Global Resource Study~World Forum Foundation

On our last blog assignment, I chose to explore the World Forum Foundation.  It is my hope one day to attend a world forum early childhood conference.  The mission of the World Forum Foundation is to promote an on-going global exchange of ideas on the delivery of quality services for young children in diverse settings. This is of particular interest to me, and here is why, after watching the documentary Babies (Balmes, 2006) I was intrigued by the very different ways that parents raised their children. Culturally and globally, these children and families were vastly different, but each child met the same milestones for growth and development at roughly the same time.  While I watched, I was able to notice how very different the cultures were and wondered about the educational system, what were the values assigned to play and learning for children, and how did they compare to what we know here in the United States.
World Forum Foundation’s mission is accomplished through convening gatherings of early childhood professionals around the world and by promoting the continuing exchange of ideas among participants.  I found some information about curriculum principles on the World Forum Foundation website:
From its beginning, the World Forum on Early Care and Education has been committed to addressing early childhood curriculum. This commitment previously resulted in presentations of several widely used curriculum models or approaches. it can serve as a starting point for adaptation to local conditions in any of the diverse cultures, regions, and countries of the world.

Eleven ECE Curriculum Principles

1. Universal Curriculum Principles
   A set of early childhood curriculum principles apply in all countries of the world; these principles should be adapted to fit into the various countries and communities, whether programs are well funded or poorly funded.
2. Early Childhood
   Early childhood is the period of human life from birth up to school entry at 5 or 6 years of age, including infants and toddlers from birth to 3 and preschoolers from 3 to 5 or 6. Some extend it to include the primary grades up to age 8 or 9.
3. Care and Education
   Care and education cannot be separated. All young children learn best in the context of nurturing, responsive relationships and stimulating, developmentally appropriate experiences.
4. Respect for Children
   The curriculum should encourage adults to demonstrate their respect for young children as individuals and take a genuine interest in what they say and do.
5. Young Children’s Role in the Curriculum
   Young children should have choices that influence their curriculum, appropriate to their stage of development. They learn best from their interactions with others and the environment.
6. The Inter-Relatedness of Development
   The curriculum should address and show the inter-relatedness of all aspects of the learning and development of young children, including cognitive (including language, literacy, mathematics, and science), social, emotional, physical, aesthetic, and spiritual development.
7. Early Childhood Assessment
   Early childhood assessment means observation and documentation of children’s development, during everyday experiences, in order to support each child’s learning and development.
8. Curriculum Review
   The quality and effectiveness of the curriculum should be regularly evaluated and reviewed in order to improve the program as needed.
9. Parents and Teachers as Partners
   The curriculum should empower educators, parents, and communities to work together in partnership for the benefit of children.
10. Respect for Culture
    The curriculum should promote respect the dignity of each child’s family, home language, culture, customs, and beliefs.
11. Professional Development
    Professional development is critical to every early childhood educator’s personal journey. Professional development experiences should be organized around a comprehensive curriculum and assessment system that has evidence of its effectiveness and is culturally sensitive.

I found that these principles are fairly open ended and offer many options so that there is not a one size fits all canned curriculum for children. This is important because what it culturally and globally relevant to one group of children may not be to another group. For example, Principle 3 Care and Education states that
Care and education cannot be separated. All young children learn best in the context of nurturing, responsive relationships and stimulating, developmentally appropriate experiences. It would not be relevant for a child who lives in the desert to learn about life at the beach, or vice versa. They cannot understand it contextually until they have had experience with the concepts. 

I will continue to explore the World Forum Foundation website for more information to continue my journey to find global perspectives on curriculum and play practices.

References

https://www.worldforumfoundation.org/working-groups/curriculum/ March 15, 2014