EDUC6162 - Week 8 - International Awareness

In the United States of America, a land founded by immigrants, the issue of immigration is currently receiving much attention.  We, as a nation, seem to be fearful of immigrants.  We are fearful of terrorism, we are afraid of job loss to immigrants, and we are afraid of losing our position in society.  I spoke with a contact from Australia on the topic of immigration.  Australian government is vigorously recruiting immigrants to fill open job positions, and is welcoming immigrants with policies and plans for merging into the Australian population.  I also spoke with an African contact, who acknowledges major immigrations out of southern countries.  Living in northwestern Africa, she is somewhat detached from the issue, and displays little involvement or concern.  These are three very different local responses to a global issue.

In the United States of America, we are slowly developing a system of learning standards and assessment.  This process is also occurring in Australia and in the cape of Africa.  It was very interesting to compare and contrast the “report card” for early childcare students in the three countries.  In Africa, weight and height are included, as well as laterality, dominance, symmetry, and a thorough auditory screening.   African report cards for early childhood education students seem much more thorough than those I use!  Report cards in Australia seem very similar to those in the United States.  I now question our educational system.  Do other countries excel in the field of education?  Why is the United States falling behind?  International collaboration may give us the answer to these questions.

In the United States of America, we have initiated a system of human rights, which includes every child, regardless of race, creed, gender, or special need.  This is very similar in Australia.  However, in Africa, this process started in the relatively recent past.  The country has passed laws to the effect, but has yet to see truly unsegregated educational opportunities for all children.  I can see how difficult it was for our country to created unsegregated educational opportunities, by observing the difficulties faced in Africa. 

The international community opens your mind to variations on major topics.  For any issue, there are many different solutions, many different ways to handle situations.  Brainstorming with early childhood professionals in other countries provides a unique perspective on topics which are treated in a mundane fashion in the United States.  If all early childhood professionals in the United States set a goal to speak with one early childhood professional in another country, we could develop new ideas, learn new philosophies, and trade information!  We could all benefit from such collaboration.

It has been a pleasure blogging with all of you!  Happy Holidays!  Hope to blog with you next year!

Week 7 - Goals and Challenges

In my local area, a lack of available child care is a big issue.  Current zoning laws limit child care homes to a total of four children, including those living in the home under the age of 13.  A mother of one child can only offer care for three additional children in her home.  A mother of two can offer care for two additional children, and a mother of three can offer care for one additional child.  Most parents cannot afford to stay home and offer child care services, because of the zoning limits on the total number of children. 

 

Another big issue in the community where I live is trust.  Putting your child into a child care setting with total strangers is very scary to parents.  The news is often telling of horror stories at child care settings.  Within the past year, the news reported on one child care death, one fire resulting in death, and several cases of abuse.  I now have a child enrolled in care that came from an abusive situation in another child care.  The child care is still in business, as the only proof was broken blood vessels around the child’s face, caused by crying.  Since the child care personnel did not break the blood vessels, it was deemed the fault of the child for crying excessively. 

Advocacy is needed in the local community to rectify these issues.  Zoning laws need to be changed, allowing child care homes to open in the local area.  Local homes, directed by local families, would help ease the fear factor of enrolling children into care situations with strangers.  In our small community, reputations of family owned and operated child care homes would travel quickly, and quality child care homes would grow and prosper.  

 There are many opportunities for professional development in the area.  Local colleges offer courses, online college courses are available, and both are subsidized at a rate of two per year (down from 5 per year in 2010).  The local United Way offers classes, as does Penn State Better Kid Care online.  High school students can attend the local Vocational Technical school and major in Early Childhood Education.

My professional goal is to complete this Master’s degree, and retire into online teaching.  I would like to make a difference in early child care, by using my experiences and education to train the next generation of early childhood teachers.  I am hoping to eventually be able to financially support my family entirely through online teaching, and close my child care.  I will miss the children!  I must admit that I am getting older, and less able to physically continue the career of early childhood educator.  My Australian contact, Sue, is also planning on retiring soon.  She is working toward an advocacy issue, of bridging the gap between early childhood teachers and elementary school teachers.  In Australia, as in our country, early childhood teachers are less recognized than elementary school teachers, are paid less, work longer hours, and have fewer benefits.

State Policies and the RTT-ELC Program

The Zero to Three website has a Select a Topic section on the upper right of the home page.  In this section, select Federal Policy to learn more about legislation and policies created by the administration and Congress.  The Federal Policy Resources tab takes you to a page with many related topics.  One to note is the Race to the Top (RTT) Early Learning Challenge (ELC).  The RTT-ELC is a four phase program, with the four phases, or criteria being 1) Successful State Systems 2) Promotion of Child Outcomes 3) High Quality Programs and 4) Qualified Workforce.  The RTT-ELC is a comprehensive program that urges states to support early learning from birth to age five, inclusive of the four criteria, and emphasizes the importance of early learning support.  

