TAKE ACTION......NOW!!!!!

Along the path of my current early childhood educational journey, I am finding a vast array of resources, which I can utilize within my daily professional interactions with families, children, and staff.  However, I found bonus information, which I can utilize to influence my friends and family, toward a better understanding of the plight of our nation’s children.

On the Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) e-newsletter for December 2011, I found a link to CDF You Tube Channel. I found several videos, which would aid in my advocacy efforts. On particular video clip, I found interesting is called, 34 Second Video.  Why entitle a multi-media presentation with such a vague, uninspiring, and insipid title. Well, of course I had to watch it. Moreover, what I found provoked me with take action immediately. I had to post it, and share with everyone I knew.  Therefore, I hit the Share link and that familiar button with an “f” on it.  With further reading, I discovered the reason for the title.

“Every 34 seconds a child is born into poverty. We must invest in children today before its too late” (Childrensdefense, 2011).

I think finding this resource has changed the technique in which I can advocate for children. By subscribing to the Childresdefense Channel, I will receive new video notifications. I can then share the videos through various means, to a larger audience.  This endeavor has provided me with a new outlook on the issue associated with the well-fare of children.

In reviewing the December e-newsletter I learned about the status of the budgetary turmoil concerning congress, budget cuts, and early childhood health initiatives, at the end of 2011. The site also provided the goals for 2012. “Looking forward for children in 2012, CDF will continue to raise the alarm. We know that if Americans don’t stand for children than we don’t stand for much. We will continue to protect children in the budget and shine a light on programs that work—such as safety net programs that catch poor children and families and lift them out of poverty” (Children’s Defense Fund. 2011).  

I learned ways in which I can become involved in the 2012 initiatives in which Chrildren’s Defense Fund is promoting. The site makes it very easy to become a better advocate for children.

Childrendefense. (2011). 34 Second Video. Children’s Defense Fund: Childrensdefense Channel. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/childrensdefense#p/u/25/M9RV3lCsxOQ

Childrendefense. (2011). Looking Forward for Children. Monthly Newsletter. Retrieved from http://cdf.childrensdefense.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=26081.0&dlv_id=0

The Hardships of Poverty

 I thought I had several international contacts from various countries and on different continents. However, when I provided them with the assignment and the intention for use of the information they shared, one of the contacts told me it would be unethical for her to give me her opinions on the topics and asked if I could remove her name from my blog. I have yet to hear back from anyone else. I am not sure how to take this. I explained the assignment and literally copied and pasted the assignments within my emails with them. Why would it be unethical to share your views on poverty in your country or what your hopes and dreams are about early childhood education in your country? I think it is interesting that people cannot share their own opinion even within countries, which are Democratic in nature.

So, I am forced to choose the alternative assignment and listen to podcast. I found this week’s reading, about the different country's endeavors to eradicate poverty, bland to read. Each country seems to be working in the same manner to solve the problem. I could not get personal with the reading or gain the emotional insight; I so much want to learn. I work for the government and read articles and "Status" summaries often. They are usually exaggerated and do not accurately reflect the status of what is happening in the lives of the real people. Often time’s things are built up to make one person shine.

I have read about Mongolia, utilizing information I gained from Child Poverty (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo#12). Mongolia had a shift in political power and had attempted to make many changes, however the changes have not helped those suffering from poverty. Unemployment soared and the assistance for the needy diminished. The health of children under five plummeted. The literacy rate has also been affect negatively.  The governmental investment into preschool and education has been drastically cut; enrollment into education programs has dropped considerable.

Efforts seem to be underway for change; however, significant reform is needed to ensure success. It needs to be a priority of all, not just one party or population segment.

World Apart, but oh So Close

International Early Childhood Professionals

Over the last week, I have sent nearly 20 emails to various organizations and foundations in the attempt to connect with early childhood professionals outside the United States.  After a great amount of research, I have finally arranged to correspond with several early childhood professionals.

Ruth Cespedes is currently at Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University in Lima, Peru. Her bio from the university website translates to:

Experience in the work of social projects, planning, monitoring, and evaluation.

Projects in early childhood, children's rights, human rights, and child development.

