Research Around the World

For this weeks blog I have decided to view the website for Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) retrieved from http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php.

1. A current international research topic is early childhood development in the 21st century: children's rights to live, play, explore and understand the world. This research topic was chosen because of new and positive early childhood initiatives are being implemented in Liberia. According to ECDVU (2013), Liberia has made and developed high quality early childhood system. 
2. Another current international research topic is the difficulty to locate African based and African led research. According to ECDVU (2013), the issue has long concerned ECDVU as it has sought to locate such materials for incorporation into its courses. 

A surprising fact that I learned from ECDVU website is generative curriculum. Generative curriculum is an interactive process that links three main strands of knowledge about child and family development: students' and elders' knowledge from their cultures, text usually prepared by specialist on local and regional cultures, and Western and international research and practice (ECDVU, 2013). Generative curriculum shows that the community is strongly committed to their children's development. 

I found it very interesting that there is little no research topics based on Africa. I think that it is important for each country to have research conducted on early childhood. Research provides organizations to locate their weak areas and improve those weak areas. Research is good in early childhood because it allows agencies to know if the children are developing and if there are changes that need to occur. 

http;//www.waldenu.edu

Research that Benefits Children and Families

A positive example of the effects of research on a child and his family is one of this special needs boy enrolled in the agency I work for. This boy goes part-time at my school and part-time at a Chicago public school for his special needs services. The student was always coming to my school crying and upset. The school is always calling his mom telling her to come pick him up for any small incident. The boy may have been crying and the teacher would call for his mom to come and get him. The boy has a full developmental delay and he cannot speak. So I asked the mother if it was okay if I go over to the school to observe what was going on in the classroom at the Chicago public school. I went to the school and observed that the teacher immediately started to complain about the boy before he even took his coat off. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. The boy was trying to get the teacher's attention and she just ignored him. She yelled at him and told him to go sit down. The boy began to cry and the teacher told him that she was going to call the front office and have them call his mom because he was uncontrollable. After my observation I contacted my disability coordinator and told her what I saw and then I went to meet the principal and have a one on one with her. She was very upset about the situation and the teacher's action. I showed her the case notes I had on everyday that the teacher called for the mom to pick her son up and what the teacher told the mom when she called. The principal could not believe what she was reading. The principal informed me that she would speak to the mom and the teacher about this situation. The principal said that the teacher is trained and getting paid to work with special need children. She also said that the teacher has an assistant in the classroom with her at all times, so she should not be overwhelmed. The outcome of this situation was that the child was transferred to a different classroom and the parent was pleased. The child no longer came to my school crying or upset. He was happy and he was starting to say words. Every day I see the improvement in this little boy. The parent was happy that I was there to advocate for her child and get some better results out of the situation. The mother was on the verge of taking her son out of the Chicago public school because she was not happy. I convinced her to give me a chance to rectify this situation. The teacher may not know that she was doing a disservice to the child and the family by not even being willing to work with him. She never gave him a chance and I am glad that he is in another classroom. 

http://www.waldenu.edu 

Your Personal Research Journey

The topic I chose to research for this course is the effects on children in one small child care center when federal budget cuts happen. I chose this topic because I deal with this situation on daily basis. I have been in the early childhood field for eight years and federal budget cuts has been an issue that we have been battling every year. Every time the federal government announces the budget for the new fiscal year, child care is usually the first to get cut. The federal government does not understand the importance of early childhood and the difference that many early childhood programs are making in children lives. I have had families return to our program to let us know how well their child is doing and they always say they know it is because of us and the work we did with their children. We cannot continue to have success stories without the proper funding to operate. When the federal government cuts the budget to early childhood; that means some agencies will have to cut staff or salaries. One of the largest early childhood programs in Chicago had to close their doors because they could not afford to pay staff. The agency I work for recently cut all staff salaries and had to layoff some staff because of the federal budget cuts. We have limited supplies and limited staff. It is very stressful and it is causing staff to find employment elsewhere because of the budget cuts. The agency is loosing qualified staff because of these cuts. I know I am currently looking for employment elsewhere because it is a struggle to maintain my home on the salary that I am receiving. It is also frustrating to work with limited supplies and I cannot provide the services to the children or families. The stress of poor compensation and no supplies can drive a agency out of business.

I have a lot of personal experiences that stimulated this topic, but I am having a hard time starting the research process. Can anyone provide any ideas for me about where I should start or what should I actually be researching?

http://www.waldenu.edu

Final Blog

I was very disappointed that I was unable to communicate with the international professionals I chose from different parts of the world. I believe that it would have benefited me and the professional I communicated with. We would have been able to discuss issues and challenges we face in this field. We could have possibly given each other suggestions and ideas on how to conquer these issues. I did enjoy visiting the other sites and learning more about early childhood in different countries. I learned that there are various organizations that provide resources and funding to end poverty, make awareness, and access for all families for early childhood education programs. 

One consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is that things that we complain about may not be as serious as we think they are. Many children in other countries do not have a chance to go to school or has dropped out of school to work or are used for human trafficking. These children do not even get the same opportunity as the children in the U.S. to go to an early childhood education program. 

The second consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is that they may have unfair and bias assessments in other countries. For example, if a rural area in Africa is given a test with questions about place setting for formal dining, it is unfair because these children may not know what a fork or spoon is because they use their hands to eat. 

