PROFILE OF A VOLUNTEER

My life has been surrounded by volunteerism but the volunteer that really appeals to me is an international music artiste: Orville Richard Burrell otherwise known as “Shaggy”. 10 years ago, Shaggy was introduced to the Bustamante Hospital for Children whilst visiting a friend’s son who had been admitted there. He was so moved by what he saw, that he vowed to do whatever he could to make things better there for Jamaica’s children. This visit opened Shaggy’s eyes to the obstacles children faced with receiving medical care in Jamaica and the region, it being the only full service children’s hospital in the English speaking Caribbean, he resolved that something had to be done in order to improve the conditions there. For eight years he quietly made personal donations of medical equipment, which the hospital desperately needed, such as:

2001- two (2) Ventilators

2002- Electroencephalogram (EEG) Machine

2003- Table Top Sterilizing Machine

2005- Funded the Upgrade of the Medical Oxygen System

2006- Funded the Beautification of the Administrative Block

2008- Collaborated with Scotia bank to create a park & recreation area

Shaaggy’s donations gave birth to the organization “Shaggy Save A Life Foundation” where he encouraged other artistes to give of their services free of cost in raising funds for the Bustamate Children’s Hospital”. Every year artistes from the Caribbean and other parts of the world come together in the form of concert to raise millions of dollars at their expense. This effort has also raised an awareness on the health issues that children face on a daily basis.

I feel very proud of Shaggy and his friends because they have not only saved many children’s lives through their voluntary efforts but they have made me realized that anything is possible when you put your heart in it and truly believe that you can make a world of a difference. The Shaggy Foundation is not just a one-time affair but it has transpired into a life commitment to very ill children.

Here is a link to the “Shaggy Foundation”: http://shaggyonline.com/charity

Using Social Media to Get Connected

Provide a brief overview of your past and present experience with social media.

The only social media I have involved in are blogsopt.com and wordpress.com and it is only because of Walden. I have always been very wary about social medias because I believe they tend to attract too much negatives. Every other person I know is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and to me persons just don’t seem to can keep their private lives out of the limelight. My brother asked me to add him to LinkedIn and I before I knew it I was automatically connected to a host of other persons. I am a very private with my life and because social medias can be so dangerous I always choose to avoid them completely.

Describe what social media tools you feel lend themselves to effective advocacy.

Facebook seems to be a very powerful tool for advocacy. Where I am from it has generated some great positives in education. It is through this social media persons are in the loop about what is actually happening. Persons can actually post their opinions about the good and the bad. This will catch the attention of many persons, therefore giving persons an opportunity to share and to become actually part of an organization that practices advocacy.

Identify how you might use these social media tools to educate and inspire others in your advocacy work

Social media networks such as Facebook can provide an excellent avenue to share stories that relates to advocacy. It is through this medium you can attract and identify persons who are interested in the same advocacy issues. Social media also does not limit you to a specific audience or country but get the attraction from persons on a global level.

Ask your colleagues for their suggestions and/ or their help with using social media as a tool to promoting advocacy efforts

Because I am not a social media fan I would definitely need help in using social media as a tool to promote my advocacy efforts. I know creating a web page or signing up to be part of Facebook is not enough to get my message out. I believe we have to use other methods to help to promote my advocacy efforts such as participating in council and town meetings, using local television and radio stations. It is through the local mediums you can strengthen the use of other social mediums. Each medium is dependent on each other and also promote each other.

Advocacy Through Advertising

The first picture demonstrates how pleasant it is for children to brush their teeth. Many children dread brush their. Many children dread brush their teeth. Children need to be sensitized and not be fearful about why they should brush their teeth. Recently my 7 year old son was engaged at his school on the importance of oral health and he came home even telling us about the foods that are good for his teeth.
The advocacy message in the second also speaks to oral health. The video is very informative and helps to educate children and their parents on the importance of oral health. The video presents very clear techniques on how to care for your teeth. Much emphasis is placed on other areas of health such as pre-natal and immunization but many parents sometimes do not insist on visiting the dentist twice per year.
                                       

Considering My Capacity

There are so many issues about early childhood that fuel my passion for the field. Early childhood is such a dynamic field. It is about the entire individual and everything affects us whether it is health, the economy and the diverse cultures. We often say that children are our future; children are a promise, a promise to so many things. Children always remind me of a young plant that needs to be nurtured. Young plants need to watered, protected from animals, insects and weeds. That is what our children need plus emotional health. They are indeed of nurturing and protection so that they can become strong and innovative men and women of tomorrow. The issue that has ignited my passion is the general well -being of children. This topic covers health, nutrition, safety and parenting. Although I from a family of nine children I knew so little about babies and children because this was just not spoken about. I believe that there are so many more persons like me when they had their first child knew very little about babies and the role you must take on as a mother. I find that there needs to be more information sharing about children and their development. So many of us were unprepared for what awaited us as prospective parents. I remember when I was doing the second course: Early Childhood Development, I learned about the different birthings around the world. My eldest daughter (now 17 years) accidently placed a dvd in the player demonstrating how babies come into the world. She was devastated and shocked. She said she read about it ; saw movies with women giving birth but this dvd provided her a most realistic experience. I believe I could use effective skills in communication to help to spread the word about educating the general public on the well-being of children and their families. Sharing information is critical but it is also important to provide avenues where persons can come and get information and provide counseling to those who need it. These skills will include being assertive, being able to identify issues; develop solutions to the problems. As an early childhood inspector I am always sharing information and making connections. I can use this medium to develop links with other organizations that are also interesting in early childhood. Partnership is very important when you need resources. This is where tools in advocacy are very important because an advocate must be able to identify definite goals that will lead to a structure, that will help to bring people on board to support your cause for advocacy.

Motivations, Strategies, Resources, Leadership, and Advice

What motivated you to start advocating for very young children? Teaching is in my blood but I have always wanted to be lawyer and I am always looking out for the interests of others. After leaving college in 1995 my first two teaching jobs landed me with children who had either failed out of high school miserably or were placed in remedial classes because they could not read. I always wondered why these children can’t read is or even do simply arithmetic. Many of these children were from very poor backgrounds and were never given the opportunity to attend an early childhood institution and their primary and secondary educational experiences were also not good. Advocacy was born in be when I had to defend and justify why a prevocational student should also receive the opportunity to learn certain skill areas. Unfortunately many of the vocational instructors did not want students from the prevocational class because they were considered as a failure. This advocacy intensified when I started working as a Community Development Officer. I had the privilege to discuss issues with the community and early childhood always seem to top the list. I realized that many of these children were exposed to very substandard conditions and this motivated me to start advocating for early childhood. ◦Why is it essential to acknowledge and foster advocacy efforts at the micro as well as the macro level? It so important to acknowledge and foster advocacy efforts at the micro and macro levels. The micro often leads to greater things. Many times things are also done at the micro level that has a greater impact than at the macro level. The macro level however allows you ◦What does it take to be a community leader on early childhood issues? Your job could almost be described to that of a politician. It takes guts, perseverance, determination, optimism, knowledgeable, a great motivator. It takes passion. With passion you are not easily deterred. For the early childhood leader challenges are the fuel for motivation and disappointments are turned into opportunities. ◦What resources does it take to be a state leader on early childhood issues? A leader should possess the skill to identify resources that are needed. Networking is a very essential resource. Networking transcends beyond what you can actually see with the physical eyes. It can lead to financial resources and other sources that are needed. ◦What tactics or strategies do you use to mobilize others? Every early childhood leader must be knowledgeable about early childhood and the issues that affect the field. The next step would be to speak out about these issues in different forums, whether on a one on one basis or at large forums. What advice would you give to someone who was interested in taking a leadership role in advocating for young children and their families? Be yourself and remember why you are doing this. It is easy to become side tracked and discouraged but always remain focused

