Research Aroung the World

For this week’s assignment, I decided to research Early Childhood (EC) in Australia. I chose Australia because it is not a country that I hear about a lot; therefore, I wanted to compare their EC programs to those of the US.

            In doing so, some of the current international research topics in Australia were slim to none. However, I was able to stumble upon EC news archives that continuously monitoring the news for information concerning the wellbeing and development of young children. The latest article published called Resources to support services, families and children deal with bushfires, focused on services and communities around Australia have been affected by the recent bushfires and gave listings of resources to assist families, children and communities through this difficult time. Very seldom you see where an area has been hit with devastation that the community focuses on just EC. Most times there are listings for assistance, but it doesn’t make mention of the biggest topic – children. The website goes on to state “Research shows children who have been directly affected by bushfires can experience emotional distress for a long time after the bushfire has happened. This can be related to the experience of having to leave their homes, fears about their parents' safety and fears about the future as well as actual experience of the fire”. I found this to be extremely touching having gone through many hurricane devastations here in New Orleans.

            The most surprising fact/insights/new ideas about EC in Australia that I gained from the suggested website was the Australian Journal has been around for many years and like most magazines or journals have been through a number of name changes. The best part about it all is that it is known as the most scholarly journal in the field. The Australian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC) acknowledges the breadth and diversity of those studying and working within the early childhood field, which for many people like me inquiring about the EC field internationally helps to understand their concepts and ways of doing things in comparison to the US.

            The other noteworthy information I found on this particular website was that there is many different types of assistance available in regards to EC. Whether a child is grieving, gone through a traumatic experience or dealing with a loss of a loved one, there are tons of assistance offered to children. As adults, we deal with things different ways from children. We may think the child is okay with certain things, but the truth is, they tend to deal with horrible or traumatic situations harder than adults. After reading the many articles related to these topics, it seems as though many communities need to revise their plans when dealing with disasters and those affected by them.

Reference

Early Childhood Australia. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

            If I had the means and knowledge to conduct research, with no restrictions to make a positive contribution it would be to address specific types of cancers, such as leukemia. My reason for choosing such a sensitive subject is I have several friends and family friends who have children dealing with such a deadly illness. Many of which who cannot afford the expenses, especially when their children have to be flown into hospitals such as St. Jude.

 

My ideal research would consist of finding a special type of leaf or plant.  Although it may take me a while to figure out the right concoction for the cure, I would be extremely determined to do so. Of course, the obvious positive contribution would be that it would cure the illness. Unlike many people, I wouldn’t want to find this cure for the money, for me it will be strictly about helping out the families and saving a child’s life.

My Personal Research Journey

Although many times in the past, I’ve had to conduct research on various topics, the last two weeks of this class has shown me the correct way to do so. Reading through last week’s and this week’s resources has shown me to not just look up a subject and write about it, but to read about the topic and make sure I understand it before beginning to write.  Changing careers from business to early childhood has opened my eyes in different ways. For example, in business I would read something and write about it and may have to explain it every now and then. With Early Childhood, I now have to understand the concept and be able to apply it.

The topic I chose for the simulation is poverty as it relates to the wellness of early childhood students and their families. I decided on this topic because it is often kept a secret because I believe some people are afraid of the truth and ashamed to ask for help when they need it the most. In actuality, people with low incomes, particularly those who live in poverty, face particular challenges in maintaining their health. They are more likely than those with higher incomes to become ill, and to die at younger ages (Lillie-Blanton, Martinez, Lyons, and Rowland, (2000). They are also more likely to live in poor environmental situations with limited health care resources—factors that can compromise health status and access to care. 

