Thank You

Hi Everyone,

I just would like to thank you all for taking your time to read my blogs during this course. Sharing with you all was always great and receiving feedback was always encouraging. I am glad to have shared with you all and I wish you all the best as we continue on this journey. I know you will all be great professionals in the early childhood field. Thanks again!

ADJOURNING

The closing final stage of groups can be great or not so great. Depending on who was in the group or why the group ended may determine how hard or easy it will be to say good-bye. I have been involved in various groups where I have had to say good-bye. I do think that high performing groups are hard to leave because these groups have accomplished great things together. Sometimes in high performing groups you may not want to experience any other groups for fear of low performance in another group.

One of the hardest groups for me to leave was my high school track team. I was a member of the winter and spring track teams since I was a freshman. I got very close to my teammates over four years. We trained together, cried together, lost together, won together, had lunch and dinners together and much more. To make parting easier we had a senior banquet where each senior received their final varsity letters, pins, certificates. We also shared our accomplishments over the past four years. It was a great way to end the year and say good-bye to everyone before we all went off to college.

I think I adjourning from the groups of colleagues I have formed while working on my master's degree in this program will be bitter sweet. I have learned so much from my colleagues and I will miss interacting with them in the classroom; however I know that I can still keep in touch with them after the program. I will make sure to share my email and any other contact information so that I can continue to share and learn with my colleagues. Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it is a time to reflect on accomplishments and failures (O'Hair & Weimann, 2012, pp. 257). Without adjourning there will be no closure and future groups will not know where they can improve if working on a future project.

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York:Bedford/St. Martin's.

Conflict Resolution

A disagreement I constantly experience at work is between my co-teacher and myself. I tend to be a neat freak and she is the complete opposite of me. I like to have the classroom set up a certain way and throughout the day I organize and clean. I put the toys and books on the appropriate shelves. However, my coworker could care less about organization. She will just put toys anywhere and it really frustrates me. I have expressed my concerns to her and she always tells me that she will try, but she does not. One day we (all colleagues) were talking about organization and I called her messy and she got really offended, I right away but she was upset with me for awhile. Learning conflict resolution strategies now might have helped me resolve the conflict in a more practical way.

One strategy that I have learned is response which is from the 3R's. I could have discussed her messiness at another time and not at a team meeting. No one asked me about anyone's organization skills but I let my frustration get the best of me. I usually keep my responses to myself but I couldn't take it. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I did.

Another strategy that I learned is cooperative strategy. Cooperative strategies would help us think of a solution that would benefit both us. Instead of calling her messy, I could have expressed my concerns about the classroom and sat down on how we can work on keeping the classroom neat and orderly.

Communication Similarities and Differences

                                                

The communication assessments this week taught me a lot about perceptions. I learned that those close to me have very similar perceptions about the way I communicate. In terms of communication anxiety, I perceive myself the same way they perceive me. 

What surprised me the most was my result for the verbal aggressiveness test. My score was described as someone who is argumentativeness which attacks a person’s position or statements and involves personal attacks and can be hurtful to the listener. My husband and sister both perceived me not so aggressive as this way but for some reason I perceived myself as more aggressive when answering the questions. When I read the description of the results from their test I felt that their results describes me better than significance. I feel that I do maintain good balance between respect and consideration for others viewpoints. I also try my best not to attack people unless I disagree with something they may have said. 

This week I learned that sometimes our responses to people's viewpoints can affect our communication skills. If you verbally attack someone they may never want to speak to you again. Although you may get a shocking result on an assessment it does not mean that you should accept the results. The score may show a small percentage of a skill in you that can be positive and negative and it is up to you to see if you want people to perceive you that or not. 

Communication and Cultural Diversity

I often find myself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures. Most of my family and friends are Nigerian and when I am around them I find myself speaking in a Nigerian accent. I also tend to use more eye gestures and hand gestures that is very common among Nigerians. Also, I tend to not use proper English grammar when communicating with them.

At work I am surrounded by people of diverse backgrounds. I notice that I use less eye and hand gestures. I also speak more politely and with proper English. I am calmer when speaking with my colleagues, whereas at home or with family I can be louder and raise my voice if in disagreement.

Three strategies I can use to communicate more effectively with these groups:

1. I can work on not raising my voice with anyone even if they are my family. I do not like it when I get loud and neither does anyone around me.