MESSAGES FOR FAMILIES-PERSONAL ADVOCACY REFLECTION

Two years ago I was sent to inspect a school that had a population of over 70 children between the ages 3 to 5 years. The physical plant was a disaster waiting to happen and I was overly concern for the safety of the students and the practitioners. At the end of the inspection the scores warranted a closure notice. I asked the principal to appeal to the organization “Food for the Poor” to get assistance in getting a building to accommodate an early childhood institution. After two years of not hearing anything from them I visited the school yesterday and to my surprise the school has a new building. I was so elated. The principal related her story to me and her journey about how she advocated in getting a new building for the children. She engaged many of the mothers to sign petitions, fund raisers and to assist with the construction of the building. She said it was never an easy road but she kept hearing my words of encouragement and hope over and over in her mind. I sensed her passion for early childhood. The members of staff were so glad to see me and thanked me for the words of encouragement. I left that school feeling like I had just won the lottery. My passion for advocacy has been influenced by many persons but I believe my passion has been ignited by a close family friend who is now deceased. This friend has caused me to bring out the advocacy in persons I come in contact with. This person although she did not play a direct and active role in the field of early childhood, she made me recognize the importance of working for social change through mediums such as education. She believed in educating the mind and empowering the individual. My friend broke through many barriers such as gender discrimination; educational barriers and cultural barriers. She was one of the first female in Jamaica to advocate for the rights of young women especially high school drop outs, pregnant teenagers and children who did not attain high educational standards. She made women feel happy about themselves and their families by engaging women through workshops and seminars. Her psychological skills brought hope to many who society considered as a failure. She made me realize that people are people and we all have wants and needs, and, everyone has the right to live and be free. It was through her inspirations and influences that made me realize that I can be a change agent in whatever area I find myself.

What resonates with you about Early Childhood Policy and Advocacy?

I believe this specialization chose me and not so much me choosing this specialization. I am a very outspoken person and have always been on the defensive for the rights of persons. My dream was to become a lawyer but unfortunately my father was totally against me going that route. After high school I ended up in teacher’s college. During and after my internship I was always given the slowest set of children to teach at the secondary level and even in skills training centres. But my passion for early childhood ignited when I had my first child. The birthing process was very difficult because my daughter weighed 9 and half pounds. This affected her speech, hearing and even emotional development. I recognized how dumb I was about child development and even the very doctors, nurses and my parents who had nine of us. Fortunately I landed a job in early childhood that has allowed me to see what is really happening to our children. This sparked my passion even more to create change and to let people know that early childhood is an area of development that should be given greatest attention. Advocates are essential in the field of early childhood because early childhood deals with people. People change, circumstances and life change. Because early childhood ties in with human development we must be knowledgeable and possess the prerequisite skills to deal with people and to convince them that early childhood is a very important aspect of humanity. There is so much I want to learn about public policy and advocacy. I find that many of the persons who make decisions about early childhood are not trained in the field and somehow the field is treated scantily. In order for you to advocate effectively then it is necessary for you know how policies are created. Policies help to form the framework to ensure that early childhood systems are working well. The three goals that I have are (1) To develop the necessary skills to become an effective advocate; (2) To learn more about how develop policies that relates to early childhood development; (3) To effectively mobilize stakeholders without harm or danger that will lead to better conditions for early childhood development.

What I have Leaned

HI Guys, sorry for being late with my blog, but I was on the road all day Friday and did not realise it was due until I checked this Saturday. The experiences I have had for the past eight weeks with my colleagues have really been tremendous. Sharing our experiences with each other in the field of early childhood and more so our experiences-learning about public policy and advocacy will go a far way into the future. The consequences of me taking part in this class has caused me to be more sensitive to the needs of children and families in the early childhood realm, to be more knowledge seeking and proactive. From the size of our class (four students) I have realized that advocacy is not a popular field although all early childhood professionals are really advocates in their own way. Well I can tell you this my colleagues when Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Marcus Garvey stood up for human rights they were not so popular and were often ostracized for what they were doing and the changes that they achieved through belief, sacrifice and persistence cannot be measured. My main goal is really to highlight the need for children to gain access to an early childhood system that provides for the basic needs of children. Health, nutrition, family and emotional health are a big part of my campaign. I also want to thank my colleagues that contributed to my professional development for the past eight weeks. We were small in numbers but I believed we have achieved great things. Judy

My Hypothetical Family Situation

The hypothetical situation I have created is one where I have a five year old daughter who is paraplegic. Unfortunately my daughter was able to walk until she received a spinal cord injury in a motor vehicle accident. Although she did not lose her legs she is not able to move around as before and is now confined to a wheel chair. The school allows access to children in wheel chairs, but she is now left out of most physical activities such as not being able to play soft ball and other outdoor activities. As a single mother I have two jobs. I therefore, do not get to spend as much quality time with her. I depend on the bus to take her to and from school every day. I also depend on my next door neighbor (who is retired) to keep her after school. Although my situation is realistic, the hypothetical questions do not take into consideration the emotional aspect of the situation and access to information on children who are paraplegic. The situation is has been a traumatic experience for both mother and daughter. The mother will also have to consider moving her child to an institution that accommodates children who are not able bodied so that the child can be expose to a curriculum that caters to her every need. The early childhood system I am trying to create should cater to complete inclusion, that is, children who are paraplegic should receive the opportunity to participate in physical outdoor activities and the school should also provide resources for parents to explore with children who are not physically abled. Websites that you can information on children have suffered from spinal cord injuries are (1) Pediatric (Children) Spinal Cord Injury - Quadriplegic and ... www.apparelyzed.com/.../54-pediatric-children-spinal-cord-injury/ (2) How do I help my newly paraplegic daughter come to acceptance ... https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid... (3) Disabled Village Children - CHAPTER 23 (SPINAL CORD INJURY) www.dinf.ne.jp/doc/english/global/david/dwe002/dwe00225.html

The Political Will To Improve Early Childhood Systems

One of the strategies that I have learned from advocates for early childhood that will influence the political will is reflected on the website 'Alliance for Early Success'. 'The Alliance for Early Success' is a catalyst for bringing state, national, and funding partners together to improve state policies for children, starting at birth and continuing through age eight. The Alliance for Early Success operates on (1) A Policy Framework; (2) Partnerships; (3) Resources; (4) and Grants. This advocacy program covers a wide variety of issues that affect quality early childhood programs. This organization reflects a high level of collaboration and networking among various stakeholders. Collaboration among stakeholders is very important. This will ensure that all involved are on the same page and eliminate wastage in areas of time, expertise and resources. All persons involved will also receive a true picture of how complex early their families. This organization is very good at providing feedback on how each sector is working and influencing the quality of the early childhood programs. The section of the work that appeals to me the most is the section that relates to resources. Resources often encompass research that leads to developing a framework that influences the policies that often reflect our early childhood system. Without proper information we cannot develop effective policies that will enhance the early childhood sector. Because early childhood is a very dynamic and complex field much attention should be paid to this section. Reference Birth to Five Policy Alliance. (2011). Retrieved from http://earlysuccess.org/

