International Contact Part-3

My colleague Sarah from New Zealand has been a delight to get to know. In our last discussion Sarah said she has just finished her two year registration process. After receiving your BA you have a two year practicum, or registration process where you work with a mentor in the classroom, after the two years you must meet 12 criteria. Now Sarah is doing the appraisal process to become a fully Registered Teacher, which must be maintained throughout her teaching carrer. This approach for early childhood teachers is why they have such a high quality system.

Sarah said; "I believe in inclusive education and equality. I want to empower children, so firstly by thinking about ways that the environment can as I take a step back and look for teachable moments."

Her challenges have been having 3 lead teachers in 3 years, she has no desire to be a lead teacher because of the massive amounts of paper work. Her success is her Kindy has been a part of ICT, which is Information and Communication Technology http://www.wonderingaboutict.blogspot.co.nz/ where they use technology in the classroom to build community and extend to the wider community. We have decided that we will skype with each others classroom. Her Kindy is a half day program, so we'll coordinate 10 am her time which will be 2 pm our time but a day earlier (thats a concept I have a hard time with). I am excited to keep this connection and will keep the hope that someday I can go visit this amazing ECE system. 

I have links to so many references because of Sarah and I would love adopt their Learning Stories as a form of assessment in my program. This has been a great experience.

Share Web Resource

I have been following The Global Fund for Children. I was interested in the Financial Times appeal that raised 4.89 million dollars to help children around the world. The thing that drew me to the GFC website is how they find grass root programs or people and support their efforts. Their efforts are things like getting children out of slavery and major survival issues.

I went to the link of the Financial Times and learned how they continued the the challenge of doing more with less money because of the economic times. One donor said it's easier to donate millions to one cause but the GFC has investigated people doing the work and support the small project with less money but the result are bigger. Some of the features were to make a big difference with a small grant. This makes it seem attainable to the average person.

This makes me think of the issues we have been discussing all week, providing the important early childhood education to all children, is such a big undertaking. Perhaps by government funds going to state we will be able to address the local needs first.

International Contact Part 2

This has been a most enlightening exchange with Sarah from New Zealand. Early Childhood is a part of the state sector, so teachers must hold a BA in ECE, and are paid the same as primary grade teachers, along with the same benefits. They use the Te Whariki curriculum for ages 0-5. This is where it gets good!

Te Whariki means “the woven mat”, this is an early learning story which forms the beginning of the child’s learning journey.

The learning story is the type of assessment they use, the four broad principles; Empowerment, Holistic development (Their intellectual, social, cultural, physical, emotional and spiritual learning is interwoven across all their experiences.) Family and community, Relationships.

Te Whariki's four principles are interwoven with these learning areas:
            Wellbeing
            Contribution
            Belonging
            Communication
            Exploration

Sarah said she would try to get a Learning Story with a parent’s permission. This curriculum comes from the Ministry of Education. The three main goals they have are Accessibility, Affordability and Quality. There is not talk of standardized testing, academic readiness, it is all interwoven as described above.  This looks and sounds like a model philosophy I hope someday we can achieve in this country.

Sharing Web Resource

This month’s newsletter I received from the Goble Fund for Children has an article on Children’s Defense Fund: Budget Principles. There are critical decisions about the federal budget impact on the nation’s children, I wrote my congressmen through the sites “Be Careful What You Cut”, and have gotten responses from them. Eliminating the Earned Income Tax Credit would increase child poverty by 23%. There is so much information in the section called Policy Priorities, I am not well versed in politics but as I follow the these issues, participate with my own voice and get responses (I’m sure they are a mass response) from house representatives and congressmen and learn more about policies regarding children, my eyes are opened.

I just discovered the Research Library there was something called Each Day in America; it talks about what happens with poor children/families each day. I also just realized that I will use this resource library for course work, there are topics to choose from and I feel I just got a new library card. 

