Consequences of International Learning

#1 Global Awareness:

                One consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is global awareness.  I know that often times we (as a society) and me (as a person) tend to get stuck in the here and now and don’t even think about what someone else might be going through.  Before this class I know that I was guilty of not even really thinking about other countries and how they deal with the same issues and trends that we are dealing with here in the U.S.  This class has given me an understanding of the importance of learning about our global companions on this earth.  There is so much to be learned from studying the demographics and diversity of other countries.  In becoming globally aware we establish a platform of information that we can use to build on our understanding and learning of early childhood education and children in general.

#2 Cultural Diversity:

                Another consequence of international learning is an enhancement in the understanding of cultural diversity.  I think that it is impossible to read or learn about another country and not learn, at least on some level, about their culture.  Cultural diversity is so important to know about because as a country that has many people living here from other countries it is something that will touch our lives at some point.  We need to be aware of our students’cultures so that we know how to sufficiently teach them.  In learning about other countries and their cultures we arm ourselves with the knowledge we need to create warm and welcoming environments for children and their families.  It also gives us information on how other countries support and use cultural diversity in their early childhood educational settings.

#3 Building Partnerships:

                The final consequence I feel is a result of learning about international early childhood programs is building global partnerships.  Although I was never able to establish a contact with a global partner I know that the opportunity is there.  In reading other people’s blogs it is evident that having a global partner is very beneficial to learning about other countries and the developments in the early childhood field within those countries.  Building partnerships is important in any job that we may have but building partners within the early childhood field is invaluable in helping us create classrooms that have global awareness and respect cultural diversity.  In building partnerships with colleagues from other countries we are able to gain and share information and ideas that can aid us in our teaching styles and help us to deal with the issues that as a universe we are all dealing with on some level. 

My Personal Goal

                It was disheartening to me to not be able to get any international contacts throughout this course.  There were times when I wanted to quit trying but each time we had a new assignment and I would do more research I would realize that there are so many people out there that I can still try and contact.  I have two goals to increase my international awareness of issues and trends.  The first one is to not give up on forming a global partnership with at least one other person.  I will continue to email colleagues from around the world until I find someone with whom I can share ideas and learn from.  Even though this class will be over, having a global partner will be helpful in my other classes and a great resource for my classroom.  My other goal is to join a global organization that deals with the issues and trends in the early childhood and education field.  I have been researching The Children’s Defense Fund over the past eight weeks and I like everything that I see in this organization.  I have subscribed to their newsletter but I know that there is more that I can do to become a partner with them.  On their website they have ways of becoming involved in the organization and I plan on researching these different avenues, coming up with the one that is best for me, and joining the campaign.  This goal will help continue my development in global awareness, cultural diversity, and building global partnerships.  I want to continue to “stay out of the box” and learn as much about my global companions as I can.  Our world is constantly changing and it is so very important for our future that we recognize these changes and learn how to embrace each other as a global community.

Thank You

                I just wanted to take a quick minute and thank our professor for creating the basis for this class and “opening my eyes” to the world around me.  The lessons and information that I have learned I will carry with me and have become an invaluable part of my learning.  Also, to my colleagues I want to say “thank you” for sharing all of your personal insight, stories, advice, and knowledge with me.  I have learned something from each one of you and I consider you each a wonderful blessing.  Best of luck to each of you in your future classes and I’m sure some of us will meet again.  God bless!

               

Getting to Know International Contacts - Part 3

One of my main professional goals is to learn about how the issues and the changes in the world have impacted the lives and development of children in the early stages of learning.  Although I have not been successful in establishing a contact with someone internationally, I have been able to do research about other countries from the resources that have been given to us to use.

Podcast Experience:

                This week I decided to listen to Episode 6 in the World Forum Radio with Meridas Eka Yora.  Mr. Yora is the founder and director of the Fajar Hiayah for Islamic Education and the director of Yayasan Fajar Hidayah Foundation.  After the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia there were 500,000 people who were left homeless.  In Aceh which was at the epicenter of the earthquake that devastated this nation over 140 children between the ages of 6yrs -18yrs were left as orphans and 120 children left orphaned who were under the age of 5.  Mr. Yora saw this tragedy and created three boarding schools for these children.  His idea was to take these children in and create a place for them that would be as much like a home to them as the one they had lost.  He said that in this devastation the children had seen their families and their homes destroyed and this had created a deep impact on these children (World Forum Radio, 2011).  He took special care in getting teachers who were specially prepared to become like mothers and fathers to these young children.  These teachers would stay with the children and do things such as eating meals with them and putting them to bed.  They would become like nurses and psychologists for these children.  Mr. Yora said that his concept was one of a holistic approach where the teachers and children would become like a family to the children who had lost theirs in the natural disaster (World Forum Radio, 2011).  In some special circumstances where the children just could not accept what had happened to them, Mr. Yora and his wife even took in some of these children and made them a part of their own family. 

