Goodbye-End of EDUC 6165

As this course comes to an end, it marks a new chapter in our studies.  We will all be moving on to our specialization courses for the remainder of our programs.  I will be focusing on Administration, Management and Leadership.  For those of you in this specialization, I look forward to seeing you there and continuing our collaboration.  For those of you going in another direction, I wish you the best of luck in your program and future goals.  Thank you all so much for every contribution, discussion and word of encouragement.  It was a pleasure working with you and learning from you.  See you at the finish line!

...for hanging out with me!

The 5 Stages of Team Development

This week we are learning about team development.  There are five specific stages in group development:  forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning (O'Hair & Weimann, 2012).
For this week's blog I am going to focus on Adjourning, the final phase of group development that occurs after the project, goal or task has been accomplished.  In my experience with Adjourning, i have been very happy to get away from my group or very sad to leave my group.  When I left my job in Japan, I was not sad to go.  Everyone I had built relationships and trust with had gone and the new team leader did not develop the team effectively at all.  When I left my job in Maryland, I was very sad.  I had made great friends, learned so much and knew I would miss my work there. I still keep in touch with my coworkers there. When I have to leave my job here in Hawaii, I will again be very sad as everyone here is so nice and there is a real sense of camaraderie and team work.  I am sure I will have made friends and colleagues that I will keep in touch with after I leave.  Unfortunately, being a military spouse means I have to leave my job every 3-4 years, so I have a lot of experience with adjourning.
Whenever one of my courses in this program ends, I always feel a little anxious, because I have got to know some of my colleagues pretty well and do not want to have to deal with the process of learning new people (even though it always turns out great).  there are a few people who have been with me since the beginning and I always hope that they are still in my group because they are so much fun to discuss with and always have good things to impart.

Tuckman's 5 Stages of Group Development

Using Conflict Resolution With Children

This week we are learning about conflict management and resolution.  While I am not directly experiencing conflict right now, the fact that I work with children and have two of my own means that I am constantly managing conflict.  One of the things that I have learned about managing conflict with children (and adults) is that you need let the children know you hear what they are saying.  More than anything, they want to tell their side of the story.  But to speak, the other has to let them.  So it is also important to make sure the other child gives that respect and is also able to respond.  Modeling calmness and respect is very important in these moments.  The other thing that I have found to be important is to let the children find a solution to the problem.  Helping them to figure out a compromise or find an alternative works much better when they feel they have come up the ideas themselves.

I think the best thing to do is to teach children how to communicate without conflict when ever possible.  Marshall Rosenberg, the founder of The Center for Nonviolent Communication has said: "When our communication supports compassionate giving and receiving, happiness replaces violence and grieving!"  We should keep this in mind when teaching children positive communication skills.

A very simple form of conflict resolution for children

    

Look familiar?

How about this?  Praising children for positive behaviors helps to teach and reinforce those behaviors.  

Myself as a communicator

This week I took three quizzes that determined my communication styles in verbal aggressiveness, listening styles and communication anxiety.  I know that I have some anxiety about speaking in front of people, so when I scored moderate or "situational" on this quiz, I wasn't surprised.  Since working with children and families, I have had to push past my feelings of comfort in speaking with and in front of others and have success with my anxiety levels.  I can now do things that would have terrified me years ago.

My verbal aggression score was moderate, which I believe is accurate, because I am not one to pick fights or try to make others feel bad about themselves.  It takes a lot to make me push back and be "mean" when others are being verbally aggressive towards me.

The last quiz was Listening Styles.  My score showed my that I was people oriented in my listening style, that I am empathetic and concerned about people's emotions, which I believe to be true.  It also says that it can interfere with proper judgment because I tend to be very trusting of others.  This was a bit eye opening.  I am actually not that trusting of people's motives, but will tend to take them at their word, sometimes against my better judgement.  In the future I will keep this in mind.

Had to add a little of The Far Side. These cartoons were great commentary on how we communicate.  