Professional experience as a community psychologist in rural and marginal urban areas,

Experience in advocacy and influencing authorities work.

Specialties

Psychology clinic, community.
Second specialty education.

Comprehensive care for the child under 3 years old

Experience in management, direction, and coordination of teams, projects, and research.

Ms. Cespedes shared that Peru is currently experiencing a great deal of social changes in care and education within the early childhood field.  The policical climate is changing with a new government in power. The new President of Perú, Ollanta Humala, has created a new department called the Development and Social Inclusion Ministry.  Peru is designing the new program “CUNA MAS” (using the experience of home visiting).

They also have an Education Ministry, which Ruth says, is very interested in carry on programs for children under 5 years old.

For the civil society, there are many NGOs with experience in field of early childhood care and education.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation supports the Project Ruth is involved with. http://www.bernardvanleer.org/files/BvLF_Peru_Summary_public.pdf

The general premise of the Bernard van Leer Foundation is to guarantee all children of Peru are healthy, sheltered, and able to gain from Peru's development. Three goals in Peru are:

1. National increase in the percentage of indigenous, rural children under 3 with access to quality home visiting programs that incorporate birth registration, health, nutritional support and parent education

2. A decline in violence in families with young children living in urban slums in the city of Iquitos and indigenous, rural communities

3. A decrease in the prevalence of gastro-intestinal and respiratory infections among young children growing up in unhealthy physical environments in urban slums in the city of Iquitos.

Name has been removed: to respect conflict of interest

######### answered my email on Friday 13 January.  She is currently on the Early Years team at ##########.  (Organization) brings together a number of organizations and teams whose work contributes to key areas of the agency's remit. (Organization) has a key role to play in COUNTRY education, supporting innovation and dynamism throughout the education system, providing challenge and making a major contribution to raising standards overall.

(Organization) brings together the work of Learning and Teaching COUNTRY, AGENCY, and some functions currently carried out by the COUNTRY Government.  Education Scotland offers supports and resources for learning and teaching. They have a Positive Behavior Team, which supports schools and local authorities to introduce and embed approaches to promote positive relationships and behavior. Inspections and reviews are central parts of the approach to quality improvement in Scottish education. The National Team provides strategic support for CPD and professional review and development throughout ORGANIZATION.

A World Apart, but Oh so Close.

International Early Childhood Professionals

Over the last week, I have sent nearly 20 emails to various organizations and foundations in the attempt to connect with early childhood professionals outside the United States.  After a great amount of research, I have finally arranged to correspond with several early childhood professionals.

Ruth Cespedes is currently at Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University in Lima, Peru. Her bio from the university website translates to:

Experience in the work of social projects, planning, monitoring, and evaluation.

Projects in early childhood, children's rights, human rights, and child development.

Professional experience as a community psychologist in rural and marginal urban areas,

Experience in advocacy and influencing authorities work.

Specialties

Psychology clinic, community.
Second specialty education.

Comprehensive care for the child under 3 years old

Experience in management, direction, and coordination of teams, projects, and research.

Ms. Cespedes shared that Peru is currently experiencing a great deal of social changes in care and education within the early childhood field.  The policical climate is changing with a new government in power. The new President of Perú, Ollanta Humala, has created a new department called the Development and Social Inclusion Ministry.  Peru is designing the new program “CUNA MAS” (using the experience of home visiting).

They also have an Education Ministry, which Ruth says, is very interested in carry on programs for children under 5 years old.

For the civil society, there are many NGOs with experience in field of early childhood care and education.

The Bernard van Leer Foundation supports the Project Ruth is involved with. http://www.bernardvanleer.org/files/BvLF_Peru_Summary_public.pdf

The general premise of the Bernard van Leer Foundation is to guarantee all children of Peru are healthy, sheltered, and able to gain from Peru's development. Three goals in Peru are:

1. National increase in the percentage of indigenous, rural children under 3 with access to quality home visiting programs that incorporate birth registration, health, nutritional support and parent education

2. A decline in violence in families with young children living in urban slums in the city of Iquitos and indigenous, rural communities

3. A decrease in the prevalence of gastro-intestinal and respiratory infections among young children growing up in unhealthy physical environments in urban slums in the city of Iquitos.