PARENT, FAMILY, and COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

From reading about the different families and professional stories with regards to how HEAD START has impacted or changed various individuals you recognize how important it is for families to become involved in an early childhood system that meets their needs. These systems should reflect the family because the system is really a service to children and their families. What struck me most about these stories that I listened and read about were the parents especially the fathers want to have an input in their children’s lives especially from a very early stage. HEAD START formed the foundation to help parents to recognize their role as a parent. When you read these stories you realize how much impact early childhood has on children and their parents. It makes you feel encouraged and appreciated. I was very impressed with a father when he mentioned that the most important thing we can give to my children is time (Jorge Avendado, Father of the Year. As a mother and an early childhood professional I can compare myself to his story. So many times we believe that we can give children material wealth to make up for the time lost between parent and child but I have learned from early that it is so important to spend quality time with your child. Although money is very important we must go the extra mile to ensure that we listen and talk to our children. It is about developing a strong bond between parent and child. What I appreciate with HEAD START is the fact that they provide parenting classes. Avendado realized the importance of making time for his daughter and I know this has created positive results for both him and his daughter. As an early childhood professional I would definitely want to emulate this system in my home country. As an early childhood professional I have also garnered how much all strands in early childhood are interrelated and depend on each other.HEAD START is not just about recognizing problems with the parents and the children but they also spend time in devising strategies to deal with the issues such creating parenting workshops to deal with the everyday issues. Reference Jorge Avendano, Father of the Year at Davis/Morgan/Summit Head Start-Early Head Start, Kaysville, UT

Quality Programs For All Children

The general public in America seems to have varied opinions about quality early childhood education. In Jamaica there has been a lot of talk about quality early childhood education. Sorry to say that’s the most it really gets, that is, talk. Politicians especially use early childhood as a political platform, hoping to win votes from parents and other stakeholders for their next election. Because of the lack of knowledge early childhood is really treated unfairly. It is the first sector to receive a budget cut and many ignorant persons just believe that early childhood is not so important at all. Large sums of money is being spent on remedial programs and although the government has quality early childhood programs in their pipeline at the pace at which things are going I really don’t how much of a public opinion will change in the next five years. For the next five years I am really hoping that the country will get its act together with regards to quality early childhood programs. The government along with other stakeholders not only needs to understand the importance of investing in early childhood. By investing I mean paying early childhood practitioners, providing professional training and investing heavily in research that supports quality early childhood practices. If we don’t get our act together very soon we are going to continue going down the rough and winding road. We will continue to see significant increase in crime, increase in social issues and poor economic gains. We will continue to feed people and not teach them how to feed themselves. My dream for the next five years is to see resources being pumped into the early childhood programs so that every citizen will be afforded the opportunity to fend for themselves and realize that poverty is only a state of mind.

EARLY CHILDHOOD SYSTEMS: 6765

What Resonates With You About Early Childhood Public Policy and Advocacy? Early Childhood Systems. For most of my years in the career field I always find myself advocating for something. My love for early childhood began when I started having children but my passion intensified when I landed a job with the Early Childhood Commission as an early childhood inspector. My eyes were opened to a myriad of things within the early childhood. There are so many issues and challenges. I believe advocacy is the way to go to help with dealing with these issues and challenges. My first career love was law but unfortunately I was not afforded the opportunity to explore this field. I believe early childhood advocacy is the closest to thing to law. I don’t think we have enough persons in Jamaica who are advocating for changes in the early childhood field. Advocacy for the demands passion but you must also be knowledgeable. Advocates are so crucial in the field of early childhood. To become a skilled advocate you must be properly informed. Like any other career or profession we need to be armed with the knowledge to help to create positive changes. Early childhood is foundation to almost everything that we do. Can you imagine if we had an untrained dentist in our mouths are a surgeon who has absolutely no idea about surgery. Well early childhood is just as important as any other profession. I hope to learn how to become a skillful advocate. Anything that has to do with change is not easily accomplished, especially when culture forms the framework upon which persons live their lives. Three goals I hope to accomplish at the end of the course is 1) How to initiate changes that will impact the early childhood field. 2) To become a skillful advocate. 3) To promote awareness for early childhood and educate various stakeholders on the importance of having the right start at the early childhood level.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO END

Hi Colleagues, I must say time surely flies. We are at the end of another course and this one has been very intense. Communication is so embedded in relationships. Although we do not have face to face to contact I believe I konw so much about each of my classmates. I just want to take this time to thank all of you for contributing so much to communications journey. Without your insightful comments and your valid contributions I would not have made it. All the best to every one and we are almost at the end of the master's journey. Judy

ADJOURNING

This week we are asked to speak about the adjourning process with regards to team work. The adjourning is the fifth stage in the five stages of team building and signifies the end of the project (Abudi, 2010). To me the adjourning stage can either be very hard or easy for the team the team. It all depends on what the relationship was like among the team members. When I was a teenager I use to attend church camps. We were placed in dorms and competing houses for the duration. During the camp week we build relationships among persons in the houses and the dorms. We hand to bond to win competitions and excel in different areas of the camp life. It was very difficult for us to say good bye at the end of the week but we exchanged numbers and addresses and did our best to stay in touch with each other. Even though I might not be attached to my fellow colleagues in the Master’s program I know I am going to miss the discussions and blogs. Although I have no physical attachment I believe I have connected in some way to my classmates. There is so much I have learned from all the persons in my class and I know I will go through the adjourning process when this program is completed. Reference Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Dealing With Conflict-What Would You Do?

Conflict happens every day in our lives. Whether it be at school, in the workplace or at home we are going to experience some amount of conflict. I believe my job and my life are surrounded with conflict because of the nature of my job and the some decisions that I have made in life. My father who is terminally ill with cancer is not able to take care of himself any more but unfortunately my mother and the nurse aid does not seem to see eye to eye on how to take care of him. My mother believes she knows what she is doing and unfortunately she is not right at all times. I often find myself standing in the middle of the conflicting arguments and acting as a mediator. I find this very stressful at times because I have to leave what I am doing and journey to St. Elizabeth to ensure that the nurse does not leave the job because this would definitely make the situation worse for me. My teenage daughter and her father sometimes end up having conflicts because I find that they just do not take the time out to listen to each other. Again, I find myself playing mediator. I have learned to deal with conflicting situations throughout my life. Often I wait until the dust has settled and then approach the persons involved in the conflicts. Some of the strategies that I have used is to listen carefully to the persons involved, speak kind words and softly, smile, hug, distract the person with some physical activity such as exercise. I tend to do this with my daughter. When I am exercising I ask her to join me and then I seize the moment to talk to her about the conflicts. I also distract my husband by showing interest in his work, talking to him on a one on one basis. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the different situations but I speak to myself and ask myself questions such as “Judy if you were in this situation how would you be wanted to treated? I try not to undermine the parties involved but to initiate respect at all levels. I have also had conflicts especially in the work place because the job involves some amount of team work and sometimes persons just do not do their share of the work which impacts on our targets. I have had to take blame for persons for their lack of participation and just for a quiet life I sometimes have to apologize for things that I am not guilty of. I strongly believe that violence does not solve any problem. I believe in the scripture that is takes from the Bible in the book of Proverbs chapter 15 vs 1: “Soft answer turneth away wrath but grievous words stir up anger.”