Cultural diversity and communication in my life

When I think about my workplace, there is a lot of diversity.  I have staff members from the Philippines, Vietnam, Africa, Thailand, Hawaii, and the U.S. Mainland.  We all have different life experiences, world views, and cultures.  Getting to know my staff, I have found that I have to be cognizant of the cultural background of the person I am talking to.  For example, my African staff member sometimes need further explanation for things and, although her English is good, I try to use simpler language with her in order to facilitate clearer communication.  I think that with her it will be good to be patient and get to know her I know that my Thai staff member has a different communication style and it often rubs her colleagues the wrong way.  One way that I can use what I have been learning this week is try to coach her in her communication style while reminding staff members to be understanding and patient with her.  While I don't understand all the nuances of the communication styles of my various staff members, I can always be open and honest and let them know that they can feel free to speak freely, and let me know if they don't understand me or what I am trying to communicate.

Communication Assumptions

For this week's assignment we are to watch a show we haven't seen before and see what we can assume from watching with no sound.  The show I chose was 30 Rock starring Tina Fey.

From this episode I assumed that the show was based in a television studio.  Without sound I assumed that Tina Fey (Liz) seemed to be in charge of some people and subordinate to others.  I could tell from the way she communicated to certain people that they were subordinates.  There was a young woman in the studio who she seemed to be a mentor and mother figure to.  She had several heart to heart talks with her.  There was a also a woman her age, who seemed to be the star of the show Liz works on, who appears to be her friend.  Her boss seemed to be an intimidating figure to most of the staff.  Her boss's assistant seemed to be at the whim of the boss and frightened of him.  Liz often seemed frustrated and annoyed by her subordinates but attempted to appease her boss and Tracy Morgan's character.  I enjoyed this show.  It was really funny :D

After watching with the sound on, I found that many of my assumptions were right, but some where not.  I assumed that some characters were friends, but that was because one character (Tracy) was pretending to like the other one.  He was not Liz's boss, but she was in charge of his happiness.  I assumed that the Boss's assistant was just frightened of his boss but he really was protective of him; at the same time, he blamed Liz for things that went wrong in order to keep any heat off of himself; his dislike of Liz was more obvious in his words.

If I was familiar with this show or had watched it several times, I probably could have made better assumptions in regards to the plot and relationships.  Also, I was unclear about some of the relationships and one episode did not get me to understand all the connections simply by watching interactions.  It was interesting watching without sound because I was actually able to glean a lot more than I thought and definitely more that I could have if I had only been listening to it and had nothing visual to go on.  This tells me that body language and non-verbal cues are very important in communication and in being able to understand a situation.

Beginning of EDUC 6165 Communication and Collaboration in the ECE Field

Effective communication model in my own life

It is the beginning of a new course.  For this week's assignment I am to describe a person that I know that I believe has very effective communication skills (or not).  For me this is my 2nd level supervisor at work.  I really admire her communication skills.  When speaking to individuals, this person is very responsive.  She gives you her full attention and responds with words like "absolutely" and validates what you are saying to her when she concurs.  When she doesn't agree, she tells you that she doesn't and gives her reasons why without making you feel stupid or wrong.  She will then ask if you agree or understand.  Another thing that she does is that she is very open to feedback when talking to a group.  She gives people room to talk if they have questions or concerns, but at the same time she is able to take control of the situation and get the attention of the group.  Her tone is authoritative, but respectful.  Another thing that I think she does well in terms of communication is that she admits her mistakes.  She acknowledges that she is not perfect and makes mistakes, and will say that she has to find out if she does not know an answer to a question.

These are skills that I try to emulate, especially the tone and manner in which I communicate.  I think that I could use work in the area of my professional tone and I use her as an example when speaking to subordinates.

Professional Hopes and Goals-End of EDUC 6164

As I end this course, my hope is that I have learned the things I need to know in order to go forward and serve the families and staff I work with with fairness, equity and honesty.  I feel like my perspective on diversity and equity has been expanded and broadened in that I have a clearer picture of how people can feel marginalized and how bias and prejudice can lead to injustice.  I have been given some tools to help me navigate these waters and I feel like I have some more tools in my toolbox now. :)

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field in regard to diversity, equity and social justice is to see more senior citizens in the early childhood.  I really believe that seniors can bring a great deal to the field and I will try to make opportunities for this to happen in my own environment.