2. Another strategy is that I can try to be more comfortable at work. I should focus more on having a positive and effective communication with my colleagues instead of how they will react if I use hand or eye gestures. Most of us are very comfortable with each other so I can try and be more comfortable when communicating.

3. One last strategy is that I can listen more and be more aware of the communication skills of others. If I am in disagreement I can listen to what others are saying before raising my voice and trying to get my point across. Raising my voice can also negatively impact my communication and may not be the communication skill of someone else. If I am the only one raising my voice then I am not communicating effectively. 

Sound Off, Sound On

Sound Off

For this assignment I watched an episode of Drop Dead Diva. There seemed to be a lot going on in the show. I can tell that there are two main characters. One is a skinny blond hair girl who seems to care about the way she looks. When the show started she was trying on a dress but from her facial expressions she wasn't sure about how she looked or fit in it and it appeared that she asked her significant other how she looks and he gave her a hug and kiss so I’m assuming he told her she looks great. She also looked as if she was interviewing to be on a show similar to Price is Right because she was studying the models. She is driving and applying makeup and also on the phone I can see her mouth moving and the Bluetooth headset in her ear when she crashes into a truck carrying oranges. Next, there is a brunette lady who is slightly obese at an office who seems to not care much about her looks.  She seems to get along with one coworker who I think is her secretary because she helped her get a few things and they seemed comfortable near each other. There is another coworker who seems to think she is better than the rest from the way she looks at them. The brunette spills coffee and walks out her office to get a napkin when she sees the rest of her colleagues hiding from a man with a gun. She seems worried but walks toward the armed man. When she walks towards him she trips over a bag and he shoots her.

They show the blonde girl in what appears to be heaven because everything and everyone is in white. She presses a return button on a computer keyboard and she disappears. Next we see the brunette girl in a hospital going through surgery; she wakes up, and looks in a mirror and from the look on her face and her mouth she seems to be screaming. I assumed that it is the blond girl in the brunette girl’s body.

Sound On

My assumptions about the characters and plot based on my observations were correct. The blonde girl was a model auditioning for the price is right. The blonde girl did care about the way she looked. The brunette girl did not care about the way she looked and she did work in a law firm. One coworker was her secretary and the other coworker did think she was better than the rest of them. They did both die and the blonde girl did end up in the brunette’s body.

I think my assumptions would have been right on target if I had been watching a show I already know because I would already know the characters. I would know what each character does, how they react when happy or sad and who they are close with. Nonetheless, even though I have never watched the show paying attention to their facial expressions helped me to understand the character’s communication and what was going on during the show. 

Competent Communicator

A person who demonstrates competent communication is my pastor. My pastor’s name is Jide Lawore. He has been a pastor for over 7 years and I always admire him when he speaks. He is a great public speaker. My pastor speaks eloquently and always annunciates his words; it is also easy to understand him whenever he speaks or preaches. When my pastor communicates, he makes eye contact and makes you feel at ease. He doesn’t speak too fast or too slow and he always offers explanations if you do not know. He is also humorous and not uptight whether he is speaking to you in private or in public.

I would definitely want to model some of my own communication behaviors after my pastor. I get shy sometimes, but my pastor always seems so comfortable when communicating. He is bold and he draws your attention when he speaks. The more I watch and hear him speak, the more I want to be just as competent as he is. 

Professional Hopes and Goals

When I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I hope that I can provide them with a feeling of warmth, respect and acceptance. I hope that I can be an example of what it means to be an anti-bias teacher. I hope that i can also show children and their families the beauty of diversity.

My goal in the early childhood field in regards to diversity, equity and social justice is to continually educate myself on diversity, equity and social justice issues in the field. My goal is to also promote awareness to my colleagues and other professionals in the field on these topics. I believe diversity, equity and social justice are very important topics and all early childhood educators should take courses on the subject.


This has been a very rewarding and exciting class. I do not think it would be as much fun learning if not  for my colleagues. I personally want to thank you all for educating, inspiring and sharing with me. I have learned so much on diversity, equity and social justice because of all of you. Everyone shared great anecdotes throughout the weeks which helped me to learn more about the differences and similarities we all share. Thank you all so much and good luck in all your future endeavors and much success as you continue this journey in early childhood.

Welcoming Families Around the World

Country of Origin

The name of my family’s country of origin is Brazil. Brazil is a country located in South America. I do not know much about Brazil. The setting will be an early childcare center.

Five ways I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family:

1. I will do a lot of research online and by going to the library about Brazil. I will like to learn more about the daily life in Brazil.

