Change, Contexts, Consequences, and Constraints

Throughout my EDCU 6162 course I was asked to make contact with international early childhood professionals in other countries. I made contact with two international professionals. One of the professionals was Juan Carlos Borda located in Bolivia. The other professional was Robin McMillan located in Canada. over the past several weeks I began learning about these professionals and the early childhood field in the countries in which they reside. I found it interesting to learn what the early childhood field is like in other places besides the United States. Learning about other countries is not all it is cracked up to be. I found several consequences to learning about other countries. The first consequence is realizing that other people are in situations way worst then you are. The state of the country and children are horrible in some cases. You realize that the things you complain and worry about don't compare to what is happening in other countries. The second consequence is getting attached. I learned how hard it is in other countries and started taking on their problems as my own. You start to feel so connected to these people and what they do that all you want to do it help. I started looking into what it would take to become a teacher in the other countries. You want to go over and help. Lastly I regret not meeting my international contacts in person. I would have loved to meet these early childhood professional in person. Any person that spends their life fighting for children and what is right is an inspiration to me. I think that early childhood professionals we need to connect and share any information that we have to help improve the state of early childhood all over the world. So I think my goal would be to increase the awareness of the importance of early childhood education in every country.People around the world need to know that early childhood is just as important as a college education. Children are so important to the future of the world that we must start them off on the right foot.

International Contacts- Part 3

• To Become a teacher in Canada:

• Get a Degree

  • Earn an undergraduate university degree that includes or is followed by at least one year of teacher training. Most universities in Canada offer a one-year or two-year program leading to a Bachelor of Education. Students apply to these programs after obtaining a three-year or four-year undergraduate degree in any subject.

  Choose your Subject

  • While any subject can be pursued, focus your studies on the areas pertaining to what you want to teach. For example, if you wish to teach high school biology or physical education, consider a science degree with a minor in kinesiology. If you are aiming to teach at the elementary level, consider taking courses in child psychology.

  Learn the Language

  • If you immigrated to Canada or your first language is not English or French, remember that proficiency in one or both of these official languages is a requirement.

  Gain Experience

  • To distinguish yourself from the competition, gain work or volunteer experience in addition to the academic requirements. For instance, if you want to teach at the elementary level, consider finding work at a children's camp during the summer.

  Get Certified

  • To ensure that your training and experience fulfill the requirements for the province or territory in which you wish to teach, consult the teacher certification agency in the relevant jurisdiction. After completing your education, apply for professional certification under the regulating body in the relevant province and territory. Further information and links to these organizations can be found on the website of the Canadian Teachers' Federation

  
  
  

Sharing Web Resources

• Follow some of the outside links that you have not yet explored. Where do they lead?

I decided to explore past the National Head Start Association website to the individual state websites. I found that the Louisiana Head Start Association office is located in Opelous, LA. I have passed it several times traveling to my families home but never knew it was the Main office. I also learned that Louisiana is apart of Region 6 with Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

• Thoroughly search one area of the site. What do you find?

I found that the National Head Start Association has a program called GO SMART. The GO SMART program is aimed at having high quality physical eduction programs in head starts. Families and educators learn techniques to engage children from birth up to age five in regular physical activity, inside and outside of the classroom and the home.

• If you receive an e-newsletter, follow a link related to one of the issues you have been studying. What new information is available?

They do not have an e-newsletter. The have a printable newsletter called Family Connections. It did not have any links in it.

• Does the website or the e-newsletter contain any information that adds to your understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education?

The website has a Father/Son Initiative. The National Head Start Association recognizes that a majority of their children come from single mother households, but they do want to reach out to the father's of those children.

• What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain this week from exploring the website and/or the e-newsletter?

I found that money was given to head start by congress in 2009 but if they don't find a way to keep it going all the extra spots and jobs would be lost due to lack of funding. We need to find better ways of keeping funding for early childhood programs.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

I am in contact with Juan from UNICEF in Bolivia. Here are some Issues related to excellence and equity in the early childhood field.