In closing, I want to thank all of my colleagues for their not only their great support during this course, but for the personal information that they shared and for the respect they showed me when I shared my personal stories.  It was not an easy course but the interactions with my colleagues made it easier.

Good luck in the next course everyone!  Hope to see you there!

BethAnn

Welcoming Families From Around the World

This week, I am to imagine a scenario in which I will be receiving a child into my program whose family has recently immigrated to the U.S. from a country I know nothing about and how we will prepare for this. (In this scenario, I can choose the country).  I chose for my immigrant's family Sudan.  I chose Sudan because I know nothing about it except that it is in Northern Africa and is a war torn and extremely impoverished country.  As I read about Sudan, I learned that its people have been experiencing wars, unimaginable poverty and oppression, and countless other human rights violations.  Anyone that is lucky enough to be able to get out of there would probably have a lot of physical, emotional or psychological issues.

To prepare for this family, I would first make sure I understood the region they were coming from and what was happening there.  I would then consult a developmental psychologist for advise on children that come from war torn environments.  I would not assume they are Muslim, because the persecution of Christians there would lead me to wonder if they were religious refugees.  Once I knew for sure their religion, I would make whatever accommodations I could for them if necessary.  Another thing I could do is learn a little of their language and about their surface culture so I could teach the children in the program some things about Sudan which would help to ease the transition for the child a little bit.  If possible, I would try to locate other Sudanese in the area to help bridge the communication gap, as well as create a more familiar atmosphere for the child and family.

I would hope that all of these preparations would benefit the family and child by giving a sense of welcoming, caring and friendship to the new immigrants.  It will also educate the staff by teaching them about a region of the world that they probably never thought about before and that is completely different from the comfortable life they have here in the U.S.

Images of Sudanese Children

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

I have been trying to think of a specific time when I have faced bias, prejudice and oppression.  I can't think one specific instance, but I know that as a young woman I experienced harrasment by boys; as a Mormon I have dealt with people who are completely biased against the LDS church and have crazy, ignorant ideas about my faith; I have had to deal with negative comments about white people, conservatives, adoption, the military, Americans, women (working mothers, stay at home mothers).  The list goes on.  Everything that I am, and everything that I identify as, has at some point been the target of bias and prejudice, no matter how slight.   I carry with me the frustration of not being able to enlighten people of the reality of the facts, but I do not carry with me pain or anger toward those people.  It seems futile to do so.

I have often felt this way from the men I work with.  

As I read the blogs of all my colleagues, I read many different accounts of bias and prejudice, from breastfeeding to overt racism.  I think that as early childhood professionals it behooves us to be aware that no matter what, biases and prejudice will always exist.  We must find a way to deal with it appropriately when we face it, and not dwell on it when it is not present.  We need to teach tolerance and appreciation for others to our children more than anything.

Practicing Awareness of Micro Agressions

According to our video presentation this week micro-agressions are "brief, everyday indignities that may be verbal, behavioral or environmental, are communicated intentionally or unintentionally and contain an insulting message toward any marginalized group" (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).   When I think about myself as the target of micro-agressions, I have a hard time coming up with them, because I don't really put too much weight in what people say, and I usually forget about it.  

The only time I really worry about it is when it involves my children.  

My family is a multi racial family.  

In the United States today, it is a fairly common thing to see, whether it is children of mixed race parentage living with their biological parent(s) or adopted/foster children living with parents of a different race. Seeing these types of families should not really be that shocking.  But unbelievably, we do get comments from time to time.  Most are positive, but some not so much.  

Some of the more negative/micro-aggressive comments (and their hidden meanings) we have gotten are as follows:

"Do they speak Chinese?" (They are Taiwanese, so they must speak Chinese and not the perfect English of their American culture)

"Where are they from?" (They are Asian, so they aren't really Americans)

"Are they related?" (Adoption does not create "real" relationships)

"They are so lucky!" (They were rescued from a dire situation by rich, white westerners)

"How much did they cost?" (They were bought and paid for like goods).
Probably the worst: "Are you going to have kids of your own?"  (These are not your real children).  

