Issues and Trends final blog assignment

Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field are:

-We all want the best education for our children and we have to fight and make it happen.

-Most of us have to battle living conditions, politics, finances and other issues in live to provide quality care.  We have to come together and make sure that no child is left without the education, health care, and home life that they deserve.

-The communities have to make a difference with the children in order to provide equal and quality care.  We have to put aside our differences and come together to makes sure that our children are safe, educated, and well taken care of.  We cannot have a blind eye.

One goal that I think we should share with our international friends is to continue to share information and to create a bond that will allow us to continue to fight for equality in schools, proper living conditions for us all, and government awareness of the importance of education.

This course has been great for me because it opened up my eyes to issues that I knew were out there but I didn’t have to deal directly with at this time.  The children that I currently teach are not poor and they come from family friendly backgrounds.  I do try to get them to understand that there are other children and people that are less fortunate but it becomes hard for them if they don’t see those kids and their life styles.  I take them to the senior citizens homes, we donate food for people at Thanksgiving, give to homeless people, work for money so that we can buy toys for tots, write letters to soldiers that are in battle, and we give toys and clothes to children that are in need throughout the year but again they don’t get to see those children. 

This class has also gotten me to realize the importance of making sure that every child receives quality and equal education regardless of where they live.  My children are in private school because the schools in my area aren’t up to standard.  My living area is beautiful but they don’t invest in their schools.  It is hurting us financially to have them in private schools and I would much rather have them in schools within our community.  I will continue to fight for this and the other causes that we have discussed in this class.  It has been a great experience.

International Contacts part 3

I was not able to get in contact with the teacher that I had emailed before so I decided to do the alternative assignment.  I looked into the UNESCO site and clicked on the story about children that live in Viet Nam.  The title of the article is called  The role of education in a world of 7 billion people.  While reading the information the 3 insights that I found were:
-By helping to educate the women in this country they would strive to make sure that their children were educated as well.
-By educating women about contraceptives this helped cut down on unwanted pregnancies and helped women take better care of themselves physically.
-Populations ,in this area, will affect how many children can get a quality education. 

All of these issues were similar yet different to what is going on here in the US.  We continuously strive to make sure that young mothers are educated so that they can provide for their children and teach their children to desire an education as well.  We also have the on going battle of birth control and how we should educate people about using it.  Some of us believe the earlier we start educating about birth control the better the chances are that young girls won't have unwanted pregnancies and protection of their bodies.  While others of us feel that educating girls too quickly will give them the desire to have sex instead of waiting until they get married.  Our issue here is not the population that stands in the way of quality education but zoning laws and finances.  We have to work with the schools that are in our living areas and we have to deal with the abundance or lack of finances that make these schools work.

Again I feel that it is amazing how no matter where you look people are having the same discussions about quality education.  We are all in a fight to make sure that our children receive the best that they can and as teachers we want to offer the best.  With the recent drop in the economy people of all backgrounds have decided to teach in order to maintain a job.  This situation makes it hard for those of us that really have the backgrounds to teach to find good jobs.  Young adults that were graduating college were finding it hard to find teaching jobs.  This is something that I hope will change once our country levels out with it's financial situation.  Hopefully everyone will be able to find work within their given talents and young teachers can start reaching for their dreams.

References:
UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education”.  Retrieved: Feb. 16, 2012.  (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/).

Sharing resources week 6

NC Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development

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 This is a great link because it has information about all aspects of teaching and where teachers can receive training, help with college tuition, community support, etc.  The link that I liked is the community support.  Through this link you are connected with others so that you can discuss and experience issues that children and their families have around your area.  There are workshops, classes, and additional sites to explore if help is needed.

I felt like this site was great in developing equity because it allowed teachers to understand what children and their families might be going through in different communities.  I think that we can get comfortable within our teaching environment and we don’t realize what else is going on outside.  I know that has happened to me and it is important for me to be able to reach out to those that are in need and help if needed and have the resources to do that.

Other information that this site has is information about licensure and certification.  This is a must for any educator so that we will know the rules of the game.  At any time we have to know what changes are being made so that we can make the appropriate adjustments.  This will allow us to build classes that are efficient and that provide quality care. 

Some other links are:

NC Early Childhood EE Resources

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All of North Carolina's EE Resources in

One Place

! ... Books Click on one of the categories below for books that are recommended for early childhood educators.

North Carolina Needs and Resources Assessment - FPG Child ...

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This web site includes the components of the 2003 NC Early Childhood Needs and Resources Assessment that have been completed to date. The Statewide ...

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

I got in contact with a teacher that is orginally from the US but is currently working in Korea.  She comes back home from time to time and she was willing to discuss with me some of their living situations.  I know that this doesn't discuss school issues directly but it does discuss their living conditions as well as some health issues.  This will definitley affect how they learn.  This is what she emailed me:

 

 

To be honest, I live in an affluent area and poverty really isn't a major issue in this area. Most of the students that I teach are middle and upper-class. I have worked with some North Korean defectors living on their own in South Korea who have very little support because their family members are in North Korea (which is a closed, communist state). These North Korean students escaped with basically nothing and have been supported by churches and receive a monthly stipend from the South Korean government for support. In the South Korean countryside, poverty may be more of an issue but even poor South Koreans get help from their families even if they are struggling. There is poverty in Seoul as well and the major cities and this is probably comparable to American cities in terms of percentages. In communist North Korea, poverty is a huge issue. The average North Korean child is several inches shorter than the average South Korean who is the same age. North Korean children generally experience a wide range of developmental problems due to malnutition. Famines have swept across North Korea over the years and some people were forced to eat tree bark and grass in order to survive.

Anyway, if you want to write about poverty in Korea, I would focus on North Korea or refugees and defectors who have escaped from the communist state. I hope this helped. If you have any additional questions or need more specific information, please let me know.

 

Sincerely,

Andrea