2. I will also try to familiarize myself with the school system in Brazil. I will find out how the early childcare system in Brazil is run. I will do this so that the child and family will have a smooth and comfortable transition.  

3. I will also try to learn some of the basic greetings from Brazil and buy a dictionary in case the family does not know English. The main language spoken in Brazil is Portuguese so I will also ask my mother’s friend who is Portuguese to teach me a few of the greetings.

4. I will also try to learn some songs from Brazil especially children’s songs so that I can teach to the rest of the class.

5. Lastly, I will decorate the classroom with greetings and pictures of Brazil to welcome the child and family to the center.

Brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family:

I hope that these preparations will welcome the new family not only to the child development center but also to America. I hope to learn much more about a country that I do not much about. These preparations will also help the other children to learn about a new culture; it will also prepare the children to not be biased or prejudiced towards the new child. It will be a great learning experience for myself and the other kids in the class. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

A memory of an incident when I experienced bias was an event that took place at a church I attended for a conference. The church was a predominantly Nigerian church; however, the conference was for other churches with different ethnic backgrounds. When it came to lunch, they served us Nigerian food which consisted of rice and a chicken that is tough to eat. I heard a few people complaining about the food and asking why people always insist on having Nigerian food at these events. A few people even mentioned it when there was a Q&A portion that people need to understand that not everyone likes or wants to eat Nigerian food and they should make sure to cater to everyone.

The incident diminished equity because the church assumed that everyone would enjoy eating the Nigerian food. There were no other options for lunch. You either ate the rice and chicken or you would be hungry. A few people had to buy food outside when they paid a registration fee that included lunch.

The incident brought up feelings of irritation. Although I am Nigerian I do not always want to eat Nigerian food. Also, I felt the frustration of those who did not want to eat the food. I would feel that there should have been more options for lunch and all those in attendance should have been taken into consideration.

In order for this incident to turn into an opportunity for greater equity, the church which hosted the event and the food coordinators would have to change. The church must understand that not everyone who is coming to the conference will be Nigerian. Those coordinating food must also change the notion of constantly serving Nigerian food at their functions. The church as a whole must be more open-minded to outsiders coming into their church.

Practicing Awareness of Mircroaggressions

One example of a microaggression I detected this week happened this morning at a wedding I attended. It was a beautiful multicultural wedding. The groom is Cuban and the bride is African-American. We were at the reception and the party began. The DJ began to play a variety of songs from old school to new school. After about an hour the DJ began to play Spanish music. At this point, one of my friends exclaimed “Duh, of course they would play Spanish music; I’m surprised they did not play it earlier”. At first, I laughed at her statement. After awhile I actually thought what she said and realized it was not funny. I told her that just because he is Cuban may not even mean that he likes Spanish music or that Spanish music must be played at his wedding.  She told me that she did not really mean the statement and that she had not really thought about what she said. She actually apologized and we went on with the party.

                                     

This experience made me realize how often and quickly microaggressions happen. I also realized that sometimes we may not realize that our comments are stereotyping or discriminating. Many people do not think about what they say before they say it. I was reminded that sometimes when microaggressions happen they are not truly intended to hurt anyone. Society is so used to making jokes and comments about people who are not like us. The experience reminded me to think before I speak and be careful of hurting other people. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culturey

From the three people I interviewed, their definition of culture were different. However, each person described diversity as to having some variation. 

Younger Sister -Nigerian American

My definition of culture is the way a group of people share commonalities. How they perceive things, think, react/respond, and associate with themselves, others, and the world.

Diversity is when a variety is present. When different people and races are together in one area or location. It can be when you have different traditions, cultures, and ways of living are merged, combined, or together.

Older Sister-Nigerian American

Culture is a way of life that represents a person or a group. Culture does not have to be a permanent way of life, however. One can choose to embrace another culture outside if his/her cultural background.

Diversity is the product of mixing people of different cultural backgrounds. Diversity works best when the various cultures are able to appreciate the other.

Colleague -Israeli/Syrian/Irish Female

Culture to me are different ways of.living due.to traditions, the environment and sometimes religion. I think all these factors contribute to different cultures.

I think diversity is variations of different people, places and things.

From the definitions I received there were a few aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied so far. Those aspects are a person's thoughts, reactions, associations with others and the world, way of life, tradition and environment. These aspects of culture and diversity are all ways some individuals may choose to identify themselves. My younger sister defined diversity as ways of living that merged or combined. Similarly Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) described culture as a sense of connectedness. 