I think that the many of these comments speak to the ignorance people still have when it comes to not only Asians immigrants, but adoption and what makes a family.  I think the worst thing about these comments is that as my children grow up, they will begin to understand their hidden meanings, where as before I could shelter them from it.  I do not yet know how they will take these comments, but I am trying to impart to them that people do and say things sometimes that are not OK, but we don't let it bother us and we should try to move on.  I do not want them to ever question the love their family, both adopted and biological, have for them, who they are, or that they were and are wanted, and most of all, that their mom and dad are really the lucky ones.  

References:

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4855814_1%26url%3D

Perspectives on diversity and culture...A survey

This week, our assignment was to ask 3 people to define what they thought culture and diversity are.

"What is culture?"
My husband: The traditions, customs that are passed down over time that define a group of people.
My sister:  A group of people who are, because of geography or religion, similar in belief and social understanding.
My daughter (5.5 years old): It means you speak a language, like Chinese, and have special clothes and traditions, like Chinese New Year.

"What is diversity?"
My husband: Something that is not homogenous.
My sister: A group of items or people that are different.
My daughter: It's like Helen Keller.  She was blind and deaf and she learned sign language. People are different and special.  

It is always interesting when you ask people what culture is, and what diversity is.  Often they have stop and think about it, and they may not even think they know the answer.  I chose these three people because they represent interesting differences.  My husband, is also American, but grew up in a very different family culture than mine.  My sister grew up with me, but I was curious what she would say, because her life experience has not been mine.  My daughter has been learning about culture and diversity at school, so I thought her answer would be interesting.

I think that I got some relevant, accurate descriptions of culture, although diversity was a bit harder for them to define in detail.  What I learned from the answers I received is that even though we do not think about it, culture and diversity are concepts that we clearly understand, even from a young age.

My daughter Sydney at a Hula performance

Beginning of EDUC 6164: Perspectives on Equity and Diversity

My Family Culture

This week we were given a scenario to answer:  A major catastrophe has struck our country and the emergency government has decided to evacuate us to other countries willing to take refugees, but we have no choice in where we will go.  The culture will be completely different from ours and we may have to stay permanently.  Evacuees may take one change of clothes and 3 small items.  The items I take are those that I hold dear and represent my family culture.

The three items I would take are my iPad, my favorite book and a piece of jewelry from my mother.
I would take my iPad (assuming it was useable) in order to have my family pictures, access to my genealogy and family tree, as well as access to information about  the culture and country I am going to.  I would take my favorite book as a link to my culture and to have entertainment I am familiar with.  I would take a piece of jewelry from my mother in order to have something to pass on to my children and give them a connection to their family and culture.  If I had to give up all but one item, I would keep the jewelry.  I honestly could live without any of these things, but the jewelry holds the most sentimental value to me.

As I was thinking about this scenario, I thought of my relatives who left their home cultures and families to move to this country, leaving everything they knew behind.  They had to learn a new language and assimilate to a new culture, but they also carried with them the knowledge and customs of their home countries and passed it down to their children.  I would hope that I could do this if I had to face the same situation.

When I think of research... (End of course reflection)

I used to think that research meant long hours in the library pouring over books and articles to find the information I needed to write a paper.  After taking this course, I now know that research has many different meanings and contexts.  I have also learned that there are many ways to do research and specific methods to utilize.  Conducting research in the early childhood field is not something that I had ever considered to be relevant to my work, but I can see that it can be very relevant.  If there is ever an issue I need to clarify or look into, knowing how to conduct research on it will be a huge help in getting the right information.

The challenges I found in this course were learning all the new terms for the different research methods and keeping them straight.  The only way I learned them was by reading and re-reading until I had them right :)

As an early childhood professional, this course has helped me by teaching me how to read research without spending hours and how to conduct research in a way that is valid, feasible and ethical.  Both of these skills will benefit me professionally by allowing me to read research in the field and understand how it was done.