                In learning about high quality and excellence in programs this week I think that the work that Mr. Yora has done truly exemplifies both of these topics.   He saw a need and he worked very diligently to provide for these children who had lost so much.  He was concerned about the children and how he could provide a place for them where they could overcome and succeed regardless of the issues that they have faced.  His first priority was the children and this is the concept that all high quality programs should be based on.  He then made sure that the teachers who were working with these children were highly trained and prepared them for the work that they would be doing with the children.  I loved how he trained these teachers to be like the mothers and fathers that these children had lost.  I think that if teachers looked at children more like their own, sometimes they would treat them differently.  I think that it is important in any classroom that they environment feels like a home to the children because in some cases (like for the children in this devastating event) it may be the only home that they know.  I commend Mr. Yora for his dedication to children and think that we could all learn a great deal from his work in the field of education.

UNESCO WEBPAGE:  - 3 Insights

Insight #1

                After researching this website, the first insight I made was from reading UNESCO’s policy brief on Early Childhood.  This brief was about curriculum in early childhood curriculum and care and it discussed the positives and negatives about creating universal curriculum in early childhood education.  It talked about how a set curriculum would help to guide personnel who may not have high qualifications to know what learning areas are important to cover.  It said that this would help to create the same level of quality across groups and regions.  On the other hand it then discussed that in early childhood it is important to make sure that the curriculum is broad enough that it is reaching the developmental levels of all the children.  Due to the fact that all children develop at different rates and in different ways, a universal curriculum may not be beneficial. 

                Instead the article talked about implementing universal guidelines for early childhood programs.  These guidelines would help to set standards on which the programs could be founded.  One of the ideas that would be in these guidelines was that the centers would follow the principles established by the Convention of the Rights of the Child.  This included the fact that parents would be respected as the first educators of the children (Bennett, 2004). Another idea in the framework would be that there would be set standards in relation to child/staff ratios, qualifications of teachers, and the environments that the learning was taking place in.  Furthermore the framework would outline developmental goals expected for the children at different ages.  A final guideline would be the processes through which the children would be learning (i.e. – play-based, experiential, adult interaction, etc.).  Many different countries have different ideas of the needs of children and their families.  Since these ideas differ, a universal curriculum would not be sufficient but specific guidelines could help all people work towards the goals of creating high quality early childhood programs.

                I think that a set of universal guidelines could be effective in creating a greater number of high quality programs throughout the world.  I do agree that a universal curriculum might not be beneficial in meeting the developmental needs of all children because of the fact that not every developing child learns the same.  Guidelines could provide a good foundation for which to build effective quality programs.

Insight #2  

                I read another policy brief about the early childhood workforce in ‘developed’ countries.  This brief discussed how early childhood education in many countries is divided into different services depending on the age of the children.  It talked about how many countries have nurseries that care for the youngest children and preschools and kindergartens that care for older children.  It then discussed how this division in some countries has also created a difference in administration, access, cost to parents, and funding of the programs.  It discussed how the systems have a difference in the titles of the professionals.  In one case there are childcare or nursery workers and in the other system, teachers.  The people who are considered teachers are paid better, have better working conditions, and have higher education then those people who are considered childcare workers.  The goal is to take these two systems and create a workforce that would be centered on a core profession. 

                The article stated that there are three key challenges to creating a workforce with a core profession.  The first is that all people have to overcome the view that the people who work with young children are just replacement mothers.  Instead these people should be seen as guides towards learning where they are helping children research the world around them.  The second challenge is that because early childhood education is less socially valued, many college students are choosing to teach older children and are passing on becoming trained in early childhood education.  The final challenge is that in order to restructure the workforce around a common profession, this will increase costs for the workplace.  If workplaces want early childhood professionals to be educated at the same level as other teachers, then they have to pay higher salaries and in some cases for more schooling. 

