The Importance of Early Childhood Education

Wired for Life

The "Finale"

As I reflect over the past several weeks, my consciousness concerning global issues and trends in the field of education has heightened. As I have studied the disparities such as poverty, lack of resources, and demographics that perpetuate inequities among children, families, communities, I was prompted to consider the consequences. I choose to acknowledge my inquiries as attributes to my professional and personal development.

 Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for your professional and personal development:

1.       Increase in international partnerships/relationships.

2.       Global awareness, responsiveness, and accessibility.

3.       Excellence and Equity for all children.

One goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations is to become PROACTIVE advocates for children, families, and communities committed to overcoming the barriers of adversities through integral partners in policy, eminent investors, and excellent educators continuously seeking to prevent the achievement gap from growing, instead striving to make it non-existent in hopes of providing high-quality childcare as a foundation for hope, competence, and successful futures for all children.

Professional Contact Part 3

For my first time visiting the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), I thought it would be beneficial to become knowledgeable about this organizations mission and vision. This mission of UNESCO values the development that occurs during the early years of life. As development and learning matures, the UNESCO assists with the transition into formal school through interconnecting approaches of social development, gender equity, and poverty deduction. As a leader in international policy, the UNESCO supports a holistic well-being through policies that encourage solid cornerstones in lifelong learning in children. The UNESCO also strives to provide high-quality learning for all children.

                Viewing the site further, it was easy to find this organizations’ view on equity and access, quality, and investments. In equity and access, the UNESCO agrees that our nations’ most vulnerable populations need access to quality education. The Jomtien Declaration for Education for All established in 1990 and the Dakar Framework for action furtherance the crucial notion of how learning begins at birth and the essence of early childhood care and education is foremost in healthy development.

                UNESCO states some valuable characteristics of attending high-quality programs including: motivation, confidence, and school readiness. The UNESCO recommends that achieving this status of quality includes parent relationships/partnerships, professional development, and practice of theory. Not only does quality apply to the program and professionals, but also to the materials and experiences exposed to young learners.

                The UNESCO advocates for the government to recognize early childhood care as a meaningful component of basic education through policies. This approach could possibly increase funding and access to quality programs for families dealing with poverty who could otherwise not afford these resources.

                As an added insight, the UNESCO is attempting to coordinate and integrate early childhood care and education policies and implementation across national and local and public and private sectors. I find this to be interesting. Doing so would be one step into ensuring quality care for all children. I am going to continue to follow this site in hopes of keeping abreast of the positive outcomes and effective implementation of policy, research, and practices that this organization is a part.

Reference: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Sharing Web Resources

This week, I entered the link on The Word Forum Foundation titled War and Peace or War and Peas. This forum asked the critical question to young children: What is Peace? Initiated by Betsy Evans, she inquired about the children’s understanding on war and peace. Poling 50 girls and 50 boys, they ask specific questions such as: Do you what war is? While some of the girls were unsure about the meaning of war, all of the boys gave answers that described war as being violent.

                Researching the site further, I entered a link titled Nature Action Collaborative for Children. The mission of this collaboration is to reconnect developmentally appropriate aspects of nature back into education through real life learning experiences. Its mission is to reconnect children to their surrounding environment of nature and natural resources. The initiative lists developmental benefits of this approach: increases intellectual and physical achievements, emotional regulations, and a sense of belonging in their community. All advocates in field of education are encouraged to engage in this initiative. This initiative engages hundreds of projects globally that range from professional development in the field of early childhood care and education, utilizing tools such as online pre-trainings to college courses to curriculums such as Growing Up Wild which is aligned with Head Start. The site is equipped with all of the resources need to become involved in the Nature Action Collaborative for children. The Environmental Action Kit is donated by numerous funders and organizations in partnership with The World Forum Foundation to encourage children to learn and appreciate their environments.

                This initiative adds to equity and excellence through the many voices of advocates that contribute to this collaboration. These individuals have taken a stance to enhance children’s access to nature and the experiences that contribute to learning through play. This has added an extended insight by provoking inquiry and reflection. I remember enjoying much of my childhood being spent outside playing. It hasn’t dawned on me until researching this site that children have lose much of their outside time by recess being taking away. But even less of their developmental experience does not focus much on discovery and exploration of the environment. It has led me to think about possible ways to integrate experiences with nature in the curriculum more. We could grow gardens of fresh fruits and vegetables, which would overlap domains of cognitive, physical, and social developments. International Mud Day is on June 29^th….. Let’s take part!

Reference: http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/news/world-forum-in-action-nature-action-collaborative-for-children/

International Contacts

Exploring The World Forum Foundation further has provided information about their upcoming conference that will discuss global inequities and contingencies that children are confronted with. This global community will address the importance of health, education, and human rights. In June of 2013, key note speakers will congregate in a conference of politicians, neuroscientists, educators and other advocates in the field of education to increase the comprehension of approaches and disciplines that impact students, families, and communities across the nation.

                The lecturers will examine current trends, research, and programs that influence well-being of children in communities worldwide, specifically honing in on children’s rights and social justices. To increase perspectives pertaining to health, they will delve into the avoidance, intervention, and control of diseases both geographically and universally as it pertains to health. And implications of human rights will be analyzed as a means of exposing child abuse and the deficient laws being implemented to fight against this burden affecting many families.

                I wish that I could be afforded the opportunity to attend this conference. I believe that my insights on trends/issues related to excellence and inequities of education would be enlightened. It is vital to my personal and professional journey that I remain abreast of such issues and trends as a way of seeking and advocating for avenues in which to utilize as proactive measures of opposition and resolutions. 

Reference:   http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/news/conference-on-global-challenges-and-opportunities-facing-children/