Overall, this course would not have been one that I would have chosen to take, but like all the previous courses in this program had much to teach me.  I am glad I got to take it.

Thank you to all my colleagues in this course.  Your professionalism, skill and support have been invaluable to me.

Research Around The World

For this week's blog assignment we have the option of exploring three different early childhood websites.   The choices were:
http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php - Early Childhood Development Virtual University-Sub Saharan Africa

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au - Early Childhood Australia

http://www.eecera.org European Early Childhood Research Association

I chose Early Childhood Australia because I already have some experience with this organization.  This organization was one of two out of six early childhood organizations that I contact and that responded to my request for a contact, an assignment we had in our last course.  The person who ended up being my contact from Early Childhood Australia was very informative and so happy to collaborate with me.  

On the site there is a link to Research in Practice Series (RIPS).  These are publications that "provide practical, easy-to-read resources for those involved in the early childhood field".  I perused the list and they topic cover professional development, challenging behavior, play, transitions, diversity, and so many others.  ECA Webwatch is a free newsletter that you can subscribe to.  This e-newsletter offers an eclectic mix of information on early childhood development, growth and learning, early childhood practice, programs and policy, emerging issues and research.

My Ultimate Research Dream

If I could conduct research on any topic in child development that would have long lasting benefits to society, I would conduct research on common core standards and its effect on the early childhood field.  I personally have concerns regarding common core and its top down approach to education.   The fact that it was produced by the National Governor's Association does little for me in the way of convincing me of the educational value of the standards.  According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (2012), the focus on only two standards, and the absence of social-emotional development and approaches to learning is of great concern.  I would like to research how this is going to affect children's outcomes and if it is actually going to be beneficial.

References:
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2012).  The common core standards: Caution and opportunity for early childhood education.  Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/11_CommonCore1_2A_rv2.pdf

New Course: EDUC 6163: My Research Journey

This course is entitled Building Research Competencies.  This week I am to post the topic that I am interested in that will serve as my research topic simulation.  I chose challenging behavior in young children, with subtopics of factors that contribute to the behavior, the difference between misbehavior and developmentally appropriate behavior and how to deal with both, and the role of parenting in challenging behavior.  I chose this topic because it is an issue that I deal with on a daily basis as a child development center director working with children in the classrooms.  I have found myself sometimes without a clue as to how to help a child who consistently displays inappropriate behavior, and nothing I or my colleagues do seems to help the behavior.  I would like to gather more information about why these behaviors occur and what can be done for to correct some of the more common ones.

End of course reflection

     During this course we have had the opportunity to learn about the state of early childhood in other countries.  For my part, I corresponded with colleagues in England and Australia.  Learning about the issues and trends they face had several consequences in relationship to my professional and personal development.  The first is that I was able to see that early childhood educators throughout the world face challenges that are not uncommon to us in the U.S., while some face concerns we would never have.
     The second consequence of my interactions with international colleagues is that I learned how much they have to impart to us.  The early childhood field is still growing in many countries, and established in others.  Many nations with established systems can be models for us, both in positive and negative ways.
     The third consequence that came from my interactions was the realization that there are many societies that feel early childhood education is important for young children and many people who care deeply about children, equity, excellence and all the other issues that the field faces.
     One goal I would love to see this country strive for is to really look at how other nations have successfully (or not) implemented early childhood education systems, and how we compare to them.  Are we going down the road toward success or failure?  What could we do better?  What are we doing that is right?  I believe that we have the potential to build a system that serves our young children better than any country in the world, but we have to have unity of purpose and strength of will to get the job done.

Children at a preschool in Kerala, India.

Preschool Children in China

Preschool Children In A Day Care Centre In Akropong-Akwapim, Ghana

Children at a British preschool in Park Gate, Hampshire, U.K. 

Thank you to everyone who contributed comments to my posts.  I enjoyed reading all of them and I hope to see you in the next class!  Good luck to all of you.