International Contact

My conversation partner is Sarah Collins who is a kindergarten teacher in Porirua New Zealand, kindergarten is children ages 3-5. She works in a Kindy (She said Kiwi’s are known for shortening many words) at Titahi Bay Kindergarten where the government pays for 20 hours a week for each child. There is a requirement that 80% of teachers are qualified, the Wellington Kindergarten (who she is employed by) is 100% teacher qualified. Because there have been recent cuts to ECE the Kindergartens are struggling. They ask for each family to give a substantial donation, but if a family can’t afford it they are still welcome. She gave me a great website with a video from the Wellington Kindergarten although this is not her specific Kindy. www.wn-kindergarten.org.nz

Sarah said they do not have serve any children in poverty at her Kindy, but there are others that do, she didn’t know much about the statistics, to be honest I didn’t know about my area until the recent assignment. She did say that many in poverty are Passifika families. These are Pacific nations people from the Pacific Islands, Samoan, Cook Island Fiji, Tokelau and Niue. The Wellington Kindergarten has begun a new initiative Etu Ao that is home-based care for Pasifika families. One Kindy offers lunches to help offset poverty; they will soon use that Kindy to house medical care and they have a van to bring families to the facility. 

I enjoy talking with her and hearing who she is through her written words for example; "That's not the Kindy's philosophy, just my prattle." I look forward to discussing more issues and learning. Below is a picture I got off the internet of her area. 

Global Fund for Children 2013 Winter Newsletter

This newsletter has a CEO Corner; it describes a grassroots program that was supported by the (GFC) recently. They are going through a financial appeal where people can learn about support opportunities; the latest grants are featured as well as a spotlight program that has been granted funds. There is an article on human trafficking and what GFC is proactively doing as well as projects around the globe.

This quarterly newsletter contains efforts for children by their own community members. In the audio interview Dr. Grace spoke of looking at your community and its divers situations to be proactive rather than reactive (Laureate, n.d.).  I read about a man, Daniel Tillias who opens his doors children in Cite Soleil a slum in Port-au-Prince Haiti, know for its poverty and gang violence. He combines sports, a community building and education as a refuge for children. With a small amount of money from GFC he was able to reconstruct two homes of children he serves, repair 15 tents where the local disabled community lives and repair the organizations community garden and more (Lindsey, 2013)

This was a man who grew up in this community, he knew the needs of the children and area and was able to accomplish so much. This is a way to support a community at its heart, by supporting its own members. This is an amazing story of being proactive, which brings home (literally) the idea that change and progress starts with you in your community, this is grass roots.    Here is the link https://www.globalfundforchildren.org/2013-winter-newsletter/

References:

 Laureate, (n.d.)"The Effects of Changing Demographics and Diversity on Children, Families, and the EC Field". Conversation with Dr. Cathy Grace (Director of Early Childhood Development, Children's Defense Fund).

Lindsey, K. (2013) 2013 Winter newsletter. Global Fund for Children. Retrieved from https://www.globalfundforchildren.org/2013-winter-newsletter/ 

Expanding Resources & Professional Contact

Expanding Resources:
I chose The Global Fund for Children because of their focus on grassroots programs. I also found some great book resources for my program of children's books, where some of the proceeds support The Global Fund. This organization strives for sustainability, through their Scout, Support and Strengthen strategy. They Scout developing areas that serve the most disenfranchised children, then they support local leaders to implement programs that will work under their specific circumstances and thirdly they support the leaders and community to network and become sustainable in their efforts.

Personally because of my environmental background, to create something that is sustainable is to truly make a difference. This new found website will be an amazing tool to gain perspectives and take me out of my comfort zone. When I hear of human trafficking where children are essentially in slavery, my heart breaks and I am very uncomfortable. But avoiding those issues does nothing in the way of making a difference and that is my mission in personal and professional life.

Professional Contact:
Establishing professional contacts has not been as easy as I hoped, but I love this connection and will continue working on making it happen. The list of contacts provided in the course work have come back as undeliverable, except the International Step by Step contacts. Unfortunately non of them have responded. I have a coworker from New Zealand, she gave me some contacts but unfortunately they are on summer holiday. I just realized that I have been communicating with a early childhood professional some time ago through my favorite website Children & Nature Network, I have just contacted her in Scotland and am looking forward to asking questions and creating a dialog about issues and trends. I also know a preschool teacher in my community from Bulgaria, this contact just popped into my head as I've been brain storming, better late than never.