                I believe that in all countries the stigma of early childhood education not being as important as primary schooling needs to be dispelled.  I think that if there was a combination in the workforce of early care providers and teachers, then this could help with a change in this mindset.  Yes, it may cost more financially but young children are already paying the price for not being given the opportunity to be involved in the same high quality programs that older children are involved in.  I have learned that this is a universal problem and not just one in the U.S.  We have to work as a universal society in creating a way for all young children to be given a chance to be part of high quality programs that are run by highly qualified and effective teachers.

Insight #3

                I decided to read about a single country for my third insight and so I chose an article that caught my eye while looking around the UNESCO website.  That article was about Sub-Saharan Africa and the inadequacy of teachers and resource materials available to children.  In Sub-Saharan Africa the early grades in school are the most crowded.  There are so many children that need education that the demand for teachers continues to increase.  Some areas in Sub-Saharan Africa will have to more than double their teaching force by the year 2015 in order to meet the growing number of students.  According to the article more than two million teachers will have to be brought in to meet the demand and also to replace teachers who will leave or retire (Hofer, 2012).  Another topic of interest when thinking about the great demand for teachers is whether or not the teachers are properly trained.  Some of these countries have teachers who have graduated from accredited teacher-training programs while others are minimally trained.  Many of these schools and teachers also are dealing with limited resources.  In many countries in Africa there are a great number of schools who do not have the sufficient resources needed for learning.  In the Central African Republic for example eight students must share one reading and math textbook between them and in Cameroon the number jumps to one book per 11-13 children (Hofer, 2012).  A final issue that is affecting the quality of the programs in Africa is the access these people have to basic necessities such as drinking water and bathrooms.  In many of these areas there are not clean toilet areas for the children to use and drastic shortages in drinking water.  Most schools in this country are also working without the use of electricity.

                This article was really an eye opener for me.  In our schools in America teachers complain if they don’t have 10 extra textbooks for the children.  In Africa they don’t even have on per student.  Also most of our primary (Pre-K-1^st grade) classrooms have bathrooms right in the room.  These children in Africa do not even have clean bathrooms to use in most cases.  In our country teachers are fighting to keep their jobs because of budgetary confinements.  We have surplus of teachers ready to enter the field or to find a new job because they have lost theirs.  In Africa they are begging for teachers because they have classes with an overabundance of children in each class.  We are so spoiled in this country that it is hard to imagine places where so many children might not have access to school because of the elements surrounding them.  It is so amazing to learn that there are places where because there are not schools and teachers to teach the children, the children just do not go to school.  We know how important education is to the development of the human person but how hard would it be to have this knowledge and not be able to do anything about the conditions that are effecting the implementation of it.  One of my main professional goals is to learn about what is going on in the world around me.  This article showed me how fortunate we are here and just how needy another country is.   It also makes me want to find out about what efforts our country is making to help these other countries and if there is anything I could do to help.  I think that we tend to get stuck in our little bubble and forget that early childhood education is not just important for the children in our country, but all around the world.

Resources:

Bennett, J. (2004, September). Curriculum in early childhood education and care. Retrieved from Moss, P. (2004, October). The early childhood workforce in 'developed' countries: Basic structures and education. Retrieved from Hofer, M. (2012). Inadequate school and teaching resources challenge education in sub-saharan africa. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Hofer, M. (2012). Inadequate school and teaching resources challenge education in sub-saharan africa. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Moss, P. (2004, October). The early childhood workforce in 'developed' countries: Basic structures and education. Retrieved from Hofer, M. (2012). Inadequate school and teaching resources challenge education in sub-saharan africa. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

World Forum Radio. (2012). Episode 6: Meridas Eka Yora. Retrieved from http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/

Sharing Web Resources

Children’s Defense Fund

Outside Links

                When researching outside links on this website, I went to the resources section of the site.  I found several outside links.  Below are a couple of the ones that I found (with links provided) and researched:

American Academy of Pediatrics:

 Found at -  http://www.aap.org/en-us/Pages/Default.aspx

            This link takes you to the home page of the American Academy of Pediatrics.  This website then has all kinds of information on it.  It has information on health, a section just for pediatricians, and an information spot for parents entitled Healthy Children.  When I clicked on this link it took me to Healthy children.org (http://www.healthychildren.org/English/Pages/default.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token).  In this section it listed safety and prevention, family life, health issues, and ages and stages(which ranged from prenatal through young adult).

