My Final Blog Post for Current Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Course

First of all I would like to say SALAMAT PO! (Thank you), to all of you who have made this past few weeks very educational and interesting. It has been difficult for me to keep on this course because of lot stressors in my life. Being a Second Language English learner myself, has been difficult and challenging because I have to spend countless hours just to put my thoughts together. I almost gave up but (believe it or not) your first response to my first week’s blog and comments from our instructor has made it possible for me to finish this course. Your positive response had made a lot of difference. 

 I learned a lot from all of you and I hope I was able to give back what you have given me. I hope we will continue to support each other until we finish our journey towards earning our masters degree in early childhood education.

During the past weeks, I have learned that countries all over the world have the same issues and concerns about the field of early childhood. Concerns about the quality, compensation, and affordability of child care programs.  The lack of sufficient funding to support early childhood programs have put the provision of high-quality programs in jeopardy. Due to this issue also that only a small percentage of early childhood programs meet standards of excellence and that majority are mediocre or in less quality. Poor quality program has place children at risk in all areas of development. The issue of poor compensation to early childhood educators has led to high turn-over rate of teachers. This factor compromises the well-being of children who needs consistency and stability in their lives. The issue of affordability of child care, particularly for low income families, has kept many low-income mothers from workforce or from educational pursuits, making it more difficult for families to survive this current economy.  

Continuing awareness on the issue and current trend in early childhood education, not just in America but all over the world, will be my main goal in working towards finding solutions to the current concerns of early childhood field. Being equipped with knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting families and children, I will be able to support and continue to advocate for the increase funding on research programs -on the benefit of early childhood program and accessibility and affordability of early childhoo

My International Contact Part 3

The current issue that my contact talked about is the same issue that we have here in America. Teachers are getting paid less for the work that they are doing. Aside from this issue, the lack of funding for schools to provide basic things for the classroom. Children share seats and tables, books and textbooks due to high-adult child ratio.  Basic things such as papers and pencils, and other art materials are also lacking.

For teachers who are dedicated and committed to giving their children the best education and understand the importance of encouraging children to express themselves and their creativity, they take the expenses out of their own pockets. Some teachers can afford to do it but others have their own family to take care too and this situation frustrates them because they know that they can do more to improve the quality of education for these children but there is nothing they can do about it. Professional wise, they do not see bigger opportunities for their career, but given the opportunity to build their own center is one of their ultimate dreams.

She also mentions to me that those teachers tend to shift their profession to housekeeper or nanny in another country because they get paid more than being a professional teacher. It is disheartening to hear to hear this story but this is reality. We have lots of good teachers in the Philippines but were not given the opportunity to practice their profession. Some of them tried to apply for a visitor or tourist visa in America and use this as a stepping stone to look for employment but very few gets the opportunity. She was fortunate ones to get the visa but not fortunate enough to be hired right away. There were private school here in America who wants to hire her but the law requires employer to give priority to our citizens first before importing teachers or employees abroad. They said they will process her papers (visa) and wait for them to contact her again.

I totally support America’s effort to take care of its citizens first, then seek professionals abroad, but only a number of people want to take our work as teachers. Our current situation tends to make our profession the last resort for those people who cannot or do not qualify for another kind of job. The idea of being a teacher or caregiver, because it will definitely land you into employment and the qualification is very minimal is really sad.

My friend told me , if they will be given a chance to fill in the lack of teachers in other parts of the world such as America, she believes that they can expect “ the high-quality of care and education for their children, because we are passionate, hardworking and committed to giving our children a better future.”   

It is unfortunate that they have to seek opportunities abroad but if there are no opportunities in their own country, what choice do they have? It is also saddening to hear that they give up their profession to become a housekeeper or nanny abroad but what can they do to support their families? If there are anything that we can do to advocate for them, get them employment as teachers, let us help them.  

Sharing Web Resources 2

I am very excited to share with you the latest news I gathered from the Early Child Care in New Zealand. I find it very interesting use it focuses on equity and excellence in early childhood field. It gave me high hopes on the future of early childhood education. In spite of the current downfall of the global economy, the New Zealand Government has invested an extra $550.3 million in early childhood education (ECE) over the next four years. It will allow as many families as possible to access quality ECE services where they needed most (http://www.ecc.org.nz/).

