Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for my professional and personal development.

During this past eight weeks I have been able to learn about the issues and trends in early childhood field with my colleagues and with the help of international early childhood organizations in both Canada and Australia. It has been an interesting joy ride getting to know about the issues and trends of early childhood field internationally and how they tackle these issues in their various ways.

One of the consequences of learning about international early childhood field is the dual communication. This communication creates a forum for me as an early childhood professional to exchange views and ideas between me and my international counterparts. I am able to contact EC leaders through mail, email but the most important of it all is my ability to get information from a wide range of EC leaders who are leading the research, programs, and initiatives from around the world. One of the podcast I tuned into gave me an idea of inequality that a girl child faces in the field of science in Nigeria.

Another consequence I believe is having a broad knowledge of issues and trends that most EC professionals are facing, a good example of that is the issue of equity and excellence in early care and education. In Ontario Canada, just to attain a standard in excellence and equity, the EC members try as much as possible to attend as many meetings, consultations and community events as possible in order to represent early childhood educators, build partnerships and stay informed on current development, so that they will be able to maintain a good standard.

The next consequence is the ability of enriching me professionally, over the past eight weeks I have been able to read emails from EC professionals, visit their advocacy webpage and also read their articles.  This consequence has taught me about professionalism in EC field and also the steps I need to follow to be able to achieve the qualities needed by me to be able to get to that stage of being an EC professional. I have come to realize that this is a lifetime career and in order for me to keep up with issues and trends of early childhood field I need to collaborate with my international colleagues, share ideas on how to move forward in achieving our goals and also take stand on educational appropriate practices.

One goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations would be the ability to cultivate a collegial atmosphere or forum where by all EC professionals will come together to express their fears and worries and at the same time have ideas and solution towards achieving equity and also bridging the achievement gaps that exist.

           Getting to Know Your International Contacts –Part 3

When ever come across the word international contacts, what comes into my mind is a support system and also quality resources that will help me better my career as an early childhood professional, to me resources is like food to our professional life.

So this week I got an e-letter that talks about parental engagement. This took my mind back to one of the courses I did that talked about parental involvement and how it helps children to do better academically.

Parents play a critical role in their children’s learning. When families and schools work together, the outcomes for children are usually better. This e-letter talk about simple things parents can do at home, and with their child’s school, to help their child to do their best. Showing children that education is important, building their confidence and connecting with their school helps to shape children’s learning and wellbeing.

Research shows the benefits of parental engagement in education include:

·         Improved academic outcomes;

·         Greater engagement in learning;

·         Children being motivated to do well;

·         Developing better relationships with others; and

·          Improved behavior and greater confidence.

With the above mentioned benefits of parental engagement in a child’s education all I can think of is that, to bring up a total child early childhood educators/ professionals have to take a holistic approach towards achieving greater outcomes.

Reference:

Early childhood  Australia WebWatch # 205

                               Sharing Web Resources

This Week on sharing resources I went back to the mail I got from the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario on the 28^th of January 2015, and  clicked on the Advocacy for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) webpage to find more information concerning Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Field.

I found out that the association for early childhood educators in Ontario the AECEO advocates on behalf of ECEs in different ways. Sometimes, they engage in an open advocacy through supporting existing early learning and child care campaigns or developing campaigns such as the current professional pay for professional work campaign.

There are times where their advocacy work takes them into multiple works as they engage in conversations around early childhood education and child care policy development, research and practice. The AECEO strives to voice the needs, concerns and rights of early childhood educators in important discussions that have an impact on the work of early childhood educators in Ontario.

 This website contains information that adds to my understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education. Just to attain a standard in excellence and equity, their members try as much as possible to attend as many meetings, consultations and community events as possible in order to represent early childhood educators, build partnerships and stay informed on current developments. They use a variety of written formats to include the voice and needs of early childhood educators in a broader conversations and developments. The items include position papers on specific issues, formal responses to government policy and funding and developments that impact the work of early childhood educators, as well as informal responses to public conversations such as letter to the editor.

The new insights I gained from exploring the website is their responsive way towards helping early childhood education to get to an equitable standard and also the way they help their early childhood educators to keep in touch with current issues and developments.

Reference:

www.aeceo.ca/advocacy_for_eces?utm_campaign=jan27_bulletin&utm_medium=email&utm_source=aeceo

                   Getting to Know Your International Contacts-Part 2

This week I am expected to share new insights and information I have gained from my international source. I am yet to receive an e-news from them so I decided to visit the Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global initiative/).

I read about students, education and leadership development, the Center on the Developing Child Harvard University is already training a set of change agents who are prepared to think differently, work differently ad drive innovation in research, policy, and practice to improve the well-being of vulnerable children.

They have two strategies that is focused on the growth and development of the next generation of scholars and professionals during the critical early stages of their intellectual development, as well as attention to building the capacity of current professionals to translate research into policy and action within a culture of entrepreneurism.

The additional information about issues of equity and excellence I acquired from this website is the creation of the leading edge cohort of scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and philanthropist that will create a new era in policy and practice focused on achieving breakthrough outcomes for children facing adversity.

This is an initiative I believe will be beneficial to the early childhood field, giving the needs and requirements of early childhood educators, if more attention is put into professional preparation, young children will benefit from well-planned, intentionally implemented, culturally relevant curriculum that both supports and challenges them.

Reference:

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global  initiative/