E. Priest if there were any similar issues going on in their respective countries. M.Rathburn in Scotland let me know that there is a great deal of disparity in the quality of education between private and public schools. She stated that it simply was not fair that children should be offered mediocre education merely because they can not afford a private education. I thought that this was a very interesting look at this issue, because it does not seem to be such a concern here in America. We typically just assume that of course privately educated individuals are going to get a unique and sometimes superior education, and its okay because their families chose that type of education for them. However, does that mean that other children should suffer? I personally think that that should not be an option. Its our responsibility to ensure that all children have access to quality education because it is their right. 

As for E. Priest in China, she stated that disparities are more demographically and socio-economically based. It is common knowledge that rural, poorer communities have little access to quality education. That is why organizations like the one E. Priest works for, enter these localities in order to break the cycle and make things better. Unfortunately, there are so many children in need, that it is going to take massive government influence and policy to effectively reach these individuals.

As always, it is very interesting discussing such issues with my international counterparts and I do enjoy the different perspectives it gives me. I am forced to  take a closer look at the issues in our own country in comparison to others.