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.