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!
No doubt about it. Collaborating with colleagues as we have done in this course has many benefits as you mentioned.I agree with you that ways should be created for educators in the field to interact internationally. It is only then that those benefits can be felt in the field and have impact on the professionals as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Have a nice holiday.
Very good points, it really does make you think about the country you live in as well and speaking with other professionals in other countries truely causes one's education to be heightened to new and extraordinary levels. You brought a new prespective as well to me, speaking about the three countries. In learning yourself, you have also educated others (like me), so thank you for sharing your experiences and posts. Hope you have a great rest of the year as well. It is been a pleasure learning with and from you.
ReplyDeleteCollaborating with other countries to discover what is the best way to successfully assess children, educate children, and track their growth and development seems like a great idea. I dislike the way that instead of looking at how others do things and learning from them, their ways are often judged and disregarded because "we do it better our way" even when we obviously do not. We are unfortunately one of those countries that do not take constructive criticism easily, even when it comes from our own professionals. I know as a parent, and as an early childhood professional that the way we educate our children is lacking in many ways. It is almost as if we should just start back at square one with what we already know and create an entirely new educational system for our children. I also know that will never happen because of the cost that would be associated with it, and we need to work with what we have. Its just something that fascinates me. Great Post.
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