Why are International Resources Important?

Learning about resources beyond our immediate communities is critical for development of our personal knowledge as well as for enhancement of our immediate communities. The world is becoming a smaller place. Technology has improved awareness of global issues. In North America, immigration occurs for compassionate, economic and social reasons. Access to international contacts provides us a more holistic perspective of local and global issues; ensuring the well being of our communities and newcomers to them. We become more alert and culturally responsive to the families who enter our early education environments.

 

 

International organizations that support children and families also bring awareness and understanding of the social emotional, physical and cognitive development of children on a global basis. These developmental stages of infants, toddlers, children and young adults occur similarly across the world. However cultural and cognitive abilities of parents; as well as stressors including war, parental stress, poor nutrition, exposure to teratogens and poverty have varying impact on child development. 

Governments across the globe recognize the changing needs of the communities. There are significant variances in levels of need, relative to geographic location. Within all communities, there is a challenge in place to support parents, families and children to improve outcomes in early childhood with the intent of building stronger societies and economies in the future.

Communities improve when families meet the needs of their children. This occurs when communities must find solutions that are inclusive of children and families regardless of special needs, cultural diversity, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation. They must be supported in the most enabling, safe and caring environments that target the optimization of child outcomes based upon the ability of the child. Highly qualified early education professionals promote awareness. Inclusive practices can include supports that meet language, cultural, and exceptional learner needs can be bridged through welcoming environments, translated supports and technology that facilitate learning and communication. Sites like the Harvard University Centre on the Developing Child and National Association for the Education of Young Children are tremendous resources for early education professionals.

Web based resources provide access to strategies and solutions that target the needs of individual communities. These resources and best practices can be used to engage local government and business must be engaged through evidence based practices. Trusted web based organizations or Associations are effective venues to access reliable evidence based information. They house the collective experiences of various groups, addressing positive practices, social justice, health development and strong communities.

 

Flags.  Retrieved June 22, 2013 from http://www.ucalgary.ca/international/

Getting to Know International Contatcts -UNESCO

Six weeks ago to become more informed and gain understanding about issues and supports in the work beyond my border, I reached out to several organizations in Europe who offer the Step by Step Program.

 There were also some contacts made with organizations that address issues related to early childhood.  I have been receiving regular newsletters from Australia WebWatch and Harvard University Centre for the Developing Child. 

 

 

This week the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) website was examined. 

 

The scope of UNESCO’s resource and research is tremendous.  As noted in the title, they target a variety of issues that impact this planet.  Youth are provided tools to become engaged through innovation and collaborative practices. Information is presented in text, video and auditory formats which  address relevant issues associated with academic, health and life skills development of youth around the world.   Some information is accessible in a variety of different languages including Spanish and Chinese. This site also  supports effective practices for teachers, highlighting hands on teaching.  The range of issues and resources offered are extensive, but I was fortunate to find several resources that focus upon early education and Inclusive Practices.

 

Linking Literacy and Outdoor Education

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYLrDiPH9sk

 

Language for Learning: Preschoolers- uncaptioned

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AL1IDGCVAo

 

 

Top Tips for Early Years Practitioners

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joqVklnnPoY

Promoting Inclusive Teacher Education Series retrieved from http://www.unescobkk.org/resources/e-library/publications/article/promoting-inclusive-teacher-education/

English Language Learners within a Response to Instruction and Intervention Model

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJCBW1V8ufs

References

People Forming a Globe. UNESCO . (2013). The International Bureau of Education  Retrieved June 15, 2013 from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/en.html

UNESC0. (2012)  About Us (Website) Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/

 

 

Sharing Web Resources

As the journey of learning continues, I have discovered there are so many resources to investigate. Given my time constraints, it is important to access websites and sources that can easily be accessed and provide information in a variety of formats to meet multiple objectives.

Early Childhood Australia Web Watch (ECA WebWatch) is a resource that does much of the work for early education professionals. In each addition of the newsletter, it addresses all the subjects that align with early education including but not limited to funding, standards, health, developmentally appropriate practices and professional development. It does the work for us by providing accessible links to organizations that have addressed these topics of interest. These sites summarize the information into documents or newsletters with foundations in evidence based practices.

For example, I was curious about an article targeting Self Sufficiency in Early Childhood. The link took me to Care for Kids Website. This website appears to assist professionals and parents to find and secure programs for their children. I like it because I can quickly print off evidence based information to share with parents or colleagues. It also addresses the high cost of childcare. Also contained within the website are other  subjects and resources noted below that can be accessed with a quick click.

 

 

•general information

•cost of child care

•child care centres

•family day care

•nanny, au pairs & in home care

•babysitters

•before / after school & vacation care

•pre school

•work & child care

•health & child care

•child care tool kits

•safety & security

 

 

Resources

Girl and Boy (A-Z of childcare). CareforKids.com.au® .(2013). Child care articles, tips and parent guides.  Retrieved June 09, 2013, from http://www.careforkids.com.au/

ECA WebWatch. (May, 2013) How to increase children’s self-sufficiency.

(Website). Issue 162.  Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/early_childhood_news/eca_webwatch/eca-webwatch-issue-162-may-2013.html

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

As I wait for my European contacts to reply to my emails, I have investigated other International websites.  There is a wealth of free of low cost resources developed to inform the practices of early education professionals.

 

The Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child has a site, the Global Children’s Initiative. It focuses upon a unified multidisciplinary approach including education, behavioral sciences, business, and government to research, serve and improved upon child outcomes. This website provides written and visual supports highlighting successful approaches within the early education field worldwide. There are links to Centers and initiatives in Brazil, Zambia and Chili.  Multiple short videos associated with the topics of child development are also featured. Many can be found in a variety of languages. Videos highlight topics such as brain architecture, toxic stress and foundations for life long health. This resource can be found at :

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/inbrief_series/

There are also PowerPoint resources to support professional learning communities.

 

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) provides options for continuing education credits. This site also offers free access to archived webinars. Through NAEYC, I down loaded the presentation Challenging Behavior and Culture – A Connection? Creating Culturally Respectful ECE Environments, presented by Barbara Kaiser. In this 30 minute presentation, she defines and identifies factors that impact cultural identities and reflects upon the role that culture has on our development. Participants address the impact of culture on their own performance. This presentation addresses the juxtapositions between school and diverse cultures. It culminates with some practical solutions that can easily be implemented within the early education environments.

 

References:

Center on the Developing Child. Harvard University. In brief series.  Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/inbrief_series/

 Children in a Line. Harvard Center for Developing Children. (Website).  Retrieved June 02, 2013 from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/about/

Children  with .  Harvard Graduate School of Education.  Retrieved June 02, 2013 from http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news-impact/tag/center-on-the-developing-child/

Early Childhood Investigations(Executive Producer). (May 15, 2013).   Behavior and culture – a connection? Creating culturally respectful ECE environments. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodwebinars.com/presentations/the-connection-between-culture-and-challenging-behavior-creating-caring-culturally-respectful-early-learning-environments/

National Association for the Education of Young  Children.(Website).  Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/