Well,
it is week 7 and I still have not received any responses to my emails. On the
bright side, I have been learning about the many wonderful things happening
across the world within the early childhood field. This week, I visited the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (www.unesco.org) website. My focus was on the
early care and education information that can be found on their site. UNESCO’s
focus is on upstream policy work through collaboration with government officials
to review and develop their national policies affecting children from the age
of 0 to 8. They support early childhood policy development with the aim to
build a solid foundation for a child’s lifelong learning.
Back
in 2011, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and
UNESCO’s Regional Office in Dakar launched “Childhood Cultures”, which is an
intergenerational African series of children’s books. The two main characters
are Bouba and Zaza and they develop life and socialization skills outside the
family context among children ages 3-8. The books tackle tough subjects that
Africans face daily such as war/conflict, AIDS/HIV, etc. I think this series is
awesome! So many children are faced with many different things everyday but for
some reason adults are afraid to talk about them. Children should be introduced
to the world around them. By doing this early, the children are able to develop
their own opinions and feelings on the matters.
This
week in class we have been discussing professionalism and what quality teachers
look like. UNESCO addresses the quality of early childhood programs as a whole
and what they should entail. Some useful factors to analyze to see if a program
is of good quality are the pedagogy materials, personnel training, service
setting, and parental education and involvement. I think those qualities are
great! Without the proper pedagogy materials, how will the children learn? They
also mention how training and adequate work conditions are necessary in order
to integrate the content and practice of early childhood care and education.
Even though programs and their facilities vary from country to country, it is
always good to have a standard set. I hope that they also have an evaluation
process in place for the diverse group of teachers that work with children.
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Along
with visiting that website, I also listened to another World Forum Radio
broadcast. Episode 3 featured Mrs. Delfena Mitchell, who is the director of the
Liberty Children’s Home (http://www.libertychildrenbelize.org/)
right outside of Belize City. She helps a total of 42 children who have been
physically or sexually abused, abandoned, and/or neglected. She spoke of a
little boy named Joe who was 9 years old. Due to some severe trauma in his
life, he did not speak. Then one day while horseback riding, he started talking.
After the ride, he did not talk much but he was saying a few words here and
there. Finally, one day, he just opened up and talked nonstop. Now, whenever
Joe speaks everyone listens. The way she spoke about Joe, you could tell that
she really cared for his well-being. She did not force him to talk. She learned
his likes and made him comfortable until he was ready to talk on his own.
Her
work with him confirmed why I love working with children one-on-one. By doing
this, you are able to learn the child. You have a better chance of making a
connection during one-on-one experiences. The child is more likely to open up
and share without the added pressure of a group of his/her peers. Mrs. Mitchell
took her time with him and eventually it all paid off. I believe children from
such traumatic homes just need a few moments (sometimes days, months, etc.) to
gather themselves. Joe came from an abusive situation. I can only imagine how
hard it was for him to trust others. As educators, it is our job to help the
whole child and their families. In this situation, the children are being
helped. They are growing physically, socially, and emotionally in a healthy,
stable environment. It is awesome!
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