To assist states in early child learning program planning and implementation, the RTT-ELC has created a set of checklists.  These can be found on the Zero to Three website, also under Federal Policy Resources, the RTT-ELC Resource Check List.  These checklists were created for use by state governments.  They include creative state financing, health issues, training, language and literacy, home visits, and of course, a guide detailing why such a program is necessary!  The long selection of checklists are divided by topic, and include directions for use.  They are all written by qualified, educated persons approved by the Zero to Three staff.  State governments are invited to use these checklists to develop and implement a state early learning policy.

With the current economic downturn, it is now more important than ever to have a credible, quality, working system of child education in place at the state level.  The process of educating our young children will help the state balance the budget.  We all realize that money spent on a child’s education creates jobs.  Parents with quality early child care can be responsible employees, spend money at stores, and help the economy.  Business benefits when child care centers spend money on items from accountants to cleaning supplies, from toys to playground equipment.  Children benefit from the educational and social learning. Given today’s recession and state budget deficits, state planning needs the support of groups like Zero to Three.

Reference

Zero to Three Federal Policy Resources. Retrieved from

http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/federal-policy/federal-professional-resources.html 

School Systems - Equity and Excellence

School systems in the cape of Africa, located in North West Africa, are very diverse.  My personal contact,  Nicky, owner and director of an early childhood center, describes the situation as improving!  On the cape of South Africa, there are three distinct groups of people, living in three distinct neighborhoods.  Therefore, there are three levels of quality in South African schools, which are inequitable. 

 

The schools in the poorer black areas are very overcrowded.  There is standing room only for many students.  Books and supplies are sparse, and must be shared by students.  Teachers are often illiterate, and provide a poor quality of education for the children enrolled.  The children in these schools come from very poor neighborhoods, often living in homes made of cardboard and plastic.  Health benefits, food, and basic necessities are lacking. 

The schools in the coloured (mixed race) neighborhoods, are overcrowded, however every child will usually have a place to sit.  Books and supplies are often outdated, but are available.  Teachers are usually literate, and provide a mediocre quality of education for the children enrolled.  The children in these schools come from low income neighborhoods, often living in run down homes.  Basic necessities are usually available, as are basic health benefits.

The schools in the white neighborhoods are not overcrowded.  Classrooms are adequately provided with supplies, and class sizes are small.  Teachers are well qualified, and provide a quality education.  Children living in these areas live in nice homes, have all basic necessities, and good health care.   

In the past 20 years, some families have chosen to move between neighborhoods.  There have been some coloured and black families move into the more affluent neighborhoods, and a few white and coloured families move to the less affluent neighborhoods!  Schools are becoming more racially mixed.  The school systems in most areas have not changed, and are still offering very unequitable educations to the children of Western Africa.

On another note, I have been discussing the Australian school system with Susan D., who describes a much different picture!  Australian schools are much more equitable than those in the cape of Africa.  Each state in Australia has different, yet similar standards.  Education is well funded by the government, class sizes countrywide are small, supplies are abundant, and teachers are well qualified.

In the United States, the school system is NOT equitable.  In my local area, families compare school districts prior to settling in an area.  One school district will have a great reputation, while another is known for failing students and low quality teachers.  The favored school district offers two swimming pools, music instruments, art classes, computer access, and much more.  The lower quality school is cutting out all art and music classes due to a budget shortfall.  Often, teachers who are new graduates will work in the poor school district to gain experience, and then move on to a better job.  Some teachers in the area will not even accept a job in the lower class school districts because of the increased violence.  Police walk the halls, and metal detectors are at each entrance in the lower class school district.       

 

References

Teachers College, Columbia University. (2009). Early childhood care and education: Worldwide challenges and progress. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 11, 1–44. Retrieved from http://www.tc.edu/cice/Issues/11.00/PDFs/11_Introduction.pdf

Kagan, S. L. (2009). American early childhood education: Preventing or perpetuating inequity? (Equity Matters: Research Review No. 3). Retrieved from Campaign for Educational Equity website: http://www.equitycampaign.org/i/a/document/9833_EquityMatters_Kagan_Final.pdf

Sharing Resources! Zero-to-Three!

The Zero to Three website published an article titled Supporting Young Children During the Holidays.  This article is full of important information, and is an excellent resource for every parent, teacher, and care provider.  The article explains how the increased holiday tension and stress, even if joyful, can be overwhelming to a young child.   While mentioning structure and routines, family depression and joy, shopping and late nights, a military undertone is taken.  The support of military and their families is a large part of this article.  The article ends with ideas on the inclusion of military parents, stationed far from home.  

