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).
Hi Sondi,
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to see that you've made contact in 2 countries! I had no idea that Italy was more progressive in their approach to early childhood care and education.
I wonder if Japan will cut services to early childhood in light of their present domestic situation. As you say in the quote, "we are the first to be cut".
Sondi, I find your post interesting this week because you have an excellent point about how we all know the importance of early childhood education but because we often lack funding, the programs offered rely on volunteers or employees who are not educated enough to provide the quality care. I think most early childhood educators understand that more funding is needed to help train early childhood profession or provide more resources. As educators we need to keep in mind, we are not only educating children but also other entities such as parents and politicians. This is the only way to ensure we are progressing in the field of early childhood education.
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