Final Blog: Issues and Trends

I want to start off by saying thank you to my international contacts for being so understanding and taking time out of their busy schedules to correspond with me. I would also like to thank each one of my course mates for all their posts and feedback on my posts. I have learned so much from each and every one of you.

The three consequences I discovered as as follows:

1. There are the same issues being discussed around the world. Examples: quality care, poverty, issues with standards, etc.
2. Quality care is the number one issue discussed among all that I have been in contact with.
3. There is a need for a better compensation for educators and to provide better opportunities
   
   
   The goal that I would like to see implemented in the early childhood field is to create a universal set of standards.
   
   Again, thank you all for your support and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Catherine

Getting To Know Your International Contacts Part 3

My Australian contact lost her father this week so she was unable to correspond; thoughts and prayers are with her. I did reach Dr. Sahin and posed the following questions to him with his responses below.

What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?

We believe in improving quality through family and community interactions. Children learn at home and at school, or should I say all the time. Keeping families and communities involved helps carry over what they are learning.

What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?

There are many opportunities such as workshops, observations of other classrooms in other schools, mentoring, etc.

What are some of your professional goals?

To improve the quality of early childhood education, to raise awareness about early childhood education in the society, and to conduct national and international level studies to support family programs.

What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?

I hope to be able to create awareness about the importance of preschool education nationwide, there are always going to be challenges in anything we do, we just have to keep pushing to make things happen.

I have enjoyed getting answers from my correspondents. It just shows how we can be worlds apart and still have the same goals and the same issues. It was nice to discuss things and see how we handled them either the same or different.

Week 6 Sharing Web Resources

The early childhood organization that I have followed along with this course is the “Children’s Defense Fund”. The outside link that I decided to follow and research is that of NPR News http://www.npr.org/2012/06/11/154761297/why-is-poverty-inequality-growing. Within this link was a transcript entitled “Why Is Poverty, Inequity Growing?” This is a conversation between the host and Peter Edelman, Professor of Law and faculty director of the Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy at Georgetown University.

Professor Edelman speaks of the economy and low wage jobs playing a majority part in poverty. I learned that in the United States there are 103 million people that have incomes below twice the poverty line. I was shocked to learn that this line is $44,000 for a family of four. This puts myself and my family in this category, and that scares me.

When researching the organization “Children’s Defense Fund”, I found what is called “What this State of America’s Children Handbook.” This provides key national information in different areas to better inform and enable people to stand up for the children in their communities. There are charts showing how the children in each state are faring in protecting children. Here is the link for anyone who wishes to research http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/soac-2012-handbook.pdf.

I have learned that we need to educate ourselves as well as the families we work with and ones in our own communities about the challenges that face our children and insist that our nation make better investment choices for their futures. We need to work on making sure that we ensure every child’s chance at thriving and surviving.