Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3  

I have not received a reply from my international contact, so I decided to go to the Early Childhood Care and Education webpage and share three new ideas I gained about issues related to international early childhood education that relates to my professional goals.

1.  Many programs for high quality childcare offer children from underprivileged backgrounds, promotes inspiration, self-assurance, good cognitive and linguistic development and school readiness.  It was stated that we need to always include useful factors to consider such as parental education and family involvement, focusing on quantitatively, culturally and developmentally adequate.  This workforce is made up of a various group of pre-school teachers, care workers, and other professionals in the early childhood field.  What plays an important role in a child’s education is being able to have active parents and community involvement.  There should be ample training and work conditions so they can assimilate the content and practice of early childhood education.  All schools have been known for regular inspection and follow-up of the service setting, along with adequate health and nutrition components.  Some government resources cause efforts to lower the entry age for child to attend school.  Many pre-school children do have the funds for their education and therefore ways should be consider in improving the school settings. 

2.  Development goals and vision in education is a country’s education policy and its starting point is to realize the contribution to the achievement of the goals.  In order to create a high-quality curriculum for young children there must be goals, establish priorities, planning ahead and finally evaluating the process. The education sector is facilitated by two Analytical Tools required in the participation of all key stakeholders (Finance, Development, and Planning).

The Tools help to analyze the following broad issues:

Analytical Tool on Relevance: Country level relevance; Labour market and world of work responsiveness; Global level relevance; Individual level responsiveness; Internal system coherence

Analytical Tool on Equity and Inclusion: Understanding inequity and exclusion; Policies and strategies to address inequity and exclusion

3.  Access and Equity

Learning begins at birth stated by the 1990 Jomtien Declaration of Education for All.  Many participating countries committed themselves “expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.”  Expanding equitable access to early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy for the poor.   Many countries promote services for children living in poverty that have limited access to early childhood services, but concerns arise about the quality.  A pro-poor policy can rearrange funds by reducing state support, even though central governments make sure an equitable distribution of funds among the disadvantaged regions.  It aims to increase access without creating serious regional inequities.

Central governments must ensure an equitable distribution of resources for early childhood education among different populations and especially those who live in the most disadvantaged regions. This approach aims to expand access without creating serious regional inequities. However, there is universal provision for a certain age group, while the overall enrollment in other age groups is low, this strategy can create inequity.  Furthermore, many unfortunate children of non-target ages receive government attention and targeting can decline where government plan for universal access.

                 Reference:

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

                                    Sharing Web Resources

After exploring the Ikamva Labantu website I came across the organization's programs that focused on three main areas - community health; community learning and development; and community resources. They are interlinked to ensure that community leaders, teachers, parents, caregivers and families are empowered to find and implement answers, with resources and guidance where required, enabling them to accomplish independent and satisfied  lives for themselves, and for those whom they help and care for.

            Researching further,  it was at the Clinton Global Initiative 2011, Ikamva Labantu, one of South Africa's longest-standing social development organizations, stated that it will be introducing a Health and Wellness Center and an Early Childhood Development Training & Resource Center in the Khayelitsha by the end of 2011, located at the township outside Cape Town. These two centers will employ an exceptionally interlinked approach to the improvement of health and education in the township areas of Cape Town, providing the support and resources they need for thousands of vulnerable members of these communities. This program should touch and improve the lives of orphaned children, impoverished children, youth at risk and vulnerable senior citizens.
 

The Early Childhood Development, Training, and Resource Center provide services sole to South Africa's township communities, serving as a best practice model for practical learning. The center aims to allow community caregivers through the creation of a holistic learning environment, which will incorporate a school, as well as an on-site training facility and parent center. It’s been through realistic and experiential training within the school setting, community educators and parents will be better equipped to provide supervision and education to children placed in their care.

 

Adding that there will be a Health and Wellness Center that will act as an all-encompassing preventative health care destination, promoting and educating caregivers and their beneficiaries about health-conscious behavior, disease prevention and the vital role of nutrition. This center will serve as a prototype for community health promotion, education, awareness and preventative health, capable of being replicated in other parts of the country.

                                                   Reference:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ikamva-labantu-commits-to-south-african-health-and-education-development-as-part-of-cgi-2011-130839878.html  

          Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

This week my professional contact organization is Ikamva Labantu of South Africa, which Tamalin Harper is my professional contact.  I did receive a couple of emails from her, but has not received a response from my latest email.  So I will be sharing some of her input and some of my thoughts about this organization.