Final thoughts with my international contact

My contact in Australia related the conditions and requirements for early childhood teachers in Austrailia:

Under Australia's National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care there are several requirements:

- All educators must be qualified to at least a Certificate III qualification (took effect from 1 January 2014)
- Half of all educators must hold a Diploma qualification(took effect from 1 January 2014)
- A four year Batchelor's degree qualified teacher must be present in the service (took effect from 1 January 2014)
- A second four year Batchelor's degree qualified teacher must be present in the service (takes effect from 1 January 2020)

In addition, the Australian Government has implemented a range of initiatives aimed at supporting, training and retaining an experienced and qualified early childhood workforce and these are complemented by state and territory government training programs and accompanying workforce strategies. Some examples include:
- recognition of prior learning initiatives
- subsidies for educators studying a Certificate III
- removal of fees for educators studying a diploma (NPA on TAFE Fee Waivers)
- subsidies for student loans for early childhood teachers (HECS/HELP Benefit)

The biggest issue for developing excellence in the early childhood sector is  wages. There is a significant disparity between the wages of preschool and kindergarten teachers and primary school teachers with the wages and conditions of early childhood teachers in ECEC services. This makes it difficult to attract and retain teachers in the sector.

Although a stable, skilled and professional labour force is widely acknowledged as vital to ensuring high-quality ECEC, educators continue to be poorly paid for the significant work they do in educating and caring for children. While some employers are able to offer above award wages and conditions, as outlined by United Voice (the union representing educators), some qualified educators in Australia earn as little as $19.00 per hour, suffer low status in the broader community, lack fulfilling career paths and have inadequate training opportunities. Addressing educators' low wages would augment the quality reform agenda and is essential to ensuring the future viability of the sector which supports Australian families and children.

It seems that Australia faces the same challenges as we do in the U.S. when it comes to developing a strong, committed early childhood workforce.  The differences lie in the education requirements and incentives for education.  $19 an hour seems like a pretty good wage to me, but maybe it is low in Australia.
Learning about child care in Australia and England has been enlightening.  It is interesting to see the similarities and also the ways in which things could be done better.

Sharing Web Resources

This week we focus on our chose website.  We are to follow some outside links or share information we learned from the organization's newsletter.  I have not received a newsletter yet, but I did find a link to an interesting organization through the website's literacy page.  Part of NBCDI's goals are to ensure all black chidden are proficient readers by grade 3.  Sadly, only 15% of black children are reading at their expected level by grade 4.  To help counteract this, they are working with two organizations: The Campaign for Grade Level Reading (www.gradelevelreading.net) and Raising A Reader (www.raisingareader.org).  Raising a reader is an organization devoted to helping children of families ages 0-8 develop, practice and maintain home literacy routines.  NBCDI's goal is through "working with Raising A Reader, NBCDI aims to improve literacy levels within African American communities by engaging families and helping them develop an at-home literacy routine with proven results that link to academic and life success."   Reading with children is such a simple thing to do, but it has such a huge impact on their development.  Helping parents to understand what it is that reading can do for their child's academic success and for their own relationship with their child is so important and I am happy to see that NBCDI has taken on this initiative and are working with two organizations who see the value in reading to and with your child.


I also relaying the information I got from my early childhood contact in England this week (better late than never!).  They wrote:

"The biggest issues related to excellence and quality at this moment in time centre around qualifications.

This includes:

http://www.daynurseries.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/26/Debate-should-early-years-teachers-have-qualifed-teacher-status

http://sheila-nutkins-author.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/debate-about-ratios-and-qualifications.html

In addition, the regulator Ofsted has come under increasing fire for standardisation issues:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24079951

http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/article/1214950/exclusive-ofsted-responds-big-conversation

And more recently, 'school readiness' has been at the forefront of agendas:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/10307682/Failure-to-acknowledge-the-concept-of-readiness-in-education-this-is-the-tragedy.html

http://edfaclib.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/guest-blog-post-too-much-too-soon-school-starting-age-the-evidence-3/

Finally - issues over improving the quality within the state sector and comparison to both PISA and other measurements:

http://www.daynurseries.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1560801/early-years-professional-launches-petition-in-battle-to-gain-qualified-teacher-status

The relative value, and what is required by practitioners, is currently under review and debate - in an attempt to raise standards both professionally and of those work in the sector."