Advocacy Groups:

Found at - http://www.childrensdefense.org/policy-priorities/advocate-family-resources/child-advocacy-groups/

            This link provides an alphabetical listing of groups that are advocates for early childhood education or for children in general.  Each title that is on the page is a link to that organizations website, and if you click on any of them it will take you directly to the site.  Some of the ones I thought were informational were:

·         Alliance for Children and Families

·         Education Sector

·         Feeding America

·         Share our Strength

·         National Immigration Law Center

Thorough Site Research

            The one area of the site that I chose to research thoroughly was the Early Childhood Education part of the website.  I found a great deal of useful information here and a lot that had to do with the issues and trends that we have been studying.  The one informational piece that I read was about Increasing Access to Full-Day Kindergarten.  This provided a link to an article that told about the how the ways of increasing access to a full day of kindergarten would enhance learning and help to close the gap that we are finding in achievement. 

            Another area or information segment that I read was on the President’s FY13 Budget.  In this information it told all about the President’s proposed plan.  He is promising to make good investments in early care and education in the following ways:

·         Increased funding for all funding areas – this includes an $85 million dollar increase to the 2012 funding levels

·         This would allow for 962,000 children to attend programs

·         Provide an increase in the Child Care and Development Block Grant to the tune of $825 million dollars

·         Offering subsidized child care to families who are struggling and may need it. 

·         A $300 million dollar investment for a quality initiative to help states improve the services that are being provided for children in child care settings.  This would include investing in not just the quality programs but the teachers as well. 

·         For the Individuals with Disabilities Act it would provide $20 million dollars towards grants that help children who have special needs.

·         A $50 million dollar increase to early childhood home visiting programs.  This would help to improve healthy developmental outcomes for at-risk families.

            If the president can follow through on all of these policy changes and improvements it sounds as if it is a step in the right direction toward increasing funding to help create early childhood programs that are of high quality and excellence.

Newsletter

            The information that I found in the newsletter related to the issues that we have been studying was entitled Guidance to School on Use of Title I Funds for Preschool.  This was released by the Department of Education and it was an amended version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.  The date on this piece was April 16, 2012.  It was written by Michael Yudin who is the Acting Secretary of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.  In this article it talked about how to use Title I funds efficiently to help implement high quality preschool programs.  This was a 32 page document and the following were the issues or information stated in it: 

General Information such as what the Title I program is.  Who is eligible for Title I services and if children with disabilities, migrant children, and homeless children are eligible.  The qualifications that teachers and other employees must have when working in a Title I funded program and whether there are funds set aside for professional development.  It had a section on parental involvement and the relationship between parents and the Title I program.  This section also stated ways in which Title I programs can help to build parental and family involvement.  It also addressed whether or not parents can be involved in professional development that is offered to staff.  Another section was about transition to kindergarten from early childhood settings such as preschool.  This section discussed the schools role in this issue and whether or not Title I programs would help with this.  Coordination with outside federal agencies was discussed and it talked about what outside programs Title I programs must coordinate with such as migrant education families.  It stated as well the ways in which preschool programs may benefit from the Race to the Top initiative.    The final two sections of the paper discussed the way that Title I funds are used and how State Education Agencies can support Title I programs. 

Understanding of Equity and Excellence

            Many of the articles or links that I have researched on this website have added to my understanding of equity and excellence in early childhood education.  The one link that I enjoyed looking at this week was a link on Data and Early Childhood Education and Care.  This link provided information on key child indicators and was given state by state.  You could look up information in your state about:

·         Head Start enrollment

·         Costs of child care

·         Tax Credits for child care

·         The Child Care and Development Fund

·         The enrollment of children in Pre-K programs

·         State by state comparisons of child care centers and their regulations

            This information told me that in the United States only 13.8% of 3year olds and 38.9% of 4 year olds had been enrolled in a pre-kindergarten program such as Head Start or other state funded programs in the year 2008-2009.