Who Am I As A Competent Commuicator?

This we are asked to reflect on how we perceive ourselves as a competent communicator and how others view our abilities. To accomplish this task I used the three assessments Communication Anxiety Inventory, Verbal Aggressiveness Scale and Listening Styles Profile (Rubin, Palmgreen, & Sypher, 2009; Rubin, Rubin, Graham, Perse, & Seibold, 2009). These assessments came as a surprise to me. For Communication Anxiety I was viewed as someone who feels comfortable communicating with others in most situations and feel confident in anticipating such encounters. The other two persons who evaluated me in this area also saw me just as how I had perceived myself. What surprised me though, I never recognized that I was so keenly observed when making presentations in group meetings. I took much of this communication thing for granted because I was exposed to making presentations from a very a very early age (as young as ten years old to be in the lime light). And I guess this exposure has influenced my communication skills. My listening skills I believe really reflect who I am. In group 2 my listening style is “Action-Oriented.” This is so true of me. My job is very time consuming and demands much observation, interviewing techniques and listening skills. All of this has to be done in a timely manner and I guess after doing this job for nearly five years I have perfected this skill. It is true that my efficiency is respected (as the job demands this) but may intimidate more sensitive listeners. The two major insights that I have gained for the past week is (1) how we perceive ourselves and (2) how others perceive us. O’Hair & Wienmann states, “your awareness and understanding of who you are –as interpreted and influenced by your thoughts , actions, abilities, values, goals and ideals is your self –concept.” I have found myself in some situations where I have to really speak to myself and tell myself that I am just as good or even better than my competitors and colleagues because I felt intimidated by the crowd. I had a supervisor that made every effort to make her subordinates feel less than who they really are. She found fault with everything and reprimanded us as if we were children. Instead of feeling sorry for myself I found strategies to overcome the challenges I faced with her. You must have confidence in yourself and believe in yourself. How others perceive us can really be a challenge and it can cause communication to be awkward. How we dress, where we live, what we drive, the social groups we find ourselves in heavily influence the way people perceive us at first sight. At work there are group of development officers that I communicate with both on a professional and personal basis. Why? I can relate to them easily because we have a so much in common. We are not fussy over the latest motor vehicle on the market, we have children in the same age group and we are currently pursuing our M.S. But there is another group of D.O’s I just can’t relate to personally because we just do not share the same concerns and values. These D.O.’s are more concerned with the latest fashion etc. They tend to judge persons by the outward appearances. You would be surprised to recognize how very simple things can affect the way we communicate with each other especially in the workplace. Reference O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. Rubin, R. B., Palmgreen, P., & Sypher, H. E. (Eds.) (2009). Communication research measures: A sourcebook. New York: Routledge.

COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES

In my family diversity in terms of ethnicity and class are very evident and therefore, I find myself behaving differently around different family members. My family is not only mixed in terms of ethnicity but mixed nationally and culturally. I found myself wearing different masks at a funeral service and repass for my mom’s cousin. My mom’s cousin who was part Indian, part Negro and part white (Mulatto) married to a Chinese man; therefore, the children looked more like Chinese. I had family members visiting from Canada, England and the USA. I simply did not know how to connect or communicate with her children. I don’t know if growing up in the United States had any thing to do with how they reacted to their Jamaican cousins but I guess it came as a shock when they realized that they had relatives who looked nothing like them. I found my Chinese cousins really reserved and I maybe the reason for this, is we really did not know each other until the day of their mother’s funeral or it could be the fact that it was a sad occasion and so they were mourning. I found myself behaving reserve and solemn around them yet when I saw my Jamaican cousins my personality completely changed. I laughed and made informal conversations and gestures with these cousins. I also behave differently around my Aunts and grandparents. I spoke strictly the Queen of England English and behaved as if I am well cultured. I teach my children to do the same and my husband who does not believe in changing the masks (he thinks it is hypocritical) notices that my son has adopted this attitude. He said he notices that our son speaks perfect English when he finds himself in a certain company but when he is in another setting he uses the creole Language. Based on what I have learned about communication this week, three strategies that I would employ for more effective communication among persons that are diverse are (1) I would keep it very simple and specific. When we keep it simple and specific there will be less ambiguity in our messages. (2) Get to know the persons who are of different culture and ethnicity. This is very important because it is good that we are familiar with each person’s culture, especially when it relates to foods, religion and even customs that involve touching. (3) Put aside preconceived ideas and assumptions. I believe we all might have some preconceived ideas about persons we know nothing about or what might be portrayed through the media. For example, many persons in developed countries still think that persons living in the developing countries live in trees and caves and run around naked.

Focus on Nonverbal Communication

This week we are asked to select a television show that we would not typically watch and view it with the sound off. The aim of this is to make assumptions about the characters’ relationships towards each other and then we are to view the same show with the sound on to see if my assumptions were correct. I decided to view a Jamaican show “The Blackburns of Royal Palm Estate” This is a Jamaican soap opera that seems to carry several story lines. I could detect much emotion among the characters such as character “Sonny T” and a male character (a police officer) seem to having a very hot or aggressive argument I also observed “Sonny T” handling large sums of cash and talking to a few females that seem to work with him. The females seem to be prospective ‘drug mules’ some sort of worker for him base on their facial expressions. The females were beautiful, well dressed and appear to be seductive in character. I then watched the show with the sound on. Some of my assumptions were right and some were wrong. The argument between Sonny T and the man (a private investigator) was true. The investigator was actually investigating “SonnyT” for money laundering and also for trafficking drugs. Sonny T was not so happy with his visit and so they had an argument. Because the officer did have a warrant to search his premises Sonny T ordered him to leave his premises immediately. I was, however, wrong about the females in the scene. These females were characters that were pretending to like Sonny T and make passes at him but they were really working under cover for the police force so that they can gather enough evidence to put Sonny T in jail. There was female who actually was planting bugs in his office so that they can keep a tap on his activities. There is a famous saying we say where I come from “ASSUME” means making an ASS out of U and ME. This simply means we are never to assume but we must always first get the facts. I believe if I had watched the clipping with the sound on I would have realized some of my assumptions were totally wrong. The girls paint one picture that they are really working for Sonny T but when I listened to the conversation among the girls I realized they were on a totally different mission to get enough evidence to send Sonny T to jail. I don’t think I really have any ‘aha’ moments as yet. But I realize that we cannot just go by or use nonverbal communication alone but verbal communication is also needed to support nonverbal communication. O’hair states, “while these two forms of communication are connected, nonverbal communication is vague without its counterpart. Reference O' Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. “The Blackburns of Royal Palm Estate”. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcrPGJKYoNw

Welcome to Communication & Collaboration

I believe my supervisor at work has excellent communication skills. She deals with the general public every day and she also has to deal with early childhood professionals at all levels of the organization. This week a case came to her where a practitioner was handed a letter from the chairman of the school that her services were no longer needed due to some conflict issues at the school. The practitioner was very upset over the letter and my supervisor managed to calm her down by just talking to her in a very calm and relaxing way. My supervisor read the letter, listened intently to the practitioner’s side of story and then told her she will have to convene a meeting with the principal and the school board so as to hear everybody’s side of the story. After the practitioner left, my supervisor called the principal and the board chairman about the letter and also listened to their side of the story. My supervisor kindly informed them that the matter needs to be addressed professionally and without bias and therefore it would suit the school to settle this dispute within the confines of the school management and not allow it to get to the “Labor Board” as a letter such as this is asking for a law suit against the school and its management. I believe my supervisor acting in a calm manner, was good listener, used the labor laws as her guide and just being able to mediate. These communication skills are very effective and I would definetly would emulate them in dealing with conflicts.