Diane Buchanan

Ms. Buchanan answered my email on Friday 13 January.  She is currently on the Early Years team at Education Scotland.  Education Scotland brings together a number of organizations and teams whose work contributes to key areas of the agency's remit. Education Scotland has a key role to play in Scottish education, supporting innovation and dynamism throughout the education system, providing challenge and making a major contribution to raising standards overall.

Education Scotland brings together the work of Learning and Teaching Scotland, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, and some functions currently carried out by the Scottish Government.  Education Scotland offers supports and resources for learning and teaching. They have a Positive Behavior Team, which supports schools and local authorities to introduce and embed approaches to promote positive relationships and behavior. Inspections and reviews are central parts of the approach to quality improvement in Scottish education. The National Continuing Professional Development (CDP) Team provides strategic support for CPD and professional review and development throughout Scottish Education.

An Organization of Choice

The Future of Children

http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/index.xml

The Future of Children (FOC), Princeton - Brookings: Providing research and analysis to promote effective policies and programs for children.

This organization provided a wealth of information about various child related topics. There are links to journal articles written on key issues associated to the well-being of children's, such as children’s health issues, child abuse and neglect, providing ample and appropriate child care and education.

The FOC’s journal entitled, Work and Family, examines the changes associated with the work and family balance in America. It offers key proposals to ease family troubles while preserving company productiveness. FOC aims to connect with a wide audience to provide the best objective research possible.  The dialog contained in the journals, are literature reviews, which present a balanced view of the text and supporting data.  It reviews both fundamental and pertinent research to emphasize what we know as well as what works, and avoids the use of exceedingly technical language. The venture also supports various outreach activities, conferences, an active website, and webcasts of numerous outreach productions. Evidence of their dedication to reach a broad audience was revealed, when I found electronic versions of their resources and participation within their outreach forums, free of charge.  Hard copies of Work and Family, are frequently provided free of charge at their outreach events, and are available for sale on their website.

The resource link leads to further sources to study;

·         The Brookings Institution's Center on Children and Families,

·         The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University,

·         The Center for Health and Wellbeing at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,  

·         The Center for Research on Child Wellbeing at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,

·         The Education Research Section at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

When I started searching the website for FOC, I found several relevant articles discussing immigration. One which caught my attention was, Demography of Immigrant Youth: Past, Present, and Future (Passel, 2011).

Passel examines demographic tendency and projections in the American youth population, highlighting on the trends amid immigrant youth. He followed swings in the youth population over the past century, scrutinizes population projections through 2050, and provides insight about the likely influence of the immigrant youth inhabitants on American society.

Establishing Professional Contacts

Over the last week, I have contacted a Professor at Cambridge University in England to aid me in my search 

to find a couple early childhood education professionals in England. David Whitebread, PhD. Is the Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Education at Cambridge University.  Whitebread has provided me two organizations within England, which will help me a great deal.

“My only helpful suggestion (hopefully) is that there are some organizations within the UK who might be able to help. If you go on the websites of Early  Education (or the British Association for Early Childhood Education) and for TACTYC (the Professional Association for Early Years Educators) you

will find as lot there about current developments in the UK that will be of interest.  Good luck with this!  Best wishes David” ( Whitebread, 2012)

I have sent inquires to both organizations to make further connections. I am hoping to hear back within the week.

Whitebread, D. (2012) Re: Master's degree homework assignment (assistance needed). Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field (EDUC - 6162 - 2). Retrieved from https://my.campuscruiser.com/em2PageServlet?cx=u&pg=papp&tg=Email-readmail&main=1&qi=I3FpCiNTYXQgSmFuIDA3IDE5OjU4OjA5IEVTVCAyMDEyCmZvbGRlcklkPTEwMDA3NDkyNzYKX3NvcnRCeT1yZWNlaXZlZERhdGUKX3NvcnRPcmRlcj0xCm1vZGU9bG9hZApzdGFydD0xCg==&seq=6&msgId=1146430565