International Awareness

One consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is that we are all the same, but different.  Though we have different customs, ways of parenting, cultures, religions, and governments, we are all striving and struggling to make the world understand early childhood education. 

In the UAE teachers are not required to have a teaching certificate to teach a class.  They just need some experience and will get on the job training.  This fact could be a contributing reason why the preschool or KG1 and KG2 program is unorganized and unable to streamline their curriculum and culture. In the US, because we already know that teaching is not a job that just anyone can do, it is a requirement that teachers go through a certification program and pass tests to become a classroom teacher.

Poverty is an issue swept under the rug in some countries.  As America is (seemingly) trying to combat poverty and economic crisis other countries do not recognize their poor population and try to reconcile the issue.  It was a huge shock for me to read that the UAE frowns upon the poor, from my international contact.  Morally and ethically, I have a problem with that mind set.  My personal religious beliefs teach me the opposite of that mind set.  There is a bible verse that states, "What you do to the least of men, you do unto me".  This conversation has also reminded me of one of the reasons why I wanted to become a teacher.  With an education you set up children for success.

As a field early childhood should be connecting the international field to undergraduate AND graduate students.  I feel that my preparation and teacher education would have been even more valuable if I was able to learn more about the issue and trends in the US and across the seas as an undergraduate student at Rowan University.  I would have been better prepared to serve the early education community.

Sharing Resources Part 4

Unfortunately, the contact I usually correspond with did not respond to my email this week.  So I decided to look on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's website.

On the UNESCO website I looked into the tab that was named quality.  After reading this tab, I realized that like America, many other countries find the same elements essential to running a quality early childhood program.  Things like parent involvement and education, trained staff, understanding of pedagogy, proper materials and a culturally and developmentally competent curricula.  Along with trained staff there is a need for other workers such as informal caregivers, other professionals in the field, and care workers.  

I also noticed that it was a difficult game of give and take when it comes to access to early childhood care for the poor of any country.  It is a trend and issue all over the world that the poor have less access and less quality care and/or education than the more wealthy.  

As a whole developed and non-developed countries have yet to find a way to coordinately operate early childhood programs.  Some have taken the approach of dividing the responsibilities toward target age groups or a target area and some have combined the responsibilities into one department to mainstream their coordination efforts. 

As I made my way through the UNESCO website I saw that there are initiatives and events all over the world.  Most of them include funding programs that are inadequate and giving young children the care and access necessary to educate them and their families.  

Its a small world after all.

Sharing More Web Resources

 

Most of the links on the website brought me to events and news from the organization and its partners but also to social media, facebook, twitter, even pinterest.  They use each of these links to inform members and others about events, publications and to facilitate discussions on topics in education.  

As I begin to look further in the National Black Child Development Institute I began to see that they have published many articles about equity and access for black children.  They have published various articles called Being Black is Not a Risk Factor: A Strengths-based Look at the State of the Black Child and A Preliminary Blueprint to Improve Educational Excellence and Opportunity for African American Males in Urban Public Schools.  The Preliminary Blueprint article speaks to equity in early education and education by listing policies that can aide meeting the academic, mental, health and school readiness.  Access to high-quality early education is listed as an important factor in helping black males and other children to be ready for school and college-prep.  
While reading "Being Black is not a Risk Factor" it was interesting to read how important it is to have the culture of the children/community embedded in the school.  Low-income students who were able to have representation of their culture at school were more resilient than those low-income peers who did not.  

I also was able to find information in the link Family Empowerment.  This organization as a Parent Empowerment Project.  This project's initiative is to fully engage parents in the education of their children.  They are fully aware the first and influential impact of parents on their child and are using this important fact as a way to connect to children's culture and to communities. A quote so true and packs a punch from this website:

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”

- James Baldwin, Author 

While exploring this website and all it had to offer.  I found that the information that the NBCDI puts out is geared toward African American children but can be used for all young children.  Access and equity are not just issues that plague one ethnic community.  There are children all over this world who are unable to get high-quality education let alone, early education.  Being an educator of children is a difficult job!  It takes care, meticulous details and lots of energy.  The excellence in early childhood care comes when parent, teachers, politicians, and communities work together to do what is best for the child.  Children can tell when you are faking.

Standards, DAP, Assessment...

As I spoke to my international contact this week we came to the topic of standards.  She expressed that the education system in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) is based off of models of the UK, Australia and New Zealand.  This is where the big disconnect comes.  Many of the issues and trends and culture are different in all these places, therefore the standards and year end goals do not meet the needs or match the culture of the students that are being taught.  Much of the material does not take into account that the students are English Language Learners.  Some of the standards many teachers find inappropriate, such as the standard that 3 1/2 year old should learn 25 sight words in English and in Arabic.  According to DAP even in America this standard is just unrealistic and inappropriate.  Students, are just understanding letters and numbers at this age, they should not be expected to learn sight words!!!
My contact also expressed that the assessments that are expected to be done throughout the day and semester is causing alot of stress for the teachers.  She says "tensions are high".  While I am not in an environment where assessment is about 20% of my teaching day, she is expected to do formal and informal assessments along with school-based assessments, as well as, graph students learning each trimester and after each completed theme. 

As far a professional development she says that teachers do not get any input on the topics covered and also the topics have information that is usually taught in a university, therefore teachers usually know the information already.  Overall she feels that their approach to standards should be altered and those that are in charge of the educational system could be more aware of the students that they are serving.

She feels that excellence on the UAE is also contingent on what is being done at home.  If the parents are involved in their child's education they usually do better in school than those students who have parents with little involvement and who do not have an English speaking nanny.

In the UAE there are some similar issues that are happening in the US but as you can see their culture is different and their home life is different.  This makes the comments by Graue (2008) even more relevant that it is important to take into account where a child is coming from when they enter school and the importance of their parental relationship and home life because parents are the first people children learn from.


Reference:

Graue, E. (2008). Teaching And Learning In A Post-DAP World. Early Education &     Development, 19(3), 441-447. doi:10.1080/10409280802065411