Considerations, Reflections, Aspirations

For the past eight weeks I have learned so much about diversity and how unique each individual is. Because of this I am more motivated to advocate for early childhood in my country and to spark the fire in each and every individual the importance of early childhood education. When I see people around me I no longer look at them with a close mind but I realize that each of us are all special and we all have unique roles to play in making society a place where we can all exist in peace and learn to love and respect each other no matter how different we all are. I have said this before and I will say it again the world would be so boring and drab if we were all the same color, size and culturally identical. But in a sense we are all the same, because we really share the same needs: food, shelter and clothing but most of all we all want to be accepted for who we are, loved, appreciated and just are given a chance to live life to its fullest. It is therefore my hope as an early childhood professional it is my hope that I will be fully prepared to deal with challenges that are associated with diversity. The goal that I would set for the early childhood field as it relates to diversity is continue this master’s journey. I believe the best thing for a person who hopes to bring about positive change is to be knowledgeable. With the necessary information we can develop our resources and tools to help make early childhood development better for the generations to come. I would also like to thank all my colleagues who have commented on my blogs, responded to my discussions and have offered some great insights and encouragement. I you wish all the best in the future endeavors as we continue to make the field of early childhood development shine bright.

Considerations, Relflections, Aspirations

Welcoming Families From Around The World

The family I would love to prepare for culturally and welcome into my home would be from Pakistan. Pakistan is located in Southern Asia. The Pakistani culture and customs are different from the Western culture and I believe having a Pakistani child in my home and learning her about her would be quite interesting. Before I can welcome a Pakistani girl I would have to learn about her culture. The first thing I would want to learn about her is which ethnic group is she is from because the country of Pakistan comprises of many ethnic groups. The second thing I would want to learn is her name. As we know a name is a source of identity and it is very important as the host I am able to pronounce her name properly and even know the meaning of her name. The third thing I would do is to find out the kinds of food my child guest eats. Food is very important and having a guest in your house not eating what you have prepared for meals can be very distressing and I definitely would not want my guest to be hungry. The fourth thing I would to prepare for my guest is to learn a few about their language such as a few minor phrases. Probably I would get a language book to help with interpretation of basic words. Learning a few words from her language will allow some amount of communication. The fifth thing I would want to learn about the Pakistani is about some general customs and etiquette. This very important too because how Pakistanis relate to each other especially in terms of gender relationship will impact on the kind of relationship formed. Unfortunately girls are treated as cattle in the Pakistani culture and many times are married before they reach the age of 16 years. Being prepared for a person of different culture is very important. Even though we might be different in cultural practices we basically are the same and have the same needs such food, shelter and clothing. To benefit from a cultural exchange we first must understand each other and, be very open-minded. Many times we become misled by what is being said in the media about persons who may be different from us. We do want to be stereotypical and bias in our behavior and therefore it is best that we are informed about the persons who are different from us culturally.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

I have experienced so many prejudices and biases happen to me and to persons in my immediate surrounding. I am from a mixed ethnic family and I my first experience with prejudice came from my family. As a child growing up I always thought that everybody was equal and basically the same. I never thought about the color of your skin or how rich are poor you were but I became aware of these types of prejudices as soon as I was introduced to kindergarten. The experience that stood out for me was my high school years although I experienced much prejudice and biases before. Hampton school is a boarding school for girls. Upon entering high school I realized that the only children of a certain class were given much attention. I was considered poor but I never thought of myself as being poor because from very early, I believed poverty was just your state of mind. Although designer clothes, shoes and other material things were bought with lots of money I always believe these things did not complete you or defined who you are. The teachers at the institution did not hide their prejudicial and biases towards persons who were considered poor. I became very ill at school and was sent to the sick bay. I got no medical attention, my parents were not contacted about my illness and I was kept in the sick bay for a week without any proper care. I cried and felt rejected. I got mid term holiday break and I was sent home. My father realized I was ill and my temperature was extremely high but because of how simple he was he did not realize how ill I was because if the school did not make an issue of the illness he believed everything was okay but when I fainted and he took me to the doctor, the doctor told him I was very lucky because I was developing pneumonia. Because he was intimidated by the school’s authority he did not do anything about it. I realized I was treated unfairly because I was not one of the favorite, yet the policy of the school specifically stated that once a child becomes very ill, the parents must be contacted immediately. Other children who were considered rich were not only sent to the school’s doctor but there parents were immediately contacted so that they could come and get their children. This experience has taught me so much. As a mother of three children I am very protective and can get very defensive for my children. Once I detect any form of biases or prejudices for against children in any social institution whether at church or at school I defend my children and I make my voice be heard. I used my experiences at Hampton school to strive above the obstacles. I remembered the day of graduation like yesterday. The students were excited and of course we were making lots of noise before the start of the ceremony. One of the senior teachers just came to us and started shouting at us that we were the worst and that we would never come out to anything good. I used her words as a motivation to strive above the obstacles. I entered the field of teaching to help children who were labeled as ‘no good’ and ‘poor’.

Week 4-MICRO AGGRESSION EXPERIENCES

My micro aggression experience happened quite a few years ago. I was asked to help with the choir at church because they had a cantata engagement and the choir director was not able to assist. I decided to help, but I was not married at the time. I helped and everything came out more than what persons had expected. I married my long term friend and the father of my first child the following year. I decided that I would try and have my second child as soon as possible because I did not want any children in my thirties. Even though my husband objected I became pregnant. I was astonished when persons in the same choir that I helped so well made very insinuating remarks to my parents, myself and even wrote a letter to my father, that the only reason I married because I had become pregnant and so I needed to cover up for my sins. I found the entire situation really offensive but I made it pass because I knew the same people I helped were just being vindictive and wicked. The second mircro aggression happened this week when I decided to start looking around for secondary schools for my daughter. When I mentioned a particular school to my fried she simply looked at me and said ‘only students of certain sexual orientation attends this school.’ My step daughter attended this secondary school and I know she is not a lesbian.

