Reseach that Benefits Children and Families...Uplifting Stories

 

Many positives have come of research on children and families.  We have spent many years and dollars learning about every aspect of human development. One very positive I can think of up front is the research we have done on understanding developmental disabilities.  In times past if a child was born with a disability, they may have been institutionalized, left to their own devises or abused by unknowing or uneducated caregivers.  We have spent years learning about disabilities and genetic anomalies like Downs Syndrome and the Autism Spectrum Disorders. Because of that research, children with these disorders and syndromes can be connected with early intervention programs and continuing education that teaches them skills that could lead to living an independent and successful life.

Over the years there have been numerous studies done that have improved the quality of life for the human condition.  I imagine it is through this continued research that we will continue to grow and change and continue to make important discoveries that will change how we understand human development.

EDUC-6163~My Research Journey

This semester we are engaging in a research simulation, which means we will be creating a “mock” research study to become familiar with the process and all that is related to conducting field research in the Early Childhood realm. The domain of research for this simulation falls into social and emotional development and relates to attachment.  Some subtopics of interest are:

1.      How are healthy attachment made in the early years?

2.      What are the types of attachments that children can have, and what implications do they have for measuring success or failure in building relationships with others, and becoming resilient?

3.       In what ways can parents, teachers and practitioners help children repair less than desirable attachments and what are those less than desirable attachments?

This is important to me as an Aunt of two boys who have attachment disorders/difficulties. I currently have custody of my two nephews; they have been with my mother and me for three years.  We have been working through these difficulties ever since.  We have had some behavioral problems at school, both boys are being medicated at this time for ADHD/Bi-Polar, and we are seeking outside help from a psychologist or therapist to work on getting through these difficult times.

As a professional I can use the information to help with children and families in my child care program, I can also use this new knowledge to serve as an advocate for better mental health and early childhood services for at risk children. The third way I can use this information is to create trainings for early childhood teachers, staff and administrators on the importance of building secure relationships with the children they serve.

Issues & Trends~~Final Blog for session

This blog marks the final entry for the Issues and Trends class. It has been an informative and eye opening lesson. I have broadened my mind set for sure. 

For the whole of the course, however, I did not receive any contact from my international counterparts.  This may be an assignment that needs revised or reconfigured as the contacts supplied were not of childcare providers or teachers; thankfully there was always an alternate for it. 

I spent a lot of time this course thinking about poverty, equity, and accessibility in early childhood.  I have always understood the difficulties poverty places on children and families, teaching at head start has given me the background I needed to be able to support the diverse needs of families.  I have had an epiphany of sorts though when realizing that here in America we do not typically see poverty like that that families in underdeveloped countries do. The international poverty threshold is $1.25 per day.  There is no way I would even be able to attempt to raise a family on that.

I was familiar with our community resources and agencies that help those struggling with poverty, so this was not a huge revelation, I did learn about some national and international agencies that are working to eliminate issues with quality, access, and affordability.

I was also able to focus on some advocacy efforts—one of my favorite things!  And a goal I will continue to strive to complete as often as possible. If I can make a difference in the lives of children in my center, in my community, in my state then who is to say that I can’t make a difference in the lives of children in another country?!?

It has been interesting sharing this journey with some of the other students in this course and I look forward to continuing that professional relationship with them next class. Until then I think I will a few days and regroup and recharge.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts~~Part III

So still no words from my international counterparts…starting to feel as though that assignment was a little unreachable. Thank goodness there was always and alternative assignment available.  I was sort of surprised that I still haven’t even got a response from the World Forum Foundation question I submitted a while ago.  Oh well I guess everyone is really busy making the world a better place for children.

This week we were to explore “UNESCO” ECE website as an alternate. I looked around a bit and right away an article snagged my attention.  It was titled “What Are the Three Most Important Skills for a Child?” Unfortunately, like with most sites I have been exploring in the ECE the article could not be found.  That lead me to remember that this week in our discussion board the conversation came up about some early childhood teacher seeing themselves as non-professional in their work with children and how it holds the field back as a whole. This sort of thing, putting resources out there that are not accessible, makes us look also as though we don’t have our ducks in a row.  I think sometimes in our attempt to prove our worthiness we cut our noses off to spite our faces…and we really need to stop.