The third consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is that standards and policies are little to non-existence. Their are organizations that are helping early childhood programs in foreign countries to develop standards and policies. Having standards for quality staff is important in having a quality early education program. 

The goal I have for this field is to help advocate for funding for programs or organizations who are trying to provide services for early childhood educational programs in the U. S. and in other parts of the world. The organizations websites that I viewed have many programs to help eliminate poverty and provide quality services for families living in rural communities. Funding is always an issue with many programs and as a early childhood professional it is important to me to help advocate for more funding for early childhood. 

http://www.waldenu.edu

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 3

I still have not heard from any of the international early childhood professionals. As an educator or anyone in a professional field, I believe it is important for all professionals to learn about their field in other parts of the world. As professionals we can share ideas, challenges, and accomplishments. I believe that this information will help each other grow in their profession and learn how to deal with situations that may arise. For example, as an American educator we may complain about being underpaid and not knowing that in other countries the teachers may not even get paid. Our struggles in America may not be as crucial as those in foreign countries. The lack of supplies, resources, funds, and even schools is a struggle for many in other countries.

After viewing the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website I learned that Africa is a priority and education is key to the region's development. UNESCO focuses on improving the quality of teacher education in Africa and I think that this is very important for the education of young children. The organization promotes literacy and education programs for all, throughout life.
UNESCO also help the Arab States by promoting access to quality education for all as fundamental right. The organization have strong ties with ministries of education and government agencies implement projects to advance education in Arab states.
I also learned that UNESCO also serve the Asia and Pacific regions. The organization focuses on promoting education as a fundamental right, improving the quality of education and stimulating experimentation, innovation and policy dialogue. The organization provides technical advice on education and resources to government and partners.
This organizations provides resources and services to promote quality education in many different regions of the world. They also provide services for Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. UNESCO makes sure that the information is dialogue correctly to stimulate the quality of education around the world. Having the proper communication is a major issue in promoting quality education, especially in United States. The reason that many immigrant families do not participate in early education is because they do not know that these programs are in their community. Communication about these programs need to be promoted and advertised in an immigrants home language and also their need to be door to door canvasing to let people know about the early education programs in their community.

 UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/)

http://www.waldenu.edu

Sharing Web Resources

I went through the website I chose and unfortunately they do not provide any outside links to any other resources. The only outside links I notices were for New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times to read reviews they had on this organization. Unfortunately, I have not received a newsletter from the organization. I hope to receive one before the end of the course. 

One area that I researched thoroughly was the family, community, and health tab on the Harlem Children Zone website. This tab talks about the different programs that is offered to the families and the surrounding community to help prevent poverty and educate them as well as their children. One program is called community pride, it helps tenants and block associations helping hundreds convert city-owned buildings into tenant-owned co-ops. This program helps get people off the street and hopefully eliminate homelessness. They also have a program called single stop. Single stop is a program to help reduce poverty. Single stop is free of charge and it offers families with advice about securing public benefits, access to legal guidance, financial advice, debt relief counseling, and domestic crisis. Another program is the Harlem Children Zone Asthma Initiative. This program works with asthmatic children and their families to learn to manage the disease and lessen its effects. They also have an obesity initiative program to help children and their families reverse the alarming trend toward obesity and the health problems that may occur.  They also have a program for the mental health of the families in the community. The program provides access to mental health professionals and therapeutic intervention. The program also offers anger management training for parents, children, and people in the community.

I saw a podcast about a program they have called Harlem Gems this program is an all-day pre-kindergarten program that gets children ready to enter kindergarten. The class teach English, Spanish, and French. I look forward to watching this video at a later time. 

http://www.waldenu.edu 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts Part 2

Unfortunately I have not heard from the international early childhood education professionals I chose. I was really hoping to make contact with at least one to find out what is going on with early childhood education in their part of the world. 
I did review the Harvard University's Global Children Initiative website. The three new insights I discovered through this website are: 

1. Un Buen Comienzon (UBC),u "A Good Start," is a collaborative project in Santiago, Chile, to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010). They are tying to improve the quality of education for young children. High-quality early childhood education has been a topic for weeks and it is important that all children no matter what their income status is be given the opportunity to quality early childhood education. UBC is also designed to intervene in critical health areas that improve school attendance as well as socioemotional development (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010). After working in this field for 8 years I understand the importance of attendance and how it affects the child when they are not at school. Health is one of the reasons a child is always absent. I know for a fact that when we contact the families the child has usually contracted a communicable disease and they are advised to keep the child at home for 24 hours or until the medication has taken effect. The child is not allowed to return to school unless they have a doctor's statement saying so.
2.  Zambian Early Childhood Development Project is a assessment tools to measure children's physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout their schooling. ZECDP hopes that this data will improve understanding of child development in this context and help identify key interventions towards improved outcomes in a rapidly changing world (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010). 
3. Studying the Effects of Global Adversity, Two Generations at a Time discuss returned child soldiers and strengthening families in the face of HIV. According to Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2010), we know from the science that these investments in early childhood and in healthy life trajectories for young people in adversity have a social and an economic impact. These conditions may cause a problem for a child learning in early childhood. 

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2010). Global children's initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/

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