Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part2

The website I chose to explore was the Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative, website Http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_inititative/

The background of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was founded in 2006. It was founded on the belief that vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which is expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship. The center draws on the full breadth of intellectual resources available across Harvard University’s school and affiliated hospitals, the Center generates, translates, and applies knowledge in the service of improving life outcomes for children in the United States and throughout the world.

The insight I learned from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University is that Mental health concerns constitute a massively under-addressed issue that has significant implications for the broader health and development of children and societies. They found the urgent need to identify the scope of the problem within and across countries and to develop evidence-based approaches in policy and service delivery that are responsive to diverse cultural contexts.

The information about issues of equity and excellence I acquired from this resource is that The Global Children’s Initiative looks at children in crisis and conflict situations by fostering interdisciplinary collaboration that incorporates a science- based, developmental perspective into the assessment and management of child well-being in a range of natural and man-made crises, focusing on both immediate circumstances and long-term adaptation

References:

Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

Sharing Web Resources:

The information that is relevant to my current professional development is still the importance of play for children development and the challenges educators face with challenging behavior. The website Zero to Three a well as their e-newsletter provides professional and parent with resources to better understand promoting social emotional development and challenging behavior.

 This website also provides helpful information that any professional in the early childhood field would find helpful when understanding the development of children.

Promoting Social Emotional Development

There’s a lot happening during playtime. Little ones are lifting, dropping, looking, pouring, bouncing, hiding, building, knocking down, and more. Children are busy when they’re playing. And, more than that, they are learning.  Play is the true work of childhood.

And when your children have a chance to play with you, they are also learning—that they are loved and important and that they are fun to be around. These social-emotional skills give them the self-confidence they need to build loving and supportive relationships all their lives.

Challenging Behaviors

Challenging behavior can mean many things to many people.  ZERO TO THREE has developed a set of resources to help parents and professionals better understand and respond to some of the most common and typical challenges that crop up in children’s early years: Aggression, defiance, inconsolable crying, children who are slow-to-warm-up, and sleep challenges. 

As you explore these resources, keep in mind that no two children are exactly alike. Every child is born with his or her own temperament, a unique way of experiencing and approaching the world. Temperament influences a child’s behavior. 

Because every child is different, it is impossible to offer one strategy or response that will work for everyone. To help you apply the information here to your individual child, think about how your child’s temperament might influence his or her behavior, and how you may adapt the strategies you read about to meet the needs of your child and your family. 

Much of the content on this page was developed through the generous funding and support of the Carl and Roberta Deutsch Foundation

Reference:         

Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
http://www.zerotothree.org/ 
(Newsletters:
http://zttcfn.pub30.convio.net/child-development/from-baby-to-big-kid/ and
http://capwiz.com/zerotothree/mlm/signup/ )

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 1

I haven’t received any response to the partners I contacted but, instead  I looked into the http://www.childhoodpoverty.org website and I look at the country of Krgyzstan and the problems of childhood poverty. Kyrgyzstan is one the poorest ex-Soviet republics with an estimated 32.9 per cent of the population living below the Soviet ‘poverty line’. During the 1990’s Kyrgyzstan suffered many economic shocks and people living in poverty rose to over 60%.

Just in other parts of the world, children in Kyrgyzstan disproportionately live in poverty. Growing poverty has also led to children working in a range of jobs, from working in a range of jobs, from working on family farms, to agricultural labor for others, domestic service, selling or working as porters at markets. Recent research estimate that approximately 24 per cent of children work either full or part time, similarly since transition there are now homeless or ‘street’ children in Kyrgyzstan’s cities, and some reports of child prostitution and trafficking.

The situation of children today gives rise to serious concerns. There is a risk that poverty cycles could develop whereby today’s children grow up to be poor adults and pass the poverty on to their children.  Through policies and actions a number of initiatives are under way to reduce poverty in Kyrgyzstan. The government has developed a Comprehensive Development Framework, which is 15-yearvision for development in Kyrgyzstan. It has also produced the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NSPR), Kyrgyzstan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. This is intended to be the first three-year plan for implementing the national development vision.

The first insight that I gained from studying the website and researching Kyrgyzstan is by examining economic and social factors at different levels which contributed to poverty in childhood. The second insight is how the Kyrgyzstan governments raises the profile of childhood poverty issues and increase the commitment to tackling them through anti-poverty policy and actions. The third and final insight that I gain through the research was finding out the main causes for poverty and the poverty cycle and increasing the knowledge of effective strategies to tackle them in different context.

Reference:

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre: http://www.childhoodpoverty.org

Sharing Web Resources

Organization I selected is National Institute for Early Education Research

Website: http://nieer.org/resources/newsletter/index.php

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) conducts and communicates research to support high quality, effective, early childhood education for all young children. Such education enhances their physical, cognitive, and social development, and subsequent success in school and later life.

What caught my attention about The National Institute for Education Research program was their vision of early education excellence in terms that are usable by policy makers and understandable to the public. They monitor and evaluate national and state progress toward early educational excellence. The institute develops and analyzes model legislation, standards, regulations and other policies required to improve quality and increase access to good preschool program. They also explain the costs, outcomes and economics benefits of alternative policies. The Institute works with state and national policy makes and other organizations to collect archive and disseminate information on the status of early education access and quality, exemplary practices and policies, and public opinion. They work with partner with other organizations to develop a coherent national research agenda and to deliver and publicize vital information about early education.

What I have learned by studying the resources as it relates to topic this week is that changing demographics and diversity is happening in every state. It is important as educators to prepare ourselves for the changes and use the resources given as a necessary tool to assist us.

Reference:

Hustedt, J.T. & Barnett W.S., (2010). Issues of Access and Program Quality. In: Penelope

            Peterson, Eva Baker, Barry McGaw. (Editors). International Encyclopedia of

            Education. Volume 2.pp. 110-119. Oxford: Elsevier.

Establishing Professional Contexts and Expanding

I look forward to communicating with the resources that i found. I haven't had the opportunity to communicate with them as of now, but I am positive that I will hear back from them soon. Through the partners of the Global Alliance for the Education of Young Children the organization outside the United States who share NAEYC's commitment to children and excellence in education.

I chose the Global Alliance for the Education of Young Children because it provides an opporutnity for early childhood assciations from countries throughout the world to distribute materials and share information about programs and services.

Through the Global Alliance for the Education of Young children, I contacted Rev. Charles Arko-Nunoo of Ghana, Mrs. Bimbo Are of the Ajoke Internstional School in Nigeria, and Mr. Eric Atmore of the National Early Childhood Alliance in South Africa because I want to learn more about how they view the early childhood field in their country. I hope to hear from them soon and have more to share next time.

The Global Alliance of NAEYC: http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance