We have begun a class on
Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Education. We have been asked to complete
two task within our blog: 1. to make contact with fellow educators in countries
outside our own, 2. to delve into websites designed for EC educators.
To establish contact with
early childhood professionals in other countries I considered many options.
Ultimately, I turned to Facebook as it seems to have been designed for exactly
such a purpose! I found Early Childhood pages and groups for educators in Australia,
Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, and Europe. Thus far, I have heard back from a
professional in Canada, named Alyssa. I look forward to discussing issues and
trends with her in the future. I look forward to making contact with other
educators as well.
While exploring websites I
decided to finally subscribe to two that I have enjoyed using throughout this program.
Those are the sites for NAEYC and the Center on the Developing Child – Harvard University.
While reviewing the NAEYC site I found a great article which I have shared
below, and with my family and friends. It reminded me that I had wanted to share
information from the Harvard site with friends and family too. You can find
each link below.
An excellent point: “Early childhood educators
can’t be outsourced or automated. They are developing the capacity and
curiosity of our future workforce—and they are a linchpin to the strength and
vitality of the workforce and economy of today.” (Allvin, 2017).
References:
Allvin, R.E. (2017). Making Connections. Early Childhood
Educators and the American Economy: An American Story. Young Children. Retrieved from: https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2017/making-connections
Center on the Developing
Child (2009). Five Numbers to Remember
About Early Childhood Development (Brief). Retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu.
Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child were filming for a documentary about high quality pre-k programs at the 2018 Alabama Pre-K conference in Mobile a couple of weeks ago. I also find their website and publications very useful!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes!
Carmen
I also picked the NAEYC. My question for you is this, what countries would you like to hear from most and why would you want to hear from them? Which of the countries you listed is most likely to be different from yours?
ReplyDeleteTracy, I have a personal fascination with Australia as my late grandmother was from there. I hope to visit one day. Over all I expect all of those countries to have major differences... most of them have the government fund things much differently than we do in the US. I expect that will have a large impact on their programs. I look forward to hearing from them, or at the very least reviewing their group pages for insight to education in their country.
Delete