Week 4 - Sharing Web Resources

This assignment was a little tricky at first, only because the websites I originally chose to use did not have as much information on them as I thought. The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (www.naecte.org) had many newsletters but the information all pertained to the organization itself. Maybe if I were a member, I would have access to more information, but unfortunately that was not part of my budget. So, I decided to look into another site. I chose to study the Center for the Childcare Workforce site (www.ccw.org). This website had tons of information on it! 

The January/February 2011 newsletter briefly discussed “The Lowly Child-care Worker,” which is a blog written by Sue Shellenbarger. In her blog she talks about the pay of a child-care director and child-care employees. The numbers look dismal. I was rather shocked. When I worked in childcare I was paid way more than the mean hourly wage. I wonder if education level has something to do with that. In any case, it was said to see the pay so low. So she asked a couple of very important questions:

“Do you think child-care workers should be paid higher wages, or would it take too much of a hit out of your pocket? Would you ever want to be a child-care worker?”  

What are your thoughts? For those that work in the school system, would you want to work in child-care? This really made me think because I have been contemplating leaving the school system and going back into child care. But I cannot afford a pay cut. It is very unfortunate.

Located in the March/April 2011 newsletter was a blurb about not shortchanging education. They provided a statement from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. He gave a speech before the Citizens Budget Commission in New York. In the past, you would not normally see economists arguing for early childhood education but times are changing. He agreed with all of the resources that we read this week that the payoffs of early childhood education are high.

I am still unsure of the motives of these economists, neuroscientists, and politicians who are speaking out on behalf of early childhood education. Nevertheless, I believe the children and their families will benefit.

Week 3 - Internation Contacts - Part 1

For this week’s assignment, we are supposed to share the conversations we have been having with our international contacts. Unfortunately, I have yet to get a response to the emails I sent out. So, I did the alternative assignment, which was to listen to the podcasts from the World Forum Foundation.

The most recent podcast was released and placed on I-Tunes in February 2011. The guest speaker was Susan Lyon. Before listening to the podcast, I read the bio featured on the website, to get to know a little information about her. I expected to hear a great discussion on the podcast about issues in the early childhood field. Sadly, that did not happen. The podcast was only five and half minutes long, and all she did was introduce herself, how she became passionate about children, and the current projects she is involved in. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed.

I visited her main project website, The Innovative Teacher Project (www.innovativeteacherproject.org), to learn more about it, and it was very intriguing. I have heard of Reggio Emilia, but I learned more about its history on the site. I also obtained her email address, so I emailed her. Hopefully, I will get a response and she will be my professional contact for this course. *fingers crossed*

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 Since I have not had any conversations yet, I completed the next alternative assignment. I visited the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (CHIP) website (www.childhoodpoverty.org) and learned more about childhood poverty in India. This information was shocking and sad to read because it was new to me. India is the home to the majority of poor people in South Asia. In 1999-2000, it was reported that 260.2 million out of an estimated 1.03 billion citizens in India were living poverty. The rural areas (just like in most countries) are hit the hardest. Poverty in these areas consists of people who are lacking assets, skills, and have low levels of health and education.

 There are about 400 million children in India between the ages of 0-18 years old. Twenty percent of the world’s children not in school live in India. A third of children less than 16 years old are working. Life is very hard for a child growing up India, but it is even more difficult for a female child. In Rajasthan, the largest state in India, they believe that boys are permanent members of the family and girls are only temporary members. This was shocking and confusing! Why do they believe this? What is a “temporary member?” Has anyone else heard of this before? When will people (all people) understand that women are capable of more than taking care of the domestic responsibilities? This is just disheartening.

Week 2 - Sharing Web Resources

The organization that really grabbed my attention was the National Black Child Development Institute (www.nbcdi.org). This organization works to improve and advance the lives of Black children and their families through advocacy and education. They believe that parents, along with members and organizations within the community need to come together on behalf of Black children. This organization has several initiatives that they are currently working on. Unfortunately, I was unable to check them all out because some of the sites are down. The one that really stood out to however, was their T.E.A.C.H. initiative.

 Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H) focuses on the under-education, poor compensation, and high turnover within the early childhood workforce. This project was created in 1990 by the Child Care Services Association (www.childcareservices.org). There are four components within T.E.A.C.H.; education, scholarship, compensation, and commitment. The education component helps participants earn the college credits needed for early childhood education. Scholarship offers counseling and financial support to the participants. Compensation can be earned by participants after completing a year of education successfully. Lastly, with commitment, participants agree to remain in the child care field. The following link gives more information on the T.E.A.C.H. initiative - http://www.childcareservices.org/_downloads/TEACH_OnePage4_12.pdf .

While learning about this initiative I was led to the Child Care Services Association website. This was brand new to me and throughout the week I will spend time learning more about this association and their purpose.

Issues & Trends Week 1 - Prof. Contacts & New Resources

Hello everyone!! I forgot how much time I actually put into my grad school work. After taking such a long leave of absence to give birth to my son, this 1^st week has been rather tough. Trying to reprioritize is not an easy task but thank God I am keeping my head above water.

This first assignment was a challenge. We were asked to establish contact with early childhood professionals outside of the United States. I had a difficult time determining which cultures I wanted to learn more about. My first choice was the Philippines. I chose that country because I work with people from there at my school and a lot of the students are from there as well. Unfortunately, their website was no longer active.

            My second choice was Spain. I went to their website and of course it was all in Spanish. Thankfully, Google has a translate tool! So I emailed the contact listed on the Global Alliance website. I am just waiting to get a response from him. The other contact I made was with Mexico. Honestly, I am not sure why I chose these two countries, but I hope I am able to learn from them and that they may learn from me as well.

            For the second part of the assignment, we were to research some new resources. The first organization I chose was the National Black Child Development Institute (http://nbcdi.org). The name of the organization attracted me to the website. I am hoping to see how this organization helps Black children. I have signed up for their newsletter and am looking forward to explore the site further.

            The other organization I chose was the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (www.naecte.org). I am a member of NAEYC, so I figured this would complement my membership. After I explore the site some more, I plan on becoming a member with this organization as well.