            I was also able to go to a link called 2012 Children in States Fact Sheets.  This provided a color coded map telling what states have full-day kindergarten programs and how they are funded.  You can click on any state and find out the information about that state.  I found out that in my home state of Pennsylvania out of 501 school districts, 450 of them offer a full-day kindergarten program.  Of those 450, 350 fund these programs from an Accountability Block Grant.  I also found out that kindergarten is not a required statute in PA and the compulsory age for school is 8 years old.  It said that in PA school districts can set the age at which children can start kindergarten but it cannot be younger than 4.  The most interesting information that I found out that relates to the issues that we have been studying is that many of these school districts use grant money to fund their kindergarten programs.  Due to the cuts in funding in the 2011-2012 school year many schools were no longer able to provide free full-day kindergarten. 

New Insights

            One of the new insights I gained from my website this week was in a link entitled Promising Approaches.  This link provided a list of practices that are offering children and families quality education and care.  It listed these programs in the hope that they would become examples of ideas and practices that we should be following.  The one program that I read about was a program in Mississippi entitled SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids).  This is a program that provides support for local communities in issues of quality, transition, and alignment of early education.  This was done in 5 rural communities for 7 years.  During this time the families involved were given books and learning materials, a learning advocate who would go to the home and help with the transition between early learning programs and school, and a technical assistance program that would help with any technical needs.  Of the research that was completed, the data showed a significant improvement in test results of the students involved in the program in comparison to the ones not in the program.  I think that this program shows ways in which support can be given to schools and families that can help raise test scores without just relying on teachers to cram children full of information to take a test in one day.  The paragraph or two that was written about this program did not give as much information as I would have liked, so I plan to do some more research on it and find out more specifics.  I really enjoyed looking over the Promising Approaches link though and I will be going back there to read about some more practices that are modeling effective quality education. 

Resources:
Children's Defense Fund. Retrieved From http://www.childrensdefense.org/

International Contacts - Part 2

Since my last blog I have gotten a response from the executive director of the Canadian Association for Young Children.  She emailed me back and said that she would love to answer any questions that I may have.  I then emailed her and asked about excellence and equity in Canada and specifically her program.  I just received an email back from her on June 1^st and it said that she would get back to me very soon but she has been really busy at work.  I was excited when I first received her response thinking I would actually have some information to share.  I was then hopeful when I saw I had a message from her yesterday.  This all turned to disappointment when I learned that she was too busy to answer my questions and so I would not be able to share any information in my blog.  I am understanding (as I know what it is like to be so busy with work that there is little time for anything else) but disappointed none-the-less.  So I listened to the podcast again and researched the Harvard website.  Here are my findings:

Podcast:

                The global leader I chose to listen to was Irma Allen, the chairperson of the Swaziland Development Authority.  In this podcast Irma Allen talked about how the goal of their program is to use nature while training people within the community to become early childhood educators.  In this part of Africa there are no buildings to have schools in.  The teachers have to use the environment that is available and that is nature.  The environment provides all of the teaching materials that they need and they have to make use of these materials because they have no others.  She gave examples of this in how the students will use water from the rain to do activities.  When there is no rain they use other items from nature such as the dew which displays the webs of spiders that can be studied.  These types of activities not only provide learning experiences but also give the students a better understanding and respect for nature.  She gave an example of the effectiveness of the program with the story about an orphaned boy who had gone through it.  This boy was now an adult and said that when he came into the program he received a welcoming attitude.  He also said that the program gave him a deeper appreciation for his country and made him feel like he had a place in this world.  It was this positive early childhood experience that helped make him the person he became. 

                The new insight that I gained from this information is that no matter what the circumstances, early childhood education plays such an important role in the development of children.  This young man I’m sure suffered many hardships with being orphaned but because of the chances and experiences that this early childhood program gave him, he was able to create a good life for himself.  It also shows how early childhood programs can be created using the environment that is given.  I think that it is so inspiring to think that the people in Africa who do not have the luxuries that we have still have found a way to use the things that are available to teach their children.  This shows how important the children and the early childhood experience are to them.  While we are here in our country wondering if the textbooks and worksheets that we are using are going to meet the standards and help children pass tests, these people are teaching children with the natural things around them.  This I believe would take a great deal of imagination and creativity and I commend this program and these people for their dedication to early childhood education.  We could all learn a great deal from this very simple way of teaching. 

