Final Blog Assignment

Learning from my international contacts in the field of early childhood, was very insightful and informative, and the communication resulted in the following consequences:

Consequence 1:  I have learned that many countries, such as Italy seem to a better understanding of the importance of early childhood education and place more emphasis on programming than the United States. While others, are still plagued with gender inconsistencies and unrealistic views of childhood.

Consequence 2:  The information they have shared has drawn attention to the fact that early childhood has many of the same issues and trends worldwide, regardless of the emphasis or understanding of the importance of early childhood. For example, poverty was a consistent trend in all of the countries I communicated with, as was inequities in the programming and availability of early childhood programs.

Consequence 3: Changing policies and practices and resolving issues and trends that surround early childhood education needs to be a global effort, so that consistencies in expectations, curriculum, and quality allow children worldwide to participate in high-quality learning programs.

Subsequently, one goal for the field of early childhood would be to form and utilize collegial relations with international early childhood professionals so that issues and trends in the field of early childhood remain forefront on the minds of all and solutions can be generated from collaboration.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

According to my contact in Italy, after doing some research and digging deeper into the issues and trends surrounding qualityy,  there are inconsistencies, especially in the smaller towns surrounding the Air Base. First, she makes it clear that the in the Italian community- the view of young children and the role the mother plays is much different.  For instance- maternity leave is 6months and easily extended to 1 full year. Women continue with 75% of pay for months 6-12. You will not see many infants (under 12m) out and about. Mothers literally stay home with their babies.  The older generation seems to look down on the younger generation for returning to work too early (too early is anything less than 6m).

Yet, with slight changing times- there seems to be increase in women needing to or wanting to return to work so there is usually one ASILO NIDO (school for children 6m-3y) in each town.  The  other schools
for children are run through the local town's Church and are faith based, and other than the ASILO NIDO schools, there does not appear to be any consistent definition of quality.  Many of the church ran schools are ran by volunteers and people who do not have any early childhood  background.
Children enter free 'public' school at the age of 3 (if potty trained).  Additionally, she shares, "In my limited experience, I have seen less emphasis on assisting children with self help skills\ until 6yr age, push for reading/writing is later than the trend seems to be for American families." She goes on to explain that the focus in early childhood is child centered learning, Montessori based. As for supportive services, the concept of Early intervention is still seen as taboo or hush/hush.  There is not the advocacy for awareness, developmental screening, or concerns of potential delays until at least around 6yr.  This contributes to the quality of care, as children who are  in need of services or special supports are not receiving the quality of
care necessary for their individual development.

My contact did not share her career dreams or goals as of yet.

Sharing Web Resources

In exploring the Children’s Defense Fund website, I explored they link CDF in the News, which provided a variety of current news articles pertaining to early childhood. I thoroughly explored two articles, Law of Unintended Consequences and Investing In and Not Cutting Programs for Children is Key to Our Economic Future. Both articles were informative and provided information for though about current budget issues and the need for political support of early childhood policies and programs. According to the article Investing In and Not cutting Programs for Children is Key to Our Economic Future, Marian Wright Edelman states, “We need to get our priorities right: to invest in babies ahead of bankers and to make tough choices based on real national security needs—our human capital” (Children's Defense Fund, 2011)

The importance of changing our education system and ensuring high quality learning for all children was made paramount by the article, Law of Unintended Consequences, which discusses the unintended consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act. While the NCLB act intended to ensure America’s children were exceeding academically outshining the children of other countries has had the opposite effect, and it is now clear that should the NCLB act remain as it is, the majority of America’s children will be left behind. Marian Wright Edelman describes a few of the unintended consequences in her statement,

• NCLB's narrow focus on "high stakes" testing and its overreliance on sanctions that punish struggling schools encouraged states to lower standards, districts to narrow the curriculum, schools to push at-risk children out of school by suspending or expelling them prior to test day, and teachers to teach to the test. No child—regardless of background—benefits from mindless test preparation day in and day out at the hands of often overwhelmed, underprepared, and poorly supported teachers. (Edelman, 2011)

Both articles contributed to my understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education as they both discussed current statistics defining the effectiveness of America’s education system, including the fact that 60% of America’s children cannot perform at grade level. Additionally both discussed the current budget suggestions of cutting funding to programs that provide services to children of low-income families.

• …congress will need to go beyond the Blueprint and include provisions for education excellence our most vulnerable children: children in concentrated poverty, children in need of full-day kindergarten, children at risk of dropping out or being pushed out of school, children in juvenile detention, and children in foster care. (Edelman, 2011)

The Children’s Defense Fund March eNewsletter also discussed ensuring that the budget supports early childhood education and programs designed to help those suffering from poverty. “Children of all ages remain in danger, as some lawmakers continue to set their sights on drastic cuts to Head Start, Community Health Centers, Pell Grants, and other lifelines for poor children and families.” (Children's Defense Fund, 2011).

While I did not gain any new insights, I did get a better understanding of the inequity of funding and high quality programs, as well as a better understanding of the effect of lack of political support. Additionally, I was shocked at the amount of programs and support some politicians wish to cut from children and families, as I see investments into America’s children as investments into our nation’s future, and providing for children who cannot provide form themselves just basic humanity.

“Giving children their basic human rights to adequate nutrition, health care, and education should be a no brainer” (Children's Defense Fund, 2011).

References:

Children's Defense Fund. (2011, February 14). Investing In and Not Cutting Programs for Children is Key to Our Economic Future. Retrieved April 9, 2011, from Children's Defense Fund: http://www.childrensdefense.org/newsroom/cdf-in-the-news/press-releases/2011/investing-in-and-not-cutting.html

Children's Defense Fund. (2011, March). Monthly Newletter March 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011, from Children's Defense Fund: http://cdf.childrensdefense.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=23121.0&dlv_id=0

Edelman, M. W. (2011, February 11). Law of Unintended Consequences. Retrieved April 9, 2011, from HUFFPOST EDUCATION: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marian-wright-edelman/law-of-unintended-consequ_b_821819.html

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

This week, I was fortunate to communicate my contact that is stationed in Italy. In my conversations, I learned that Italy provides a 3-year preschool program free of charge called The Scuola Materna. It is clear according to my contact, that Italy and perhaps most of Europe, places high priority on early childhood education and that early childhood is viewed as a way to reduce poverty, foster development, and academic skills, and increase the quality of life, even by parents. This is a stark differences to what many parents view early childhood as in North America, childcare. Yet, while there is a lot importance place on early childhood, many feel the same inequities as we do in North America, not enough funding, lack of appreciation, and lack of qualified staff. Lack of funding often means long hours and volunteers who are not as qualified, lack of materials and supplies, and inability to provide professional development for staff.

My contact in Japan revealed the same feelings of inequity, which has provided me with the understanding of why there is need for universal standards, a global approach perhaps. Most countries understand the importance of early childhood and many support such endeavors, the support is simply not enough and the expectations inconsistent.

I was left with this quote, “It is sad that we, early childhood professionals, are at the forefront of our worlds future, holding future leaders in the palms of our hands, but we are the first to be forgotten, the first to be cut, the first to go unnoticed and the first to be blamed when generations do not succeed” (anonymous).