One aspect of culture that we have discussed that was omitted from the responses was family culture. Louise Derman-Sparks defines family culture as how a particular family is in the world, the rules of their behavior, the family’s beliefs, values, goals for their children and parenting (Laureate Education, 2011). None of them seemed to touch on the fact that culture also represents family. They each mentioned traditions and culture as a way of life. I believe that not understanding someone's family culture can play a role  in understanding that person's way of life and or thinking. 

Hearing my sisters and colleague's definitions of culture and diversity allowed me to take a step into their views on the topic. Their definitions coincide with my definition of culture and diversity. It was interesting to see that my sister's responses were similar. None of their answers were wrong, but each was unique. I have come to a better understanding that people do have an understanding of what culture and diversity is; none of them hesitated to give me a response. I was glad that they do have an understanding and that they were all open minded. 

References 

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children      (NAEYC). Retrieved from:             https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2F webapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2817       923_1%26url%3D

My Family Culture

Wow! If this catastrophe happened to me I would initially be devastated. To leave a place i call home to a brand new place with a culture entirely different than my own would be sad and overwhelming. Nonetheless, I would be very grateful to at least have my family with me.

The three items I would take with me would be my wedding album, wedding DVD and iPod.

I would bring my wedding album because it was a very special event with all my family and friends. I had two weddings: A Nigerian traditional wedding and a traditional church wedding and reception. The pictures will remind me of that event and some of the fun things we do in my culture. I would bring my wedding DVD because it's another reminder of the day my life changed. Hearing my family and friends and seeing their joy would always remind me of them. Seeing the Nigerian dancers would be another reminder of my culture. Lastly, i would bring my iPod because I love music! I have all types of music especially the music from my country. Listening and singing along is calming and soothing especially during rough times.

Clip from my wedding: Me & husband are in purple headties in middle

If I were told that I could only keep one item out of the three I would be very confused and upset. It would be very herd to decide which item to keep since they are all very dear to me and are filled with memories. Each item has a different meaning to me, but they all represent me. To not hear songs that I love would be sad. To not have photos and videos of recognizable people would be heartbreaking. I am not sure that I would be willing to give up two items.

It was very hard to even choose three items. I had to look around my house and there were so many things that I would want to take with me. From this exercise, I was reminded of what my family and friends mean to me. It also reminded me of my love for music. I do not go a day without listening to music. Not having my music or ability to at least see the faces of those I love would bring tears to my eyes. All these three remind me of who I am and where I come from.

When I Think of Research...

This course has taught me much about research especially in the early childhood field. From this course I have come to an understanding about the importance of research in the early childhood field. Research helps us understand past and current trends in the field. Research explains issues in the field we may have little or no understanding of. From this course I have also gained an understanding of the steps taken to design a research project. I have learned about the different types of research designs as well as different research methods.

My ideas about the nature of doing research have changed in a few ways. Before this class, I did not know how much time, thinking and planning goes into conducting research. I thought research was much simpler than I came to realize.

When it comes to planning, designing and conducting a research I learned a lot. I have learned the importance of developing a research question. I have learned different instances where you may or may not need to use random sampling when selecting participants. I have learned what it takes to make a research valid. I have also gained a better understanding on the importance of consent especially concerning research with children.

The most challenging part of this research journey was choosing a subtopic and research question. From the beginning of the course, I knew which topic I wanted to research; however, the difficulty came after selecting subtopics. My general topic was autism. I then decided to focus on different development skills in Autism. When I finally selected a subtopic I had to narrow it further down; which I decided to be cognitive skills. My next challenge came in deciding what about cognitive skills which drew me to language development and sentence formation. Once I figured this all out, I thought I had a good research question based on what I have learned. However, my research question was too basic. I changed it a few times but it was still not great. I met this challenge by taking suggestions by Dr. Dartt and re-reading how to form a research question. Dr Dartt helped me greatly with this challenge.

From this course, as an early childhood professional I will look to research, but not conduct research. I have come to understand that research is not for me. I know that it is important to know what research is being done in the early childhood field and use research when needed. However, in the future I do not plan on conducting any research projects.

Lastly, I am grateful for this experience. It was a challenge at times, but I have learned a lot especially from my peers. Thank you everyone and I wish you the best as you continue this journey in obtaining your Masters in Early Childhood Studies. 