Ikamva Labantu is now one of South Africa’s largest and most respected organizations in Africa. Today, they employ more than 100 people and care for around 25,000 children and adults every day through our network of thousands of community careers.

Ikamva Labantu’s Vision:

Every human being has the right to a dignified life.

Ikamva Labantu’s Mission:

Enable communities to be self-reliant because they have hope, information, support and resources. 

Tamalin’s greatest challenge:

She shared that many of the schools located is South Africa are overcrowded and has no money for many extracurricular activities.  Many of the township children are barely passing the achievement tests, because of the high rate of drugs and alcohol increase.  She feels that many of the children will be failing in school or either standing around on the streets.

 Tamalin’s hope for Ikamva Labantu:

It is her hope for loving and fostering environments through mentorship, social support and life skills coaching in the early childhood area.  Even though they partnership with local youth programs and some offers after-school activities and sports involvement.

Ikamva Labantu Values:

Community owned and driven: Their work is always driven and owned by actively involved community members.

Dedicated people: They work with focused, selfless and cause-driven people who show tireless dedication to addressing community needs.

Adaptable and responsive to need: As thought leaders they recognize that community needs evolve and change and therefore our responses are flexible, forward-thinking and supportive.

Self-sufficiency: They support the entrepreneurial spirit that drives community action to self-sufficiency.

Collaboration: They believe in the power of collaboration by connecting people and building their capacity.

Personal Note:

She also shared with me that they are compromised by poverty and has a high rate of unemployment in the society.  This affects many of our children that are trying to make a future for them, she stated.  She wants to provide a loving and caring family environment and sustain community safety nets that affect their social development. Tamalin believes children should be offer an opportunity to excel in school, but due to the lack of resources many has been turned away.

The voice of the caregivers, known as community representatives gather monthly at the Ikamva Labantu Community Forum and voice their challenges that the community faces, share their insights and try to find solutions too many of the community awareness.  This forum plays a critical role in the Ikamva Labantu organization, ensuring that the community is successfully addressing those needs.

                           Sharing Web Resources:  Week 4

This week I decided to continue to explore the International Tipa Tipa/Step by Step website and review one particular resource.  This page is reflected in a complex and multi-purpose Quality Resource pack.  It is developed by experts in the International Step by Step Association network with help also  from the international experts in Early Childhood Development.  This pack addresses the needs of early childhood education systems to develop a quality framework for early childhood practices for assessing, mentoring, and improving children education.

In a growing numbers of countries there is a growing issue about the quality of services and learning environments for children.  It has been known that the  access is not accomplished by quality, it is no longer considered sufficient, nor supported by motivation.

                         Comprehensive Resource Pack on Quality Pedagogy:

• serve better the children and their families by increasing the quality of the services
• support practitioners - preschool, and primary school educators - to improve their everyday performance through the principles of learner-centered, interactive pedagogy, development of life-long learning skills, self-reflection and cooperation with colleagues/peers, families and communities
• prove and advocate for the complexity of the early childhood profession
• inform different stakeholders about the need for quality and engage them in dialogue about quality so that better systems are put in place (ISSA, 2012).

From reviewing this list of resource, I could see how the Quality Resource Pack can be used individually and in combination with the other resources.  It provides an opportunity to a wide range of target audience such as: educators, parents, policy makers, and communities. Obviously this framework can be used in different ways to engage in a dialogue about quality pathways around quality improvement.  I understand why individuals and institutions share an understanding of what quality means and how it can be improved.  Every child deserves a chance, that’s why we need to have a voice, a voice to be heard.

                                                      Reference:

International Step by Step Association (2012). Retrieved from http://issa.nl/network/haiti.haiti.html

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

Mongolia

I have not received a response from my early childhood professional as of yet.  So I chose to go on the website and read about the country of Mongolia and share some insights from studying it.

Mongolia, located in Central Asia is a country where poverty is a widespread movement, which emerged during the change that started in 1990.  During this time the state owned many farms, services and industries and all the cows, goats, yaks, and sheep.  After the country joined the World Trade Organization in 1997 most trade barriers were removed and the economy was much improving. The unemployment rose and the inflation and prices soared which helped many people get back on their feet. 

In 1998 it was indicated that 36% of the population of Mongolia including 39.4 % of urban population and 32.6% of rural population were living in poverty.  The following is a list of causes of poverty in Mongolia:

·         Collapse of industries

·         Bankruptcy of industries and establishments

·         Deterioration in social welfare

·         Unemployment (Poverty Statistics in Mongolia, 2002).

