International Awareness

Though I can understand the time constrains that occur within early childhood programs throughout the world, for that was the reason two of the people I contacted stated they could not continue to take time to communicate with me. I was still saddened that I was unable to connect with an international contact from a program a broad.

Yet, even though I was unsuccessful, I was happy for Caty that she was fortunate to have a great international contact, Fany. Each week I looked forward to learning more about Fany and her professional path as well as the hurdles and struggles which she continues to work hard to overcome. Thanks Caty.

As I reviewed and revisited some of the international web sites throughout our course work, I realized my professional awareness lens has widened and the focus is much more detailed and clearer. The knowledge and the ability to have a better understanding of other countries trends and issues broaden, my professional lens. Reading the stories and the hardships and struggles of the children and families and in countries in Africa, Brazil and Argentina, Zambia, Chile contributed to me having a greater understanding of how poverty, equity of access and how economics impacts the children’s early childhood programs in these countries.

Learning about the international early childhood field allowed me to have a deeper knowledge of how one particular trend or issue can and does have an impact on other issues and trends. The trends interconnect, and encompass each other. Like when I studied about the Health Economist from Harvard, Dr. Fink and his work in Malaria in Zambia. Eventually his work opened up additional doors and issues related to how the vaccination was effecting children’s development. He eventually sought out the knowledge of a child developmental specialist and they collaborated on a developmental screening tool for the area. I liked learning how the reality of one issue can impact and possibly have a positive impact on another issue.

The studies of international trends lead me to learn more about how other countries too are and continue to be successful in providing quality programming to children within their countries. The Nordic countries successful systems can allow the United States and other countries to learn and follow their models. Though it can be a tall order to embrace the European and Nordic philosophies, I believe it is imperative that we look strong and hard at their successes and try and model and adapt our programming to mirror their quality programming achievements.

The studies of international programming definitely widened my own scope and helped me professionally embrace the needs of family and children throughout the world.

I look forward to accessing other international websites and am excited about the prospect of acquiring deeper knowledge as I learn about the successes and the obstacles other countries face as I continue with my work and efforts in my Masters program.

I too want to thank all of my colleagues who through by sharing their own expertise, experiences, knowledge and research have contributed to my professionalism. I have enjoyed our time together! I wish all of you good luck in your professional pursuits. My hope too is that our paths will continue to cross. I feel honored to have spent these last 8 weeks with all of you, and again wish you continued success!

Millie

Multimedia: "The Four Cs of Issues and Trends: Change, Contexts, Consequences, and Constants". A visual narrative of how issues and trends arise out of specific contexts, and a tool to analyze issues and trends.

Zambian Early Childhood Development Project, (2012). Global Children’s Initiative. Center on Developing Child Harvard University.

Retrieved from:

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/zambian_project/

The United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization

The United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization Early Childhood is devoted to leading the policy drive for health and holistic well being of the child. During this course we have heard Delia Vasquez bring up that we cannot forget to look at the whole child. In my assessment of my professional goals, I know that this statement resonates with my true feelings about serving children. There are so many variables surrounding the issues and trends within the early childhood field. Yet, I consciously think that no matter where my professional path takes me, I know that understanding the child, his family and their needs is and always will be my primary focus. Whether that is within a classroom setting or at a meeting of community leaders, I will always be asking myself how can I best serve children?

An area of the UNESCO Early childhood site is devoted to 10 reasons to invest in Early Childhood Care and Education. As I read each of the reasons stated, there is a few which are closely aligned to my professional goals. # 8 reason; ECCE levels the playing field by compensating for disadvantages in the family and reducing inequalities between rich and poor. It is thus a key component to breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. (UNESCO 10 reasons, 2012).

Professionally my hope is that my future early childhood education role will allow me the opportunity to advocate for children and families who do not have the opportunity for equitable access to a preschool education. I also want to help lawmakers and policy makers to understand how crucial it is for us to invest in the future of early childhood education. Reason # 5; ECCE is cost-effective in that it serves as preventive measures, saving cost for later compensation and remedial interventions. # 4 reason: ECCE has a beneficial effect on school preparedness and later learning, and leads to higher school enrolment, particularly for girls. When we invest in our young children we invest in our country and world’s future. Under the early childhood menu, were three subheading; access and equity, quality and lastly investment and financing. Central governments must ensure an equitable distribution of resources among different populations and especially those who live in the most disadvantaged regions, (UNESCO 2012).

Advocacy for the education and health care of young children is the commonality between the international websites and our focus here in the United States. Though the specific issues globally may be different, we all have the same goal serving and advocating for young children and their families.

References:

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

Laureate Educate, (2010)."Excellence and Equity of Care and Education for Children and Families—Part 1" (approximate length: 8 minutes) Conversation with Delila Vasquez (Director of Program Services, Los Angeles Universal Preschool) about equity and excellence of care and education for children and families—focus on curriculum, assessment, achievement gaps, standards, etc.

KIDS SHARE

http://www.nieer.org

NIEER: The National Institute for Early Childhood Research.

One of the headlines from the newsletter dated Friday July 27, 2012, read as follows; But Federal Funding for Children’s Programs Falls. I followed the link, which lead me to a pdf, written by the Urban Institute.  KIDS SHARE is the title of the article.

The report starts out by saying; federal spending on children fell by 2 billion in 2011, the first such decline in 30 years, (Issacs, Toran, Hawn, Fortuny & Steurle, 2012). The report goes on to say spending is also expected to decline in 2012, as funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, (ARRA), are nearly exhausted.

While the federal government spent less on children, total federal spending increased, from $3.52 trillion to $3.60 trillion. As a result, the share of the federal budget allocated to children fell from 10.7 to 10.4 percent. Federal spending on education was 5 billion dollars lower from 2011 to 2009.

State and local budgets, which in the past have contributed as much as two thirds of total spending on children, have been hit by the recession. We estimate that state and local spending per child fell between 2008 and 2011.

As the temporary, boost in spending under ARRA comes to and end, federal spending on children is projected to fall. In the absence of legislative action, our projections suggest that federal outlays on children will fall by 6 percent in 2012 and additional 2 percent in 2013. Only once in the last half-century was there a similar decline, when the real outlays on children fell by 7 percent between 1980 and 1985.

This reports is 50 pages long. It goes into great detail of spending on children’s programs and the future projections on expenditures and funding. After reviewing the report I asked myself, this question, how can we utilize our knowledge, and viable research to help families access programs if the funding is not there to support quality programming?

References:

Issacs, J., Toran, K., Hawn, H., Fortuny, K., & Steurle, E.C. (2012). Kids Share (2012). Report on Federal Expenditures on children through 2011. Urban Institute. Retrieved from: http//www:urban.org/UploadPDF/412600-Kids-Share-2012.pdf