Final Blog Assignment

When beginning this course we were to connect and collaborate with a specific group of internal educators but some of us, like myself, we not able to get feedback from our resources which forced us to research a little further which is one consequence I gained from learning about the international early childhood field. Research and awareness of other countries with the same issue is beneficial because you learn about their approaches, perspectives, and solutions to the situation. You may also learn how to avoid the situation or others in general.

Other consequences that I have gained are cultural diversity and equality and excellence. Researching and collaborating internationally gives you more knowledge on cultural diversity. You have to stay open minded and have the mindset that as a teacher it is a learning experience for you also. When being culturally responsive there are both benefits and challenges but by understanding others you tend to respect their beliefs, culture, and morals.

Lastly, equality and excellence of professionals varies around the world. In the States we want more teachers who are educationally and experience ready when it comes to teaching our children in order to have better success. When viewing issues internationally in Africa they are in the need of 1.6 million teachers. They are more focused on developing policies that will establish efficient teacher policies to improve not only the quality but the quantity of teachers.

My goal as an educator is to not only educate children and their families but to also educate myself in having the skills and knowledge of working with all families of different cultural backgrounds. As an advocate I must be objective to things and act as a support system for our families, for instance being familiar with different services, resources, and referrals to helping assist them in their time of need. I must be able to help them to identify their strengths and needs by also encouraging and providing parents with different ways to help their children grow through emerging in a positive and healthy manner while providing emotional support and concrete assistance.

Through collaboration we are able to better contribute and benefit from increased knowledge which creates a better cultural understanding, improved communication, and the building of better professional relationships.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 3

Unfortunately, I have still not yet received a response so as an alternative I chose to explore UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage. While exploring this site there were three insights that I gained which included child marriage in Africa, the challenge of teachers in African, and mobile learning.

In sub-Sahara Africa and South and West Asia about 2.9 million girls are marriage by the age of 15 which robs them of their childhood and education. One of the most effective ways to prevent childhood marriage is for girls to stay in school. Females who are educated overcome discrimination because they are aware of their rights and have greater confidence in making decisions that affect their lives. Given that all girls completed primary schools, the number of girls getting married would drop by 14%. Even if girls stay in school longer they make better choices of health risks of early births and births in quick succession.

The lack of teachers in sub-Saharan Africa is the most worrying in the world. There is a teacher shortage of 46% which represents nearly half of the demand of teachers in the global level. Africa needs 1.6 million teachers by 2015. To end this, an understanding of issues and needs of teachers in a specific country to develop well-adapted policies is needed. Also, prospects for establishing efficient teacher policies will help improve the quantity and quality of teachers needs to be explored.

In South Africa, there are over 25,000 learners that have improved their math skills through interactive exercise and quizzes on mobile phones such as Nokia. Teachers in Mali are able to access lesson plans and curricular materials through internet portal. The program, UNESCO Working Paper Series on Mobile Learning, scans the globe to provide concrete examples of how mobile technologies can respond to different educational challenges in different contexts, enrich formal schooling, and make learning everywhere more accessible, and personalized. This is helping to improve educational access and quality around the world.

In conclusion, education makes a great difference.

Reference:

UNESCO Early Childhood Care and Education. Retrieved from (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/).

Sharing Web Resources

When exploring the Harlem Kids Zone website there is many outside informational links that lead to other sources to further your knowledge on topics. Some include, biennial reports, highlights, newsletters, paper and reports, poems, and financials pertaining to the program. One of the links that I took interest in was “Healthy Harlem”.

The Healthy Harlem program ensures that kids grow up to be happy, self-sustaining adults and combat the perilous rise of obesity through nutrition education, fun fitness activities, and parent engagement. Sites serve only healthy snacks and water to keep our kids fueled, while inspiring, educational posters help keep them motivated. Last week, nearly 4,000 youth from the Pre-k Gems to college students completed in HCZ’s annual Summer Games. This is an event that is one of the ways they are helping kids stay safe and engaged all summer long, while developing lifelong healthy habits.

Living healthy is a habit that educators can teach children but it is also beneficial and important to educate parents. To help reinforce the Healthy Harlem message at home and promote widespread wellness, Health Harlem is also working with 1,500 parents and members of the local community through cooking classes, a farmers market with free fruits and vegetables, fun exercise classes, such as Zumba and kickboxing, and Weight Watchers classes.

Reference

Harlem Children's Zone
http://www.hcz.org/

Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 2

Unfortunately, I am one of the unlikely ones who have not yet received a response so I chose to explore Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website. This serves as a centerpiece of global child health and development agenda to build an integrated international approach to child survival, health, and development in the earliest years of life. There were three articles that I found to be interesting and informational.

            

First, the article “Zambian Early Childhood Development Project” confers how there are a large number of studies that have evidence on the impact of early childhood experiences on children’s developmental health and educational outcomes but little is known or available on early childhood development in Saharan Africa. This knowledge gap was addresses by different centers and projects collaborating together to measure the full impact of anti-malaria by using the first assessment tool in Zambia  call the Zambian Child Assessment Test assessing children’s physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout their schooling careers. The early stages of the project demonstrate that comprehensive child assessments are feasible within standard population-based household surveys. 

 

Secondly, the article “Un Buen Comienzo” explains the “A Good Start” collaborative project in Santiago, Chile that began in 2007 to improve childhood education through teacher professional development. The project is designed to intervene in critical health areas that improves school attendance, social emotional development, and encourages family involvement in the child’s education. This project’s idea is to improve the quality of educational offerings for four-to-six-year olds in particularly the area of language and it will eventually encompass 60 schools.

Lastly, the article “Studying the Effects of Global Adversity, Two Generations at a Time” elaborates on focusing on urgent survival needs by Combining short-term survival efforts with attention to children’s developmental needs only magnifies the long-range benefits for individuals and societies. The focus is not on just keeping children alive but the focus is giving the leveragable opportunities that exist to invest in their social capital and to maximize that next generation of young people.

Reference

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/