It is very difficult to judge the number of children living in poverty in Mongolia, because many of the females are the head of household and the small children ages ranging from 0-16 years of age.  Supporting families and their children who are suffering from poverty is one of the major concerns of the state.  The responsibility of some children at home were, looking after their sisters and brothers, fetching wood, and doing domestic work and others just end up on the streets.  The bad thing about it is that some children never get a chance to enter school, by no means dropping out. 

Mongolia’s social services provided access for underprivileged families, migrants and those living in the country areas.  Due to the health insurance scheme, which service was terrible, but also demanded customer charges to the people living in specific areas.  By the 1990s some improvement had been made, birth rates had fallen, serious illnesses had declined and infant mortality rates also fallen.  Malnutrition is a big concern in Mongolia, because many children were born underweight and lacking nutrients (CHIP, 2001).

One of the organizations that have come alone and help families in Mongolia is World Vision, it's an organization that partners with the people of Mongolia.  Helping them to improve their lives today and to help enact sustainable solutions for the future of their children, families, and communities.  Including:  offering relief  and assistance to rural families affected by natural disasters; providing shelter, safety, clothing, food, basic  medical care, and educational programs for children living on the streets and increasing access to education through workshops (World Vision, 2012).

                                                        Reference

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre. (2001). Retrieved on January 21, 2013 from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo#12

United Nations Economic and Social Council: Poverty Statistics in Mongolia. Thirteenth Session. (2002).

World Vision: Information and Facts About Mongolia. (2012). Retrieved on January 21, 2013 from http://www.worldvision.org/our-work/international-work/mongolia

Sharing Web Resources

Name of Organization:  International Step by Step Association

                                            Tipa Tipa/Step by Step Haiti

 Website:  http://www.issa.nl/

 Organization’s Focus: offers quality and modern education opportunities to children from disadvantage environments, using an individualized child-centered approach.  This association also encourages participation from the families and local communities.

          This week we have been discussing issues about demographics and diversity and how it meets the needs of our students in the classroom.  This program has deliberately chosen children and youth as its target group and has great ambition to provide access to knowledge, books, internet, and the opportunity to all for life as equal citizens.

          ISSA (International Step by Step Association) reaches out to children and families without access to quality preschool programs. For many communities, a range of creative, flexible strategies can provide parents with the knowledge, skills, and practices needed to support their children’s development.

          I was surprised to learn that these classrooms were organized around developmentally appropriate learning and activity centers.  The main concern on peer learning is that it ensures that children have the opportunity to make decisions each day.  Particularly, the Step by Step program works to develop self-initiative, empowerment, shared control, respect, and appreciation of differences.  It also helps develop partnerships with special education institution and a teacher training institution.  Some of the areas are as followed:  

 

1.    Early Childhood (birth to age 6)
2.    Primary School
3.    Equal Access 
4.    Teacher Education
5.    Civic Participation in Education

          The ISSA topics below are covered in the International Step by Step Association site and support a wide collection of programs that provide a complete set of educational services for families and children from birth through primary school.  It has been said that these standards are important values to be followed by the professionals and administrators and provide the greatest support to children and their families.

1.    Interactions

2.    Family and Community
3.    Inclusion, Diversity, and Values of Democracy
4.    Assessment and Planning
5.    Teaching Strategies
6.    Learning Environment
7.    Professional Development

One resource I found to be useful on the site is ISSA’s Online Community, it is useful and you can join free of charge and is able to read relevant news about ISSA and also have access to the online library.  Also, you can join professional groups, discussion forums, and collaborative initiatives around topics of interests. To become a full time member, you also can have full access to the entire range of services and initiatives provided by ISSA.

                                                                       Reference:
International Step by Step Association. (2010). Retrieved on January 13, 2013 from http://www.issa.nl/

      

                                          ESTABLISHING PERSONAL CONTACTS:

On today, I received some information from one of my personal contacts, Joanne.  She works with the Center for Community Child Health at the Royal Children's Hospital in Australia.  The five themes on focus on were: 1. Development, behaviour and mental health 2. Obesity 3. Language, learning and literacy 4. Hearing and 5. Service development 
This website is very informative and provides a good overview of all aspects of the Center for Community Child Health, along with resources for parents, professionals, researchers and the community.  I hope to bring you more information in the coming weeks.

 Resource:
http://ww2.rch.org.au/ccch/list/index.cfm