Research Around the World

I chose to explore the Early Childhood Australia website. The link for the website is http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/. I chose this site because I do not know of any current issues or trends in Australia. I also wanted to see if there are any similarities between Australia and America. Their mission is to advocate for the rights, quality and equity in issues concerning children from birth to age 8. Early Childhood Australia is also the national umbrella organization for children’s services in Australia.

I clicked on the tab early childhood news to find current research topics in Australia. I found one article titled, “Fair, inclusive, quality education every child’s right; Early Childhood peak bodies welcome increased support for children with a disability”. This article discussed that quality early education and care is a right for all children. The article discussed how support should increase so that children with disabilities will be able to benefit from a quality education. I also explored the Every Child Magazine section of the website. I read an article on asthma and asthma management. The article was more of an information resource for families. The symptoms of asthma were discussed as well as the Emergency Asthma Management which provides directions and risk reductions for those with asthma. The article also discussed ways Australia can become more Asthma friendly.

It was very interesting exploring this website. They had a wealth of information available. They have a section called Early Learning Series. Here you can find resources to enhance learning for young children whether you are a parent or caregiver. They had so many different resources organized by topic including promoting positive behavior, confidence and coping skills, fussy eaters, sensory learning and math to name a few, there are much more topics. I clicked on the sensory learning topic to read more about it. I actually thought that the information was free so I was a little surprised to find out that you have to purchase the information on sensory learning or any other topic; however, they do provide sample chapters.

I randomly came across the Early Childhood Australia position statement on Children of Asylum Seekers. The position statement mentioned that half of the world’s refugees are children. The paper discussed that many refugee children enter Australia legally and illegally. They listed a list of principles and recommendations which should be applied to support the interests of refugee children and asylum seekers. One recommendation I liked is that these children should be allowed access to the same education that Australian children receive.   

For those who would like to stay updated with the organization they have a newsletter called the Voice which you can subscribe to for free. They also have their magazine Every Child which you can subscribe to as well but for a fee. 

Reference:

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

My beautiful flawless sis!

I know of a positive benefit of research. Research has affected my family in a positive way. Research has helped my family to figure out a chronic skin disorder my younger sister has. When my sister was a child, she had the clearest most beautiful skin out of me and my older sister. We were secretly jealous of her flawless skin. However, when my sister started high school, her skin was not so flawless. Her hair began to fall out, she became itchy all over, and she started to get bumps and blotches over her skin from head to toe. My sister and family were devastated; we had never seen this happen before. We took her to so many doctors and no one could tell us what the cause was. So my sister began to do her own research by studying her symptoms. My older sister (a pharmacist) did her own research as well to see if any medications she was taking could have caused this skin disorder. One doctor performed an allergy test which yielded no results. We conducted our own research and had her eliminate certain foods and drinks from her diet which helped a little. After talking to different doctors, reading different books and typing her conditions into Google my sister figured out that she had Psoriasis and Eczema. She was able to get in contact with a very good dermatologist who confirmed her conditions. Her doctor was very amazed that no one else knew that it was Psoriasis and was proud of the research she has done. My family was very relieved once this was found out and my sister was able to start receiving treatments. My sister continues to research her condition and continues to discover something new about Psoriasis. If we all gave up we would never know what condition she had and she would not have the ability to start treatment on time. Her skin is not as flawless as it used to be but with much care she is getting there and she is still beautiful to me! 

My Personal Research Journey

I chose the topic of Autism for my simulation. When I graduated from college, my first job was an internship at non-profit Autism organization. I interned for 3 months then begin to work part time as a Programs Coordinator. Before this job, I only knew of the term Autism and maybe about one symptom. However, I began to learn a little more and had the privilege of meeting wonderful children and families. After a year and a half I decided to get a job in the early childhood field. I still wanted to do work with Autism but wanted to get my foot in the door of early childhood as well. About a month ago, my former boss asked me to join the team again for a school the organization is building for children in Ghana with Autism. I gladly joined and was interested in getting back to working on the issue of Autism. I chose Autism as my simulation topic to learn more and start back where I left off.

This week I did a research chart on understanding research. The more assignments I complete each week, the better I understand what research truly entails. I have come to understand that research is more than just reviewing an article or a book. Research starts first from understanding and analyzing the journal, article, or book and checking for its quality and credibility. Although I an understanding how to first go about research, I am still a little worried that the information may be overwhelming. I guess the best thing for me is to review what I learn each week and begin to apply what I learn. I will also seek in my colleagues and professor if I am ever confused or frustrated. 