Inequity in early childhood education in Australia

My contact in Australia focuses most of his work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as well as children with disabilities.  In areas of equity they have focused on improving access to early childhood education and 'Closing the Gap' in disadvantage between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and other Australian children; and the 'cultural competency' of Early Childhood Services.  Here is a link to a paper written by the Secretariat of Aboriginal and Islander Child Care which explores the cultural competence of the Australian early childhood care and education system, and in particular their National Quality Standard, with regards to its inclusion of Australia's native populations in their framework and ensuring their cultures are valued.  http://www.snaicc.org.au/_uploads/rsfil/03265.pdf

Australian Aboriginal children

Torres Strait Islander children

Children with disabilities have a lower participation rate in Australian early childhood education than their counterparts.  This is most likely due to lack of resources, such as specialized equipment, additional staff members, or the need for environmental/activity modifications.  Another factor could be lack of trained staff, therapists, or lack of bicultural staff to address to particular needs of the child.

Child at the Australia Royal Children's Hospital

Sharing Web Resources-National Black Child Development Institute: Being Black Is Not A Risk Factor

WHAT SHALL I TELL MY CHILDREN WHO ARE BLACK?
…What can I do to give him strength
That he may come through life’s adversities
As a whole human being unwarped and human in a world
Of biased laws and inhuman practices, that he might
Survive. And survive he must! For who knows?
Perhaps this black child here bears the genius
To discover the cure for... cancer
Or to chart the course for exploration of the universe.
So, he must survive for the good of all humanity.
— Margaret Burroughs
Educator, artist, poet and founder of
the DuSable Museum of African American
History in Chicago

This week I am to relay something from my chosen website that has been of specific interest to me as an early childhood professional.  This is a good website for general information, but there is not a lot of specifics in regards to information regarding early childhood education, and I have not received the newsletter yet.  The site does have some resources available under their resource tab.  One that was of particular interest to me was a publication that is available for download: "Being Black Is Not A Risk Factor".  This paper is of particular interest to me because I feel that working with black children, I need to understand the challenges that black children face, especial those that I have not experienced being white.  It is "designed to challenge the prevailing discourse about Black children–one which overemphasizes limitations and deficits and does not draw upon the considerable strengths, assets and resilience demonstrated by our children, families and communities."  I have not read all of it as it is 68 pages long, but so far it is very informative and interesting.  It is giving me a perspective that I had not had before.  I highly recommend this publication.

Getting To Know My International Contacts (Part 1)

I was finally able to make contact with two international colleagues.  I made contact by going through  the websites of organizations I found in a web search.  The first organization I contacted was Early Childhood Australia and was put in touch with Chris Steele, a policy and project manager, who has been very accommodating and informative.  Their website is www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au.  The second organization I contacted was The British Association for Early Childhood Education. Their website is http://www.early-education.org.uk.   My contact there is Chris Hussey.  Chris H. has also been very informative and so willing to answer my questions.  Both contacts have been great so far!

Chris from Australia said:

The Poverty rates are much higher in regional and remote Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (see p26) [this is a breakdown of child poverty in local government areas (ie counties)]. It is generally accepted that  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities face complex challenges due to factors such as colonization intergenerational trauma, depletion of parenting skills caused by the Stolen Generations, and entrenched poverty.

In my role as a policy maker I haven’t dealt with these issues on the ground as an early childhood educator, my focus has been on public policy addressing these issues. Early Childhood Australia, the Australian Government and the ACT Government, all of whom I have worked for over the past 5 years have had a great focus on addressing these issues through early childhood policy including:

-          The provision universal access to preschool for all children in the year before formal schooling. Children living in remote Indigenous communities remain a focus for Universal Access with an

ongoing commitment to ensure that every Indigenous four year old in a remote community has access to a quality early childhood education program. The target of 90% of children enrolling in preschool has been met. The next target focuses on making sure these children attend.