WEEK 3- PERSPECTIVES ON DIVERSITY AND CULTURE

For this assignment I was asked to call at least three persons and to ask them to give a definition of culture and diversity. I decided to ask the following persons: My colleague, my eldest daughter and sister. These three persons are close to me. My colleague believes that culture is about our beliefs systems and the simple things in life that affect our lives every day and she believes diversity speaks to how unique an individual is. My colleague who is a very close friend works in the early childhood field as a sector support supervisor. She has to interact with many persons, including many of the external stakeholders. My colleague’s definition speaks to one of the main characteristic of what culture is. She mentioned that the nature of her job must take culture into perspective because in planning projects and workshops it is integral to understand the culture of families and practitioners. Although diversity is not a big issue in her job, she also believes that diversity must also be taken into consideration because the early childhood field is slowing changing in Jamaica. There are small evidences that diversity will soon be a factor to contend with in the future of early childhood. My sister is older than I am and she teaches and is a guidance counselor at very prominent Catholic high school. My sister believes culture relates not only to our way of life but to our value system. She also sees diversity as having a various persons who might share different cultures and religions. My sister says diversity is not prominent at her school but there is a small population of children from two particular ethnic groups present, that is, the Chinese and the Indians. She says it is important that as a teacher of religion she must be very mindful of the diverse groups in her class because they are small in numbers they become lost in the system. My sister also pointed out that although many of the children shared many common cultural attributes, the families from which these children came from had what we could refer to as a sub-culture and so it was sometimes difficult to get children to align their cultural beliefs and adopt to the belief system of the school because this high school is influenced by the Catholic faith. This simply means that the children had to conform to the belief system during their time at the school. My daughter was the youngest of the three persons I chose to ask about culture and diversity. My daughter has had her encounter with different cultures and diversity as early as her prep school years and so I thought it would be interesting to get her opinion about what she believed culture and diversity are. My daughter defined culture as the way we live our lives such as the traditions, the lifestyle such as fashion, food, trends and how we interact with each other. She sees diversity as very paradoxical; because even though we might be different in the way we look, our language and our heritage she believes we are so similar because our human nature is that need to want to have a feeling of belonging and to be loved. She believes that we all do things differently but most times it ends up with the same result. I learned from this experience that different persons have a different view of what culture and diversity are. It is also important that we learn to accept each other for who we really are and be open -minded and be willing to learn from each other. I also found my daughter’s reaction to diversity really different from my colleague’s and my sister’s because my daughter believes that no matter how different we are we are similar. Diversity and culture are very wide topic but I believe my daughter came the closest to incorporating many of the characteristics of culture and diversity.

PERSPECTIVES DIVERSITY & EQUITY- MY FAMILY CULTURE

This week I am asked to blog about three precious items I would take along with me and family if I was faced with a terrible catastrophe and had to leave my homeland. This is very hard because when I look at the few possessions I have acquired since my lifetime and what helps to define my culture and who I am is very heart rendering. After thinking about it I realized I would not be able to take my pets --Caine my cat and Benz my dog because they are far from being small items but I know I would be devastated to leave them behind because they are a big part of my family. The three items I would take with me are (1) a small family album. I would ensure that this album have pictures of every little thing that reminds me of my previous life such as pictures of my parents, brothers and sisters, wedding and birthdays and my pets, and other special events. (2) My bible is very important to me. My spiritual life is embedded in the bible and because I have special scriptures I use for prayer, this is definitely of great importance to me. (3) The third item I would take with me is my documents to identify who I am such as my passport, marriage certificate and birth papers. My family knows that these three items are very special not only to me but to them. The bible is important because our lives have always been embedded in strong Christian principles and these principles have always brought us through some very difficult times in our lives. The album is also very important because the pictures capture so many memories and we can always look at the pictures and be hopeful for a better tomorrow. The documents are also very important. To be evacuated to another country without any proof of who you are is very difficult and the documents would still give us hope that we might be able to go back to our country one day and having our travel documents would make the ease of passage much easier. For me to leave behind two items upon arrival would also be very stressful. But when you are faced with adversity you are not even given time to really think or rationalize; however, I would definitely keep the family album. The pictures cannot be reproduced but with time I can always get a new bible and regain documents to prove who I am and where I am from.

When I Think of Research...

The duration of this course has really been an enlightening journey. Although some of the areas were familiar to me I have learned so much new information. The simulation process was all new to me. The last research course I did was in 1994 approximately twenty years ago when I was pursuing a diploma in secondary education and even though I did a research project to complete my bachelor’s, I believe this is the first time I did research in such details. I must say I am grateful for the knowledge and I am also aware of the sacrifice and hard work researchers must endure in order to produce quality effective work. The research process is no walk over.

Some of the main lessons that I have learned over the past weeks are planning, understanding ethical issues, designing and conducting research. I must admit the process is very time consuming and many of my Sundays had me locked down in reading and exploring materials that relate to research. Sometimes I got it right and sometimes I was totally off but it is a learning process. The simulation exercises and the discussions helped me to understand the research process better. Persons who conduct research that leads to positive changes in early childhood must have a special love or deep passion for the subject area and I must commend them for their efforts. My greatest challenge was to refine my research topic as it relates to how technology has an impact on children’s development in middle childhood.

Every early childhood professional should be aware of how to do research in early childhood. This is a very important aspect of early childhood because the field is constantly changing and I believe research is one of the effective tools we have as professionals to keep up with these changes.

I must say a big thank you to my colleagues and instructor who guided and helped me for the past eight weeks. Your comments and support has surely helped me understand research in the early childhood field.

When I Think of Research...

The duration of this course has really been an enlightening journey. Although some of the areas were familiar to me I have learned so much new information. The simulation process was all new to me. The last research course I did was in 1994 approximately twenty years ago when I was pursuing a diploma in secondary education and even though I did a research project to complete my bachelor’s, I believe this is the first time I did research in such details. I must say I am grateful for the knowledge and I am also aware of the sacrifice and hard work researchers must endure in order to produce quality effective work. The research process is no walk over.

Some of the main lessons that I have learned over the past weeks are planning, understanding ethical issues, designing and conducting research. I must admit the process is very time consuming and many of my Sundays had me locked down in reading and exploring materials that relate to research. Sometimes I got it right and sometimes I was totally off but it is a learning process. The simulation exercises and the discussions helped me to understand the research process better. Persons who conduct research that leads to positive changes in early childhood must have a special love or deep passion for the subject area and I must commend them for their efforts. My greatest challenge was to refine my research topic as it relates to how technology has an impact on children’s development in middle childhood.

Every early childhood professional should be aware of how to do research in early childhood. This is a very important aspect of early childhood because the field is constantly changing and I believe research is one of the effective tools we have as professionals to keep up with these changes.

I must say a big thank you to my colleagues and instructor who guided and helped me for the past eight weeks. Your comments and support has surely helped me understand research in the early childhood field.

RESEARCH AROUND THE WORLD

The link to the website is: http:www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

What are some of the current research topics?

The research topics included

1)      Getting the balance right: The challenge of balancing praise and correction for early childhood year’s children who exhibit oppositional and defiant behavior.

2)      Young Children’s beliefs about including others in their play: Social and moral reasoning about inclusion and exclusion.

3)      Building foundations for numeracy: A qualitative analysis of the basic concept knowledge demonstrated by young deaf children.

4)      The use of technology to facilitate music learning experiences in preschoolers.