Building Research Competency

Starting my fifth class on my journey to receiving my Master's.
Excited to learn and share once again!!

Final Blog Assignment

Throughout these past weeks, I was able to connect with professionals in the Early Childhood Field while also learning about current issues and trends on an international level.

Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for my professional and personal development:

1. Establishing Connections

 I had a challenging time connecting with international contacts. Once I found 2 professionals, I was sure that everything would go great and we would communicate on a weekly basis. However, this was not the case. Either my contacts responded late or never responded.

2. Increased Awareness

Although I did have a hard time establishing my connections, I was not deterred from learning about early childhood issues and trends abroad. I was able to study about issues in other countries from the different websites provided by Dr. Meyers. Even though, I was not able to verbally communicate with professionals; I still became aware of issues by studying and exploring international early childhood websites.

3. Increased Interest

From these assignments, I gained a lot more interest in early childhood internationally. I learned that children internationally are in need of a lot more support especially those living in poverty.

Goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations:

My goal for the field is to establish and maintain connections with international professionals. I would encourage us to not give up if our connections fail, but to continue to reach out and share and learn from international professionals. 

International Contacts—Part 3

I have been very unlucky with my contacts. One gets back to me usually late and not in time for this assignment no matter how much I emphasize when I need his response back. My other contact just has not responded to me in a while so I had no choice, but to explore UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage.

UNESCO has different initiatives to address education challenges in developing countries. One of their initiatives it titled, LIFE: The Literacy Initiative for Empowerment.  LIFE is a 10 year initiative targeting 35 countries that have 85 percent of the world’s illiterate population. It began in 2006 and will end in 2015. According to UNESCO, “Eighty-five percent of the world’s non-literate population resides in these countries, and two-thirds are women and girls”. LIFE targets African, Arab, and Asian and Pacific countries. I decided to look at the initiative in Africa (one of my professional goals is to build a quality child care center in Africa ) to see what their goals are there. I was hopi9ng they would specify which countries in Africa they are targeting, but they did not. The main focus on LIFE Africa LIFE focuses on the following strategic areas:

• Advocacy and communication to make literacy a priority on the agenda of different stakeholders and create a momentum for pooling resources and jointly accelerating literacy efforts;

• Capacity-building for the development of policies for sustainable and empowering literacy;

• Capacity-building for the delivery of empowering literacy programmes of good quality;

• Sharing of knowledge and inspiring innovations to continuously improve literacy policies and practices.

To make this initiative possible, they will need the support of the government, communities, civil society organizations, parliamentarians and international partners.

The more I explored the webpage, I discovered that they have a UNESCO Africa section and one of their main headquarters is in Nigeria; I was pretty excited once I discovered this. Nevertheless, I read an article on education in Africa and if progress was made. The article was about the Africa Education for All Conference from October 16-19, 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to the report, not all their goals have been made. They mentioned that 31 million children are out of school and the biggest gaps are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The countries have a deadline to reach their goals by the year 2015.

I also read an article on early childhood development in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2010 there was a conference on Early Childhood Development held in Singapore to discuss the importance of early learning for children under the age of three. In the Asia-Pacific region, most of the focus is on preschool and primary school, but ages 0-3 are often neglected. During the conference they launched the “Resources Package for 0-3”. The package aims to equip policy makers, practitioners and parents with a range of information on ECD for the under 3 period. Also, each country made a commitment to step up advocacy on Early Childhood Development especially for ages 0-3.

It was great to see what efforts UNESCO is taking to improve early childhood in developing countries. I do plan on following the LIFE Initiative to see if their goals have been met as well as the goals from the Africa Education for All Conference.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

Sharing Web Resources

The NAEYC website does not have much outside links. However, there are a few outside links under their Public Policy tab. They had a link titled Government Links which I decided to check out. They had different resources on federal, state and local government. The governmental information is about children and families, early childhood education programs, and publicly funded programs. I decided to check out the website for the Administration of Children and Families. The Administration of Children and Families promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals and communities. They provide numerous resources for children and their families raging from adoption assistance to finding health insurance and information for runaways. It was great coming across this website. I will definitely be coming back to this site to see that else they have to offer.