         So onto another wild goose chase it was. I found another article that I read called “Bite Off Only as Much as You Can Chew”: Gambia’s Policy for Early Childhood. It began with a brief background of the early childhood education program being set up in Gambia. I have included a little snip it of the transcript of the conversation, it is quite interesting to read…

C: When early childhood is embraced within the formal education system, the idea of universal provision is often debated. Was the idea of universalising one year of

early childhood not considered?

S: Yes, it was considered. We examined the possibility of lowering the entry age into primary school to 6 years, universaling 6-year-olds’ access to education. But

according to projections it would be too costly for the Government to handle without external support. The idea was dropped because of the problem of sustainability.

C: I guess the education sector’s plan to expand the current free compulsory education from 6 years to 9 years must have been another factor discouraging

universalisation at the early childhood level.

S: That’s right. The Sector was clear about its priority, but it was fully convinced of the importance of early childhood and tried to find an alternative way to

promote it, which was to set up ECD Centres on the premises of primary schools.

C: If the ECD Centre option was deemed less costly, where would the presumed savings come from?

S: Though the word centre may conjure up in people’s mind a building, the ECD Centres that we are considering are more like playgrounds, with sheds

contributed and set up by the communities. So there is a cost saving for building infrastructure.

C: But even in sheds, in order to have a programme you need materials and, especially, trained teachers.

S: As we do not yet have a curriculum for the ECD Centres, 7 they will run, for the time being, more like playgrounds, with no fixed programme, with the teachers

C: But even in sheds, in order to have a programme you need materials and, especially, trained teachers.

S: As we do not yet have a curriculum for the ECD Centres, they will run, for the time being, more like playgrounds, with no fixed programme, with the teachers responsible more for child-minding than for their learning process.

C: How would you supply the teachers?

Senghore: We have introduced a polyvalent teacher training framework, under which primary school teachers are now certified by the Government to teach early

childhood as well. Once the plan is approved and implemented, each school principal will assign one of these polyvalently trained teachers to the new ECD

Centre.

C: This is a strategic way of securing at least one government-paid and -trained teacher for each ECD Centre, but in order for it to happen, the primary schools

will each have to lose a teacher to the ECD Centre in the shed.

Sanneh: In the absolute sense, yes. So the Government plans to recruit more primary school teachers. But we figured that it would still be more cost effective

than to meet the workforce needs of early childhood through early childhood specialists.

C: What is your plan for 0-2-year-olds?

S: They are taken care of by other sectors and the  education sector does not plan to involve itself with them.

C: Is parenting education the major approach for 0-2-year-olds?

S: It is, but parenting education is an important component stressed in all services provided by all stakedholders of the multi-sectoral framework including

the education sector.

C: Do you think it is necessary to be concerned with younger children?

S: It would be ideal for the education sector to be equally concerned with the earlier years. But in terms of the sector’s resource capacity, that is not possible, at least for now. One should bite off only as much as one can chew. We have taken up the responsibility for 3-6-yearolds; it is our priority to fulfill this responsibility of ours as best as we can.

       The first thing I had to look up was the word polyvalent, and consider what it meant as a descriptor for a teacher of young children, which by the way, given the definition I was unable to figure it out.

POLYVALENT: ADJECTIVE

1. Chemistry having more than one valence.

2. Bacteriology (of an immune serum) containing several antibodies, each capable of reacting with a specific antigen.

        I also took away from the conversation transcript that infant toddler care is neither accessible or being prioritized. In addition, that due to lack of qualified teachers they were going to you “elementary education” type teacher in these rolls more as babysitters than early childhood teacher, with no curriculum planned. Moreover, something that really made me think even more critically about was that they did not want to invest money in training ECE teachers specifically. Now because I do not have any concept about what education in general looks like in Gambia, I can only assume that it is similar to the US.  I would question why an elementary teacher would be acceptable to place in a preschool setting.  I have seen how it does not necessarily work here, this makes for unattainable, inappropriate goals and standards for the children, right? Although I know it happens here, quite frequently I think we can all agree it is not best practice.

I guess in my mind this thinking defeats our purpose of having quality teacher education, accessible and developmentally appropriate programs for children…much the same as we have previously seen in the U.S.—they really are not much different than us. Sad. Let’s not strive for excellence; let’s not bite off more than we can chew…

References

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