5)      Professionals don’t play: Challenges for early childhood educators working in a trans disciplinary early intervention team.

 

I gained new insights and ideas about research in early childhood. Some of these new insights that I have gained is the Australian’s approach to research to early childhood. Although the topics covers research topics that relate to issues such as play, diversity, transitions I have come to recognize that they use research to support best practices and unravel even issues that might seem minute or insignificant in the field of early childhood. This website is a good ground and provides support  for a beginner researcher like myself to explore for information in the field of early childhood.

The website is quite is to manipulate and subscribe to. Australia I believe is one of the leading giants in the field of early childhood research and the more time spent  in exploring the website is the more we can gain from the website and apply it to our own situations.

MY ULTIMATE RESEARCH DREAM

Farrington (2002) cited “when people are asked what they think are the main causes of crime, they often nominate poor parental child-rearing methods and especially poor discipline or control of children.”

Early Childhood is such a wide field that I really found it difficult in choosing a topic to research. But for the many years my little country Jamaica has been riddled with much crime and violence and I wonder if it has to do with our early childhood system.  Sometimes I wonder does it have to do with poor parenting skills, the economy and other social issues.  I ask myself questions such as why is the ghetto system alive and well.  Why do young children continue to have children at a very tender age when there is so much information on birth control in schools and there supposed to be laws to protect our most vulnerable? And why do we choose to give our children guns instead of giving them a good education? Why the government sees it so hard to invest in early childhood when they know it can provide us with solutions to the many issues that we are faced. Do we really lack vision for our country and if so, are we really going to perish?

My research in early childhood would focus on the social and emotional development of children. My primary focus; however, would be to examine the impact of teenage pregnancy on the life of the child in in the formative years. For the past four years as an early childhood inspector I have discovered that many of the parents who send their children to community owned basic schools give birth to the children between the ages of 13  to 18 years. Another startling discovery I made is that the fathers for these children are also very young or the fathers are much older than the mothers. I also found out from some practitioners that if the mother who has given birth was below the age of consent many of the fathers’ information is not presented on the birth certificate. We know that children from the time of birth go through social and emotional changes and they also experience cognitive changes. I believe this research will help to identify how poor parenting skills will affect the social and emotional development of our children.

References

Farrington, D. (2002) Family Influences on Delinquency. Retrieved from http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763760564/60564_CH10_Springer.pdf

 

PERSONAL RESEARCH JOURNEY

The topic I hope to focus on for the next of couple of weeks for the simulation exercise is cognitive development in middle age children. The period between the ages of 6 to 11 is a very important time in a child’s life. Piaget called the cognition of middle childhood concrete operational thought, characterized by concepts that enable children to use logic (Berger, 2012). Children during this stage naturally learn quickly. It’s the age where the children are required to think. However, are the children’ thinking are being affected by modern technology such as computers, electronic toys and the long hours being spent watching television. Berger (p. 368), states “U.S. fourth graders score far below those in East Asia. Some critics blame the teachers, some the students, others the schools, and still others the culture.” This could be caused by various things such as the pressure to do well on assessments so that children can matriculate to higher grade, the lack of play, the excessive use of technological devices such as sitting and watching television for long periods of time, the use of other toys. Are children taught how to rote learn and not to think and apply information? My intention is to find out how all these aspects affect children cognitively in their middle childhood. Every aspect of child development is very important but middle childhood marks a period of increase independence and confidence in the middle childhood and therefore children who are not able to perform in school because of low cognitive development may end up becoming school drop outs are just passing through the system If we can identify from this early stage of child development what affects the child cognitive development we can save ourselves millions of dollars that are spent on remediation programs.

So far I am in the preliminary stages of the research chart. The first week was very challenging but I hope I am getting a true understanding of how to manipulate the chart.  Learning about the research process is challenging but learning about the different aspects of research such the various terminologies and the validity of the credibility of resources will prove to be both useful and as guide in ensuring that we understand and apply the research process.

I would greatly appreciate the views of my colleagues on cognitive development in middle childhood. Are children given stimulation exercises to help them cognitive development? Are the children bombarded by too much assessment exercises, therefore, less time is spent on allowing children to discover their world? How does play affect the child’s cognitive development in middle childhood? There are so many questions about cognitive development in middle childhood and I know many of you have much information to contribute to this area.

Judy,

Reference

Berger, K. (2012). The Developing Person Through Childhood(6th ed.) New York: Worth Publishers.

REFLECTING ON ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS

For the past eight weeks we have discussed so many consequences that affects early childhood and that will impact our early childhood professional lives. Unfortunately my international contact in Africa did not respond to much of my request but based on many of the websites I explored such as Zero to Three provided me with valuable information on the issues that affect early childhood. I also had the privilege to share my experiences with Jennifer from the USA. I realize how much of the issues internationally that we have in common whether we are classified as developing or developed country. I surely have learned that in order to make some positive impact in the field of early childhood we need to be knowledgeable. Developing international relationships is definitely a plus for me because I know that I can research topics relating to early childhood from these various contacts and be provided with vital information. Based on my learning experiences, information in the field of early childhood is constantly changing and therefore as professionals we have a responsibility to stay informed. One aspect of the course that resonated with me is not to be judgmental or to make assumptions but we must get our facts right. This came across in the topics for me when dealing with culture and diversity; quality and equity in early childhood care and of course poverty. After exploring the many issues that the early childhood field is faced with I have also come to recognize the importance of policies. It is good to advocate but it is also very important on how policies can help to make positive changes for the early childhood field. I believe the early childhood profession is still very young and under recognized especially in developing countries. Not much has been done to ensure to raise the standards of the early childhood field. To me early childhood has been given a raw deal because initially not much emphasis was placed on early childhood development and now we are trying to make things right. Nothing is wrong with this; however, I believe much more support is needed from persons who can help to make the change happen quicker. Again I must emphasize that there is really no place for ignorance or it should be not treated as a trial error game. Scientists, physicians and economists may recognize the importance of investing in early childhood but it is far more important for the early childhood teacher, caregiver and other early childhood professionals to be informed at the highest level so that we all can make informed decisions that will be profitably for the present and also for the future. Early childhood professionals should be the ones to guide and help with implementation of policies; therefore professional goals are too advocated for the field of early childhood so that this field will get the recognition it deserves and not lip service. I must again thank all my colleagues who shared with me during the eight weeks. Your contributions influenced my drive to become a better ambassador for early childhood education. I wish all my colleagues the best in their future endeavours.