There was a section titled Take Action Now that I decided to look into. I felt that this section would have information relating to the issue of the week. They call it the Children’s Champions Action Center. Under this section, you can write to your congress and find out different issues and legislation's.  I decided to search for bills that dealt with this week’s issue on excellence and equity. One bill from the Senate Bill #S.322 was to set the United States on track to ensure children are ready to learn when they begin kindergarten. I wanted to find out more about the Bill, but they only posted which members of the Senate sponsored the bill and on what day it was sponsored. I clicked on a tab titled detailed text; however, it stated that the text of S.322 had not yet been received from the GPO yet. I hope to come back within a few weeks to find out more about the Bill.

One thing I learned this week is that they actually have a section titled 10 Things About NAEYC. They offer 10 ways to explore the NAEYC. I was wondering why I did not see this from the beginning of when I started to explore their site. I thought this is a great for those who are new to the organization and the website. 

International Contacts—Part 2

I have still been unfortunate to hear a reply from my contacts. I called Mr. Don from Canada. He promised to call back, but never did. When I called again he was not in office. Mr. Grassi emailed me that he will get back to me, but still has not so I had to go on with the alternative. So I chose to look at Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website. I looked at one country, Zambia, that has partnered with the Global Children’s Initiative.

In 2009, the Zambian Ministry of Education, the Examination Council of Zambia, UNICEF, the University of Zambia, and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University launched the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project (ZECDP) to close knowledge gaps. The ZECDP was launched in an effort to measure the effects of an ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children’s development. From the final report on the ZECDP I learned that Zambia is one of the poorest counties in the world. I also learned that about 76% of children suffer from Malaria during their first year of life. The ZECDP developed a tool to assess children’s physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout their schooling careers, the Zambian Child Assessment Test (ZamCAT). This assessment tool is the first of its kind in Zambia.  It was interesting to find out that no assessment has really been done on the many developmental skills on children. I was glad to know that there are advances being made to improve the health and success of children in Zambia.

Zambia has a population of about 13 million and is divided into many provinces. Many children in the rural parts of the country do not attend school at all. Many children in Zambia do enroll in school, however about 25% of students drop out before completing the seventh year of their primary education. Early childhood care and education is underdeveloped therefore about 83% of children lack skills needed for first grade. From their assessment, there was a great difference between children from urban and rural provinces and between the wealthier and poorer children.

Hopefully through this assessment, child development in Zambia will begin to develop and all children will have access to quality early care and education.

Reference:
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/zambian_project/

Sharing Web Resources

I am studying the website for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The more I explore their site the more intrigued I am about all they have to offer. The NAEYC website has so much valuable information and each day I explore I learn something new. I am definitely gaining ways to help me grow professionally.
This website contains a lot of information of how economists, neuroscientists and politicians support the early childhood field. I found a lot of articles, press releases and books on the views of economists and why they support the field. I read an article from an NAEYC online author William Gilliam titled, “What are the economic benefits of investing in the early years”? The article explained the economic benefits of investing in young children. Gilliam’s (2011) three economic reasons for making investments are that it is valuable from a social justice perspective, a citizen-building perspective, and it is valuable from an altruistic perspective. He also stated three non economic values for investing in young children and early childhood programs. There are economic values for children, parents and individuals who work in large early care and education enterprise.
 
The NAEYC website is a great website with current information about issues and trends in the early childhood field. The only insight I gained is to consistently explore their website on a daily basis to stay current. 

The NAEYC has a section on their website titled Professional Development. When I noticed this tab, I browsed through it entirely. I was interested in this section because I do want to develop professionally. This section provides information for individuals who want to start a new career working with children or for early childhood professionals who want to improve their knowledge, skills and practices. From this section, I found out that the NAEYC offers training, online learning programs, training DVD’s for self study or group instruction and an Annual Conference and workshops. Before exploring their site, I only knew about their Annual Conference; I did not know they offered training or workshops. Most of their programs also offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for those who need documentation.  Most of their training's are offered online; however, they do offer face to face training at their Headquarters in Washington D.C.

From April 14-20, the NAEYC will be celebrating The Week of the Young Child. The purpose of this week is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. I also discovered that our very own school Walden University (The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership) is the proud sponsor of this program!! The theme for the 2013 Week of the Young Child is Early Years are Learning Years. I was interested in finding out more about this topic. This allowed me to think about refocusing my attention to the true needs of children especially in my community. The NAEYC shared different ideas for how individuals and communities can celebrate the Week of the Young Child. Reading this topic has sparked a new interest in me and I have already been brainstorming ideas of how I can support the Week of the Young Child in my job, church and community.