Global Children’s Initiative:

Insight #1 – Brazil

                In Brazil they have created a course for many people who are involved in early childhood education to look at the research behind all of the areas of development and how it relates to early childhood programming.  This course was designed and taken by politicians, public managers, society leaders, and policy makers to gain tools that would help them implement more effective policies and programs within the early childhood setting.  This course was part of the Center on the Developing Child’s first major program efforts outside of the U.S.  The goal was to provide common knowledge of the importance of the early years of education so that the people involved in policy and program development could put that knowledge to use.  The course provided insight from experts within the field on topics like the foundation of early childhood, cognitive and behavioral development, and economics.  The experts would also provide ways in which programs could become more effective in developing countries.  This course is helping Brazil to become a global leader when it comes to showing how important it is to use research and knowledge to create effective early childhood practices.

                The insight that I gained from reading about Brazil is that there are other countries that are actually willing to put children first.  There are policy makers willing to sit down with experts in the field and together work out a way to make programs more effective for the children involved in them.  My hope is that one day our country will do something like this and our early childhood programs will become more important.  These people in Brazil did not mention wanting to become better because of competition with other countries.  Rather they said that they want to improve the human potential by starting with the most influential of us, the 0-5 year olds.  They said that the children are the future of their country and so it is important for them to invest in that.

Insight #2 – Zambia                     

                In the country of Zambia a program has been developed called the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project.  This was a project that was designed to measure the effects of child development in relation to an anti-malaria initiative.  The project helped to create a new assessment instrument (Zambian Child Assessment Test (ZamCAT) that takes current child development measures and combines them with newly developed items.  This will give them a wider assessment of children of the preschool age.  The goal of this program was to collect data with the assessment that will lead to the understanding of child development and through studying this data they will determine what interventions will improve outcomes most effectively. 

                The insight I gained from this global initiative is that once again a program is conducting research to use in showing the importance of early childhood education.  I love that they are not using the data to determine how smart the children might be, but instead to help foster the most effective programming that will benefit the children.  The instrument does not only measure academic achievement (like many of our assessments) but also takes into account socio-emotional and physical development as well.  It goes to show that all of these work hand in hand and so it is only feasible that an assessment tool should be used that measures all of them. 

Insight #3 –Chile                                   

                The global initiative in Chile is a program called Un Buen Comienzo which in English translates to “A Good Start.”  In this initiative the goal is to improve early childhood programs through the use of professional development for teachers.  The main focus of the program is on language development but they also look at all educational offerings for young children.  The initiative also looks at health and the ways that physical development plays a part in school attendance.  They want to involve the families in education.  This program which began in 2007 will soon have 60 schools which are participating.  Chile, along with Brazil and Zambia, is showing the importance of early childhood education with programs like this.  In fact, this is the first type of evaluation is the first to be used in Latin America.  This puts Chile at the head of the pack in showing the importance of the impact that high quality early childhood programs can have. 

                The insight that I gained from this article was that Chile sees the importance of making sure their teachers are educated and stay educated with the use of professional development.  They also see the value of having parents involved and how a child’s health plays a key role in learning.  If a child is unhealthy then they cannot attend school regularly but if health care is available then this issue can be avoided.  I liked the fact that this started out small with just 4 sites and now is so large with 60 or more schools involved.  We could use some more quality professional development opportunities like this one that would help us in this country create better programs for our young children and their families.

Equity and Excellence:

                The information that I gained about equity and excellence from these international sources is that they are all striving for it.  Each one of the programs that I mentioned is showing a sincere caring about each child and the ways in which they can create programs that will be effective in teaching them.  They have demonstrated this by discussing research that is involved and how they are using this research and data to gain knowledge that will aid them in creating policies and programs that are highly effective and will demonstrate excellence.  I think the biggest insight that I gained about these two topics is that they are not striving to have excellence in academic or cognitive skills but rather to be excellent for the children.  They are looking at the importance of learning in the early years and not how to make the children smarter but how to make the programs better in order to provide the children with the best possible chances for academic success.  It’s not the learning that comes first it is what is best for the children.  I truly enjoyed reading about each one of these initiatives and I believe our country could learn a great deal from its global partners about the importance about early childhood education.

               

Resources:

Center on the Developing Child Harvard University. (2012). Global children. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

Episode 5: Irma allen (2012). World Forum Radio. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php