-          Establishing 38 child and family centres in Aboriginal communities. These centres include child care, and family support services including health support, social housing support, counselling and child protection involvement.

-          Rolling out the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) to 100 sites including sites targeted in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. HIPPY supports parents to be their child’s first teacher.

-          Expanding the Jobs Education Training Child Care Fee Assistance (JETCCFA) program. This funding subsidises ECEC for families on income support (ie welfare). These families can access ECEC for 50 cents an hour per child.

He also sent a link to a report on poverty in Australia: http://www.natsem.canberra.edu.au/storage/Poverty-Social-Exclusion-and-Disadvantage.pdf

Chris from England said:

Poverty is still prevalent sadly, and the following links may be of some use  to define and share the strategies that may be taken in response to it:

http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/families/childpoverty

In addition, this suggests ways in which this may implemented practically:

http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/families/childpoverty/sharinggoodpractice

It’s hard to say how common it is (because it depends on the area, and can happen to anyone), but it’s perhaps startling to think that this still occurs in the 21st Century, and we have to look at ways to deal with that. We often think of education as emancipatory, but it’s often hard to break the cycle of poverty – as it may come in different forms, be it in terms of social, economic or perhaps even cultural or politic capital, that in turn may have implications for a community and children within your care. There’s no real catch-all approach, but one would suppose that teachers, practitioners and educators are some of the front-line people able to potentially make a difference, however small, in the lives of those whom are affected.

I can appreciate that this is obviously  a global phenomenon, and isn’t limited to developing nations, but is something that we collectively need to address.

This week has been extremely eye-opening and educational.  I am very interested in all the information I am learning about how poverty affects young children, both in my community, state, and nation and in other nations as well.  

Sharing Web Resources

The organization I chose to focus on is the National Black Child Development Institute.  Their link is www.nbcdi.org. Their mission is as follows: "as one of the only national organizations dedicated exclusively to the success and well-being of Black children, the National Black Child Development Institute and our network of Affiliates have been a powerful and effective voice on issues related to the education, care, and health of Black children and their families."

I have subscribed to their newsletter, but I have not received anything yet.  One issue of interest I found their website is literacy.  Their goal: "As NBCDI collaborates with our Affiliates and national partners, we have chosen to focus on the particular strengths and needs of Black children and families in the broader context of a shared goal: ensuring that all children are reading proficiently by the end of 3rd grade. NBCDI has chosen to adopt this overarching objective in response to data demonstrating both the critical nature of this educational benchmark and the devastating performance of Black children, only 15 percent of whom are reading proficiently in 4th grade."

For me this brings up the questions: why are black children so far behind in literacy?  Which population of black children are the most behind?  This is something I would like to research further.  If anyone has information for me, please post it below.

Beginning of new course EDUC 6162-Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field

I am now in my fourth course of my Master's program: Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field.  It looks to be very informative, as all of my previous courses have been.  This week my blog assignment is two fold.

Part I: Establish Professional Contacts:
I am to make contact with E.C. professionals outside the U.S.  I chose to contact Siobhan Fitzpatrick in Ireland and Ivy Kok in Singapore.  I chose Ireland and Singapore because I wanted a European and Asian outlook for this assignment.  I emailed them on the evening of January 7th, and have not received a response as of 1/8/14.  I will detail my interactions in coming weeks.
UPDATE: 1/10/14:  No responses yet.  I have just sent an email to the Canadian Childcare Federation (using contact info from their website) and the Finnish National Board of Education (through their website).
UPDATE: 1/13/14: Since I have not received any responses yet, I sent emails to two early childhood organizations through their websites: The British Association for Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Australia.   I received a response from Australia!


Part II: Expanding Resources:
The second part of the assignment was to chose an E.C. organization website and immerse myself in it to learn how the organization itself supports the early childhood community and the resources it offers.  After looking at the list provided in the course I chose NBCDI-The National Black Child Development Institute (http://www.nbcdi.org).  I chose it because it is unique in it's purpose, and I feel there are many black children in our society who face unique challenges, and being white, I would like to know more about the issues affect black children and how they are being solved.  In coming weeks I will expand on this research.