Judy

Getting to Know Your International Contacts -Part 3

For this week’s assignment I selected to review the UNESCO’s website on early childhood. UNESCO has provided a wide variety of information on early childhood. UNESCO advocates on Early Childhood Care and Education by focusing on health, nutrition, security and learning. My professional initial goals from the course “Early Childhood Foundations” was (1) to advocate on behalf of early childhood education; (2) to make positive impact on the lives of practitioners and caregivers and; (3) to help form support groups for parents and guardians. At the end of the course my redefined goals were (1) To advocate for funding to support medicals and nutritious meals for early childhood children within early childhood institutions;(2) To support groups within the early childhood institutions such as the Parent Teacher’s Association by providing with information on health care and developmental stages of children and (3) To create and information booth at a designated area or through the use of the internet to collect information on early childhood. The information on early childhood from UNESCO ECCE is overwhelming, so much to learn, so much to digest and so much to execute or to put into action. UNESCO ECCE discusses topics such as access and equity and quality. As you know quality, access and equity are all early childhood issues that affect us internationally and UNESCO ECCE discusses the initiative they have taken to promote deal with all these issues in early childhood education internationally. ECCE examines factors such as pedagogy materials, personnel training, service setting, parental education and involvement. I believe these factors relate to all of my three goals. One insight I have surely garnered from reading this web site is the sharing of information on quality early childhood education. My goals 2 and 3 relates to information sharing. For the past three and half years I have realize enough is not being done on the local level in my country to promote information about early childhood. I believe UNESCO ECCE has vital information that various stakeholders could use to invest more in early childhood and contribute to policies that will eventually lead to long term positive benefits for early childhood education. I might not have a lot of resources but I can start in my small circle by promoting my goals; making my voice be heard in church groups, PTA's, council meetings etc. about the importance of our children gaining access to quality early childhood education and that early childhood gets the attention it deserves.

Reference

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

SHARING EARLY CHILDHOOD RESOURCES- WEEK 6

This week’s assignment took me on a journey all the way in Australia. Australia has a number of websites on early childhood but the website I choose to explore is National Quality Standard Professional Learning  Program Newsletter (NQSPLPN). This website has many newsletters that cover a wide array of topics on early childhood. However, after much deliberation and searching I decided to review the newsletter on “Staffing for Quality.” I was particular drawn to this newsletter because of this week’s discussion on “Overcoming Barriers-Awareness, Accessibility and Responsiveness.”  This website also definitely adds to equity and excellence in early care and education.

The quality of early childhood programs are affected by the quality of the programs offered to our children.  According to NQSPLPN “there is now a wide body of evidence showing that early childhood education and care affects a child’s health, wellbeing and competence throughout their lives.”

One of the biggest barrier to quality early childhood care and education is how our early childhood staff responds to our children.  NQSPLPN discusses the evidence that lower child-adult ratios are associated with higher process quality and larger groups are associated with lower process quality. The website also explores the quality of leadership and what quality really should look like. One of the research findings speaks to responsive learning relationships are strengthened as educators and children learn together. Educators are more likely to be responsive, purposeful and thoughtful when staffing arrangements at their service allow them to direct their full attention to their work with children, and when they do not attend simultaneously to other tasks.

I believe as early childhood advocates we need to present more empirical evidence to our policy makers and stakeholders that quality really lies in the kind of staff our children have to encounter with on a daily basis. Many of our children who attend early care programs spend majority of their developmental years in these programs. Much effort should be made to ensure that our children get the best care and experiences. The attrition rate in our early childhood programs and the poorly trained staff will contribute to poor quality programs.

(http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/e-newsletters/)

Reference

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/e-newsletters/

 

Getting To Know Your International Contacts-Week 5

For this week’s post I have chosen to explore the alternative from the website “Global Children’s Initiative.” This website main aim is to focus on child health and development globally. They describe this initiative as “We view healthy child development as the foundation of economic prosperity, strong communities, and a just society, and our mission is to advance that vision by using science to enhance child well-being through innovations in policy and practice” (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/).

The main goals of this initiative are (1) Building a unified science of health, learning and behavior to explain the early roots of lifelong impairments; (2) Leaning the design, implementation and evaluation of innovative program and practice models that reduce preventable disparities in well-being; (3) Catalyzing the implementation of effective, science-based public policies through strategic relationships and knowledge; (4) Preparing future current leaders to build and leverage knowledge that promotes the healthy development of children and families and brings high returns to all of society ((http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/).

The three insights that I have learned from this website is (1) the focus is one the earliest stages of child development through the use of science; (2) engaging all necessary stakeholders globally so as to ensure that every one is aware of early childhood development; (3) the formulation of policies and practices that will help to guide the initiatives of the organization.

There is so much we can learn from this global initiative because of the approach they are using to build early childhood development. The “Global Children’s Initiative” first focus is to engage and educate the leadership of key international agencies, publish and disseminate papers to establish a strong scientific framework for global work and conduct systematic communications research and to identify the most effective ways to translate the science of child development for global policy makers(http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/). For the past weeks we have been discussing how important it is for policy makers to be knowledgeable about early childhood development. The Global Children’s Initiative is ensuring that a common framework be established so that all nations interesting in the development of early childhood have the opportunity to participate and gain valuable information that will help to formulate policies that will be relevant and enhance early childhood development.

This kind of initiative will help us to identify resources, save money and eradicate many diseases such as HIV that plague our societies.

Judy

Reference

(http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/),

Sharing Web Resources

For the past weeks I have been making myself familiar with the resource “Zero to Three”. This website has a multitude of information on child development. The website provides information through journals, newsletters, on line forums and brochures etc.

The area that I am most attracted to as an early childhood professional on this website is Public Policy. This section provides us with information on the policies that are used to manage early childhood. I am particular drawn to this area because for the past weeks we have been examining the trends and issues in early childhood. This section focuses mainly on research that helps to guide our policies and practices. This is very important because we need both the information from the past and the present in order to guide future decisions.  I didn’t find any controversial issues but I have definitely developed an appreciation of how much work goes into formulating policies for early childhood.  “Zero to Three” uses a policy framework: “Infant and Toddler Policy Framework” consists of: Good Health, Strong Families, Positive Early Learning Experiences, System.  If we are really going to be serious about early childhood we need to be informed. I believe “Zero to Three” has done their “homework” well because they have left no stone on turned.  Countries that are seeking to improve their early childhood systems can look at these different areas and garner information. However, it is important tthat his information ties into good cultural practices and not be seen as a “one size fit” all. I want explore the policy tool kit because early childhood in my country is still in the basic stages and we are stuggling with the policies and practices.  Too many persons are having a say in early childhood but they really do not know what early childhood is about.  The Early Childhood Commission recently celebrated ten years of service but many issues were revealed about how really effective are we. Everybody seems to want to contribute to early childhood but there are no proper policies and guidelines in place or are enforced to ensure that whatever we do is beneficial. “Zero to Three” focuses on action research and I believe this is very important in formulating our practices and policies. I believe the Commission could take a page out of their book.

Judy

Reference

http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/

 

 

Getting To Know Your International Contacts

 I decided to partner  with  Jennifer Holly-Harris who is actually a student at  Walden. She provided me with the website “Children’s Defence Fund” http://www.childrendefense.org/policy-priorities/ending-child-poverty/.  This website provided me with statistical information such as more than 16.1 million Children in America are poor, but they live in working families ” http://www.childrendefense.org/policy-priorities/ending-child-poverty/. This information on the number of persons living in America is very frightening.  No one is really immune to poverty and it can affect any one of us. Many persons believe that the USA is the land of opportunity but from this statistical data we know that developed countries are fighting issues on poverty. The website also presented its vision statement and some of its strategies that are used to fight poverty. Jennifer also shared with me pictures of families that are in abject poverty.  I was surprised to see families in the USA that can’t even buy food and a simple pair of shoes.

Reference

Children’s Defense Fund. Retrieved from http://www/childrendefense.org/policy-priorities/endingchild-poverty.