In doing some extensive research on the topic, I gained some interesting insights such as according to the Census Bureau, in 1999:

• 16.9 percent of all children and 18 percent of children under age six lived in poverty, versus 10 percent of adults.
• Minority racial and ethnic groups are much more likely to live in poverty—23.6 percent of blacks and 22.8 percent of Hispanics lived below the poverty level, versus 7.7 percent of whites.
• Female-headed households (with no husband present) are much more likely than married couple families to live in poverty (27.8% versus 4.8%); with black and Hispanic female-headed households having the highest poverty rates (39.3% and 38.8%, respectively).
• In my local area, according to U.S. Census Bureau (2012), individuals and families below the poverty level in years 2000 and 2009 in the State of Louisiana were 862 (in thousands) in 2000 and 755 in 2009 for individuals, whereas 182 in 2000 and 150 in 2009 for families.

I look forward to continuing my research on this topic. I look forward to getting insights from my fellow colleagues and classmates with any information on this topic that will help me in the long run. I can say that it looks like each time I begin the research, I find even more interesting facts that are broadening my knowledge on the subject.

Resources

Dalaker, J., and Proctor, B. D. (2000). Poverty in the United States, 1999. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P60–210. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Lillie-Blanton, M., Martinez, R. M., Lyons, B., and Rowland, D. (2000). Access to Health Care: Promises and Prospects for Low-Income Americans. Washington, DC: The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

U.S. Census Bureau Statistical Abstract of the United States. (2012). Income, Expenditures, Poverty, and Wealth. Louisiana. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov

Week 8 - Final Blog Assignment

During the past 8 weeks, I’ve learned a lot from my classmates whom have been in the field of early childhood education; however I can say I learned the most from reading about and discussing issues and trends that are happening in other countries besides the United States. Although I never made contact with any of my international contacts, reading about different issues has opened my eyes on many different levels. These weekly readings have increased my knowledge, changed my mind on different beliefs, and have molded me to be a better educator in the future.  Having this knowledge will help me to pay closer attention to a child and their families to see if they need help, with not only in the education area, but perhaps with household situations, such as having comfort because they may have cultural differences, language barriers or needing help providing necessities. I have also learned that what I may see or hear in the United States has become an even bigger issue in other countries.

My overall goal in regards to international awareness is to be more of an advocate for these families, regardless of cultural background. I believe that we all can use someone to lean on every now and then, and I do not mind being that person. Although I cannot speak other languages fluently, I would not mind being able to see that the family gets the proper help from someone who does. Coming into this field of study, I had a passion to help and I plan on seeing that plan through to the end.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 3

Still haven’t heard anything from my international contacts as of yet, I decided to do the alternative blog assignment this week. In doing so, I visited UNESCO’s Early Childhood Care and Education webpage. UNESCO advocates for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programs that attend to health, nutrition, security and learning and which provide for children’s holistic development. It organized the first World Conference on ECCE in September 2010, which culminated in the adoption of a global action agenda for ECCE called Moscow Framework for Action and Cooperation: Harnessing the Wealth of Nations (UNESCO, 2012).

UNESCO focuses on High quality childcare, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, promotes motivation, confidence, good cognitive and linguistic development and school readiness (UNESCO, 2012). Because there are no universally agreed criteria for quantifying ECCE quality, the useful factors to consider include pedagogy materials, personnel training, service setting and parental education and involvement. Learning materials should be quantitatively, culturally and developmentally adequate and focus on child-centered interaction.

Where government resources are limited, the last year of pre primary education is frequently placed in a formal school setting or there may be efforts to lower the entry age. This is particularly daunting in developing countries, where early childhood may be overshadowed by other pressing priorities, such as universal primary education.  Governments, if they deal with the issue at all, often approach early childhood from the context of national social policy or health services. They must also use complementary financing measures to ensure equity of access for poor and disadvantaged children, as a pure market approach to increasing the level of early childhood provision has been shown to favor the privileged, who can afford the service.

Of all the websites I have visited in the past, this website has to be the most interesting of them all. It gives a good summary of background information on the most important matters, such as Quality and Investment and Financing. Reading such websites as this one, furthers gives me the push I need to succeed in this field of early childhood education.