Fifity per cent of children aged under 1 and 12 per cent of children aged from 0-9 years old lack a birth certificate. The causes of this lack of registry are of an economic and cultural character: the cost of obtaining a birth certificate is high, and there is a lack of information on the benefits of registering children. A child whose birth is not registered does not exist in the eyes of the state and therefore does not have access to the basic services and rights guaranteed by law.


An estimated 616,000 children and adolescents work.  These children prematurely have to assume responsibilities which do not correspond to their age, and frequently are exploited at work. Also, work impedes many children from attending school. Only 39 per cent of working children continue their schooling, while 4.3 per cent have never gone to school.

Sharing Web Resources

The National Head Start Association http://www.nhsa.org/

• What specific section(s) or information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?

The National Headstart Association Website has added a live newsfeed to its website for the most uptodate inofrmation on headstart programs. With this feed you know what is going on with headstart all around the country.

• Which ideas/statements/resources, either on the website or in an e-newsletter, did you find controversial or made you think about an issue in new ways?

US House of Representatives introduced H.R. 1 which would fund the Federal government for the remaining 6 months of FY 2011 by slashing funding for many key programs. This included a drastic nearly 25 percent cut to Head Start programs that would result in more than 200,000 children losing services and more than 50,000 Head Start employees losing their jobs. .

• What information does the website or the e-newsletter contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field?

The U.S. Senate rejected HR1, the House bill that would have cut more than 218,000 children from Head Start and eliminate 55,000 jobs.

The Bad News:
An alternative Senate bill, which would have preserved funding for Head Start, was also rejected.

• What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or e-newsletter?

International Contacts

In EDCU 6162 we were asked to make contact with early childhood professionals from other countries.I was able to make two contacts.I was able to make contact with a early childhood professional from Canada and one from Bolivia.

 The first contact is Robin McMillian. She is a senior consultant for Canadian Child Care Federation. From her I was able to learn that Canada's poverty rate is 9.1%. It has decreased from a few years ago when it was 11.9%.

The second contact I made was Juan Carlos. He is a social communicator from Bolivia.He works for UNICEF. Bolivia is among the five poorest countries in South America, with high maternal and infant mortality rates.59% of the population of over 8,274,325 inhabitants live in conditions of poverty and 24.4%live in conditions of extreme poverty.

I realize that all countries have really hard poverty problems. Each country deals with their problems in the same way. They all try to solve the problems the best way they can.

National Head Start Association

The organization I choose is the National Head Start Association. http://www.nhsa.org/

NHSA Mission

Our mission is to coalesce, inspire and support the Head Start field as a leader in early childhood development and education.
We are compelled to fulfill this mission by the promise of all the possible outcomes:

• one powerful, united Head Start voice;
• a collegial, collaborative Head Start field, one that is a valluable and valued partner and resource to early chiildhood development and education;
• nonpartisan support of increased Federal commitment to Head Start and, ultimately
• healthier, empowered children and families and stronger, more vibrant communities.

Issue
The National Head Start Association puts out a montly newsletter called Family Connection. This newsletter is intended for the parents of the families in headstart. Each newsletter focues on one topic at a time. The Feburary newsletter talked about how important it is to get out and move. It gave parents different activites they could do with their children to get them more active. The newsletter also told why parents should get their children active. The top three reasons why your children should be more active:
1) Children who are physically active are better behaved.
2) Children who are more active sleep better at night.
3) A young child's phyical development is tied to helping their reading and math skills

FYI

Head Start actually consists of two programs: Head Start (HS) and Early Head Start (EHS). HS is a comprehensive early childhood development program primarily serving at-risk preschool-age children and their families. Established during the 1994 Reauthorization of HS, EHS is a comprehensive early childhood program serving primarily at-risk children prenatal to age three, pregnant women, and their families.

1,117,687 children and pregnant women were served in HS and EHS programs during the 2009-2010 program year: 2
* 983,809 in HS and 133,878 in EHS