References

Gilliam, W. (December, 2011). What are the economic benefits of investing in the early years? Retrieved 

         from http://www.naeyc.org/content/event/pre-k-debates/highlights

Getting to Know My International Contacts—Part 1

So finally I heard back from one out of the two people I contacted!! I was excited yet sad at the same time. I was excited because I get to learn more about early childhood in Canada. On the other hand, the lady I contacted from Nigeria still has not responded to me so I decided to move on. I was able to contact someone from a group I am part of on LinkedIn. It is an international early childhood group; I kept asking myself why I did not think of contacting someone from the group previously. I was able to get in contact with someone from Italy, he responded very quickly to my email. So although I could not get in contact with someone from Nigeria I was able to have two international contacts which Is still what I wanted.

My first contact’s name is Mr. Don Giesbrecht from Canada.  He is the President and CEO of the Canadian Child Care Federation. He is also the Executive Director of Assiniboine Children’s Centre (ACC) in Winnipeg. Don has been President of the CCCF since March 2006 and was appointed to the Federal Government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Child Care Spaces in September 2007.  He has also been working with the CCCF on diversifying its funding and

revenue base and has been very active in its fund development work.

My second contact’s name is Mr. Gianluca Grassi from Italy. Mr. Grassi works for Reggio nel Mondo and is the communication manager. He loves to write and loves working with children.

Unfortunately, both of my contacts have yet to respond to me so I was unable to get issues on poverty from them and instead went on the website of the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s page. I decided to read about childhood poverty in Mongolia. From reading about Mongolia, I learned that some children never even make it to school. I didn’t know Mongolia could reach temperatures as low as -30-40 degrees which saddened me to know that children are on the street in those temperatures. However, it was good to know that the government has developed plans to reduce poverty in Mongolia. I just hope that the plans are still being put into action. 

Sharing Web Resources

 

The website I have chosen to review is http://www.naeyc.org/ the website for the National Advancement for the Education of Young Children. The NAEYC was founded in 1926. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 80,000 members, a national network of more than 300 state and local Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations. The NAEYC is the leading membership association for those working with and on behalf of children from birth through age 8. NAEYC convenes thought leaders, teachers and other practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders and sets standards of excellence for programs and teachers in early childhood education.

Since I am a member I can receive their publications, but I have not received the most recent one so I decided to check online. One recent trend which I found on the site was an article titled “Bringing Boys and Girls Together: Supporting Preschoolers' Positive Peer Relationships”. The article discussed different reasons why children segregate, such as why boys play with boys and why girls play with girls. The article also suggested tips for bringing boys and girls together inclusively in preschools.

While searching the site, I also discovered an advertisement for a book titled “The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation”. This sparked my interest because the contact that I am connecting with from Italy works in the Reggio Emilia area. I thought that was interesting that there is a book in response to the changing demographics of that area in Italy.

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Establishing Professional Contacts 
For Part 1 of this assignment I chose to establish professional connections in the countries of Nigeria and also in Canada. I chose Nigeria first because it is my home country, my family is from Nigeria and I also want to establish an early child development center over there in the future. I chose Canada because I do not know much about anything in Canada and I am interested in learning more about education there.
To get started I began researching schools and organizations via Google. However, I was not getting any results or finding anything interesting so I decided to check the list under Resources. I first clicked on the link for the Global Alliance for the NAEYC. Under Nigeria, I noticed a school in an area of Nigeria where my parents have a home so I decided to try to contact the director. I sent her an email and still have not heard back from her, I called her early today but still no response. My husband suggest I try the number early Monday morning because of the 6 hour time zone and being that it is a weekend she may not be at the school. I will try that and if I still do not hear from her I will try the alternative path.
I wanted to contact the Canadian Child Care Federation. Their website was very informative. I first tried the email listed under the Global Alliance's webpage, but no one emailed me back. I went on the website and noticed that the lady I contacted is not even listed as a staff, I guess the list needs to be updated. I contacted the new director via email and called him when I did not receive. The person that I spoke with told me to call Monday as he is on vacation.
I really hope to speak with these two contacts and connect with them, it has been frustrating not reaching them right away, but I will practice patience until Monday and I pray it works out well.

Expanding Resources 
For Part 2 of this assignment, I chose to follow the NAEYC's website http://www.naeyc.org/. I chose to follow their website because I should and I do not. I am a member of the NAEYC and I love what they do as an organization. I chose them so that i will challenge myself to visit their website on a weekly basis and know all that they have to offer.