Resource:

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2012) Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Sharing Web Resources

For this week’s assignment on the National Institute for Early Education Research, NIEER, I decided to explore the economics and finance tab of the website, since this has been the majority topic this week. On that tab, there is an article titled, Investing in Early Childhood Education: A Global Perspective. NIEER Director Steve Barnett presented the key note address at an international conference on “Early Childhood: Secure Childhood. Promising Future” at Princess Nora University in Riyadh, Saud Arabia. Interestingly, the article talks about Public investments in high-quality early childhood care and education (ECCE) can yield high economic rates of return. In contexts where child care needs are already met for most parents through other private or public options, the primary advantage of new public investments will be from improvements in child development. Even where there are substantial benefits from increased parental employment, policy makers should give strong consideration to the potential benefits to children (NIEER, 2012). 

On NIEER’s website, the most recent informational post was called Panel favors pre-K overhaul written by Will Sentell of the Capital News Bureau on December 7, 2012. The article touches on an issue that hits close to home. The article covers the situation with Louisiana’s top school board and its approval of plans to overhaul the state’s often-criticized pre-kindergarten system. The issue sparked mostly positive comments from child-care leaders, and was backed by a committee of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education without opposition.

From this approval, the plan that won approval is aimed at revamping what critics call a pre-K system that features uneven quality, standards and availability. The state will establish early learning performance guidelines for those from zero to age 3 and academic standards for 3- and 4-year-olds. Pre-K centers and schools will get letter grades, and state aid will be linked to how the centers perform. The pilot projects are set for the 2013-14 school year (NIEER, 2012).

Although I signed up for the e-newsletter, I still have yet to receive anything from the site. I would love to see what new information the site has to offer, however I still have not received anything. I may have to re-sign up for it to see if that helps.

Resources

National Institute for Early Education Research. (2012). Investing in Early Childhood Education: A Global Perspective. Retrieved from http://www.nieer.org/sites/nieer/files/InvestinginEarlyChildhoodEduationGlobalPerspective.pdf

Sentell, W. (2012). Panel favors pre-K overhaul. The Advocate - Capital News Bureau. Retrieved from http://theadvocate.com/home/4599940-125/panel-favors-pre-k-overhaul

Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 2

I have still not received a response from any of the international contacts I emailed, so for this week’s blog assignment, I chose to research Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website.  The general initiative of this research is built on a three part basis, which is mental health and children in crisis, early childhood development and conflict situations. Global Children’s initiative has begun their outreach by launching three projects around the world.  To start, mental health is an area that I gained a better insight about. I have known about the mental stages that people may face in their teen years or adult life, but I did not know that mental illnesses can begin at such an early age. Addressing the mental health system in China, developing family based strategies to prevent mental health concerns within families dealing with HIV/AIDS in Rwanda and addressing mental health concerns and child maltreatment in the Caribbean (Center on the Developing Child, 2012). Another is  addressing early childhood development’s main goal; which is to educate, conduct research and be able to communicate effectively to policy makers the importance of investing into early childhood educational programs within the United States and around the world (Center on the Developing Child, 2012). As a final point, the Global Children’s Initiative is addressing children within crisis and conflict situations. The goal of this is to work collaboratively with other organizations which bring together a science based and developmental approach to assessing and managing children in man made or natural conflicts (Center on the Developing Child, 2012).  

There was another interesting article, “Targeting Toxic Stress in Children,” which discussed the impact of toxic stress and the affects it can have on children. It basically gave answers to several questions regarding the importance of a child living in a stable environment. This type of environment helps a child feel secured and teaches them to cope with stress a better way (Weintraub, 2012). 

Global Children’s Initiative also gave information relating to equity and excellence as it relates to the early childhood field. They are known for educating, researching and communicating the importance of investing in early childhood programs and the benefits that can come out of doing so. It mainly wants everyone, policy makers included, to know that without the proper funding and policies, children development will be on hold and the focus will once again be on a monetary gain, which everyone should realize by now is not the way to go. So many schools are closing because of this and once the legislative boards realize this, hopefully things will take a turn for the better.

References

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2012). Global children's initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/

Weintraub, K. (2012). Targeting toxic stress in children. Boston Globe. Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2012/02/27/targeting_toxic_stress_in_children/