The articles on autism are very controversial, and cause me some concern.  An article titled This Issue and Why It Matters, asks if autism is more prevalent today, or if we just recognize the symptoms more often?  The article also discusses screening at an early age, using a lack of speech skills as an indicator.  A lack of speech skills can be a symptom of so many different syndromes!  The article also states that it has been recommended that all children be screened for autism at the ages of 18 and 24 months.  I feel that all children should be watched for developmental delays and physical illnesses.  I do not agree that all children should be screened for every illness.  Is autism so prevalent that all children must be tested?  Should all children be tested for every well known syndrome?  Will this testing be performed on all children, or just on those that have good insurance?  Will children in poverty be tested?  Do children raised in poverty have a higher incidence of autism?  The article by K. Drummond finds that autism is more prevalent in families not living in poverty.  Are children living in poverty being counted in the autism statistics?  Autism is a very controversial topic, with many unknown answers. 

The Zero to Three website is promoting a Birth to Five Agenda.  Searching the website will provide you with numerous articles on the topic.  The agenda encourages communities and businesses to become active participants in early childhood education.  Politically, very little information seems to exist on the topic of the Birth to Five Agenda.  A few sites mention the existence of the agenda, however most seem to avoid the subject.  Most of the political information found concerns the reelection prospects of politicians that notice the ECE field.  NueroScientists dominate the Zero to Three website.  The site offers many avenues of scientific research and documentation.  The science supports the Birth to Five agenda, and gives politicians and economists the necessary data to plan and develop programs for children.

I enjoyed the section on development of four to six month old children.  The section is very detailed, with examples, strategies, and activity ideas.  Since my grandson is four months old, and I have two children of this age group in my child care, I was able to relate to the article.  The article contained sections titles If Baby Could Talk, which related possible thoughts.  This section was particularly interesting!  I also liked the section on recognizing your child’s personality.  It is fun to understand baby’s personality, and imagine him/her as an older child!  

References

Powers, S. (2008). This Issue and Why It Matters. Retrieved from  http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/ZTT28-4_mar_08.pdf?docID=7246 

Drummond, K. (2010).  Does Poverty Fend Off Autism?  Retrieved from http://www.aolnews.com/2010/09/22/does-poverty-fend-off-austism 

INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

Nicky, an owner and director of a child care center on the Western Cape of  South Africa, has agreed to be an email partner!   She bought a failing preschool, and turned the building into a child care center.  Her center provides care for children ages 2 through 6, and a few after school children through 4^th grade.  Her total enrollment is 72 children, divided into three classes.  She has about 20 years of early childhood experience.

Nicky tells of the people of South Africa.  She comments on the three races in her country.  The Blacks, the Colours, and the Whites.  Colours are mixed race people.  The Blacks live mainly in squatter camps, where no White person would dare go.  The camps are not segregated, but very few others live there.  The camps are huge, and surround major airports.  Homes are constructed of scraps, cardboard, plastic, newspaper, almost anything.  There are also many poor White people, who live in low income areas, and are not as noticeable, since there are not as many as the huge number of poor blacks.  About 20 years ago, schools were de-segregated.  That is when Nicky began her teaching career.  There is a school for each neighborhood, and since people generally live within their own socio-economic class, the schools now considered classist instead of  racist.  Some are very poor, attended mostly by the Black and Coloured children.   Often, the classes are so large that there is standing room only.  Many of the teachers are illiterate.  Other schools are more modern, mostly attended by the Whites.  These schools are well funded, have qualified teaching staff, and manageable class sizes.  The predominant language taught is all schools is English.  There are about 11 different African languages spoken by the blacks in their homes.  Nicky’s preschool is in a city, and she has a mix of cultures and races attending.  She has Black, Coloured, and White children, Christian and Moslem, mostly English speaking.  Recently, she has had an influx of immigrant Black, French speaking Nigerian children.  When I asked Nicky about the starvation and poverty that we, as Americans, hear about on the news from Africa, she commented that it does not exist in her country.  She also stated that she cannot deny the stories we hear.

I have also created a contact with a person from Australia.  Her name is Susan, and she works for the Department for Communities in Western Australia.  She notes that Australian citizens have a public health system which covers basic health and hospital care.  The current contentious political issue is the immigration of illegal arrivals on boats from Indonesia, carrying people from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and other Middle Eastern countries.  Australia’s immigration policy encourages the migration of skilled workers entering under the normal process.  There are currently labor shortages in some industries, and migration is a way to search for more skilled laborers.  The school system has had an ESL system in place for about 30 years.  The child care sector has had an Ethnic Resource Unit since the 1980’s.  The systems provide an interpreter service where necessary for any immigrant, and one on one support for the children for a number of weeks until they are settled in child care or school.  These systems also provide cultural advice and multicultural resources for service staff.  Australia is not currently in a recession, as the government acted very quickly at the beginning of the world crisis.  Banks were regulated, and citizens have not suffered financial woes.       

These two contacts are very similar, yet very different.  Both are professionals, and both are knowledgeable about the early childhood field.  However, the countries that these individuals reside in are vastly different.  I will be interested to compare and contrast the information I receive from both these knowledgeable women, and to see how our country compares!