  The Government’s priorities for ECE will increase participation for Maori, Pasifika and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds that will benefit the most from ECE, while also controlling the Government expenditure.

Budget 2011 includes:

• $416.7 million over four years to meet increased demand from more children staying in ECE for longer periods of time and population growth.
• $61 million over four years for a Universal Cost Adjustment to Early Childhood Education Funding Rates. The non-salary component of ECE funding rates will be increased by 2.92 per cent. $21.5 million over four years for extending Equity Funding.
• $12.8 million operating and $18 million capital expenditure over four years for an early learning information system to improve information about participation and system performance.
• $20.3 million over four years to extend early childhood education for children in State care and to expand the Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) for families in most need.

Eligibility for Equity Funding has been extended to all ECE services that provide ECE to children from high-need communities. 

I have learned that Equity Funding is being introduced to reduce educational disparities between different groups, reduce barriers to participation faced by those groups under-represented in ECE services. It also supports ECE services to raise the level of children’s educational achievement. It also provides additional resources to ECE services that enrol children from high-need communities, and will be available to all eligible ECE services from 1 July 2011.

Extending Equity Funding supports Government’s priority for ECE, which is to ensure those families who are not currently taking part and who would benefit the most participate in quality ECE(http://www.lead.ece.govt.nz/ManagementInformation/RecentAnnouncements/Budget2011.aspx).

Author Heckman writes, “The logic is quite clear from an economic standpoint. We can invest early to close disparities and prevent achievement gaps, or we can pay to remediate disparities when they are harder and more expensive to close. Either way we are going to pay. And we'll have to do both for a while. But, there is an important difference between the two approaches. Investing early allows us to shape the future; investing later chains us to fixing the missed opportunities of the past. Controlling our destiny is more in keeping with the American spirit.”   

The outside links that I have explored supports the importance of having access to early childhood education. It explains the special attachment between adult and child which forms relationship and enables children to reach their full potential. It also creates a template for how they will get on with others and the type of relationship they will form in the future. It also tackled the issue on how brain connections are formed in response to everyday experiences (http://www.brainwave.org.nz/).  The negative implications on children’s IQ, greater risk of developing emotional disorders, learning disabilities and behavioural problems brought about poor environment and relationship on children were also explained on this site.

The three experts on the importance of the first three years: Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, Dr. Simon Rowley and Lauren Porter share the important role of parent in the first three years of their children’s lives. They encourage parents to give their children plenty of love and attention that will benefit their cognitive capacity, their intellectual performance, and the range of neurological and behavioural outcomes that will influence their how they will do well in life. They also tells parent to enjoy and have fun with their children (www.brainwave.org.nz).

References:

http://www.brainwave.org.nz

http://www.ecc.org.nz

http://www.lead.ece.govt.nz/ManagementInformation/RecentAnnouncements/Budget2011.aspx

Equity and Excellence

Aloha my colleagues!

 My friends from the Philippines were very excited to hear about our blog exchange. They were very curious to know if the information they have given me were very helpful in our course. I told them that I am thankful and very fortunate to have them as resource persons. They gave the website where I can find additional information and updates on the Philippines’ educational system because they will be very busy in the coming weeks because their schools have lots of program for the fall.

Last time, I have mentioned the implementation of the universal kindergarten in the Philippines and the dilemma that they are facing due to the lack of classroom and teachers in early childhood. The intention is positive because they want equity and excellence in education no matter what the status of the people. They want early childhood curriculum be accessible not just for the wealthy and middle class family but even to the poorest community. The concerns are the following: need to build schools and educate and train teachers in the field of early childhood field. The main goal of this program is to improve the quality of education for young children which will help them in the future. They also believed that education is the key to solve the problems of poverty in the country by helping children prepare for primary grade school and compete in the global market.

 This week I saw some positive news about some communities helping out to build classroom and or use of their facilities to accommodate these children. One of the non-governmental organizations that offer help to the program is the Gawad Kalinga.  Gawad Kalinga’s foundation was laid on December 26, 1995 the Catholic community Couples for Christ gave birth to GK which was held for Youth Camp for gang members and juvenile delinquents in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City, the largest slum area in the Philippines. The said program was organized by CFC – Youth for Christ.

In 1999, the first GK house was built for the Adduru family, also from Bagong Silang.^[2] The name "Gawad Kalinga", which translates in the Filipino language either as "to give care" or "to award care", was coined in 2000. The GK Child and Youth Development program aims to develop the skills and talents of the children and youth in the GK communities by inculcating values that bring out their full potential. SIBOL, which means “to grow,” provides value-based education to pre-school children, aged 3 to 6 years old. SAGIP, which means “to save a life”, is a support program for children aged 7 to 13 years old, which consists of free academic tutorials, sports and creative workshops and values formation classes. SIGA, which means “to light”, empowers teens to become productive citizens through sports, creative activities and mentoring sessions.

As part of their commitment to help families and children of poor communities to have access to quality life and education, they offer to build schools and use 300 of their facilities to use as school for children ages 3 to 5 year old. This is in support of the universal kindergarten program of the government. These facilities may not be enough but at least it will be able to cater to children in these communities. It will take time for the Philippines to meet equity and excellence in education in the Philippines but a small step will make a lot of difference. I just hope that they will continue to support the field of early childhood education and make laws that will help families and children have access to quality education in order to make their life better in the future.

Other countries look up to America on programs that promote equity and achieve overall quality yet these answers are found in other countries. We have the answers but it will be up to us to continue to advocate and let our legislature know the importance of early childhood programs in the lives of our children and their future.

                                                                                                                

Unless we reconceptualize American early childhood education research and policy and unless we counter centuries of history to create an early childhood system for all children, our strategies, as promising as they appear, will perpetuate, not prevent, inequity and inequality. America owes its children, and the world, far better (Kagan, 2009).

Reference:

http://www.deped.gov.ph/updates/default.asp

Kagan, S. L. (2009). American early childhood education: Preventing or perpetuating inequity? (Equity Matters: Research Review No. 3). Retrieved from Campaign for Educational Equity website: http://www.equitycampaign.org/i/a/document/9833_EquityMatters_Kagan_Final.pdf
"American Early Childhood Education: Preventing or Perpetuating Inequity?" by S.L. Kagan. Copyright 2009 by Campaign for Educational Equity. Equity Matters: Research Review No.3, Victoria University of Technology, Equity and Social Justice Branch. Reprinted by permission of CAL, COPYRIGHT AGENCY LIMITED via the Copyright Clearance Center. http://www.equitycampaign.org/i/a/document/9833_EquityMatters_Kagan_Final.pd

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gawad_Kalinga

Updates on newsletter about the Early Childhood Council New Zealand

Aloha everyone!

I would like to share with you some news affecting early childhood in New Zealand. There are some articles that were interesting on their site but only members have access on it. I wrote them an e-mail requesting if I can be an auxiliary member but they have not responded yet. Anyway, as soon as I get their reply, I will keep you posted.

I was able to read four articles about the trends and issues in early childhood education. First is about the issue of unemployment which dropped last month. The Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says that unemployment dropped last month especially on the youth sector.

The total number of people on the Unemployment Benefit is now 55,974, the lowest it’s been since July 2009. “The Unemployment Benefit has now dropped 18% since the peak in January last year when 68,369 New Zealanders were on this benefit. “We’ve also seen the number of young people (18-24 year olds) on the Unemployment Benefit drop by 32% from 23,545 in January 2010 to 15,980” http://www.ecc.org.nz/MainMenu).

Seek New Zealand figures show new job ads are 16.3% higher than last year and Department of Labour figures show all vacancies have risen 49.7% since the lowest point in June 2009. There are now 328,355 people on benefits in New Zealand. Though some of the jobs were short term and seasonal, job advertisement on vacancies has continued to grow.

Just like other countries, it has been tough on the economy of New Zealand too. They also have issues of poverty and unemployment which are affecting the lives of families and children. However, they remain positive in their outlook. Any job opportunities, whether it be temporary or seasonal, it will have an impact on families.

The second issue that I read is about the survey on the qualifications for effective teachers.  A recent international survey asked participants what qualifications were seen as being most important in creating effective early childhood teachers. The results from 1,400 voters suggested these as the top-rated qualifications (with other qualifications getting lesser votes):

• 59% Nurturing personality
• 50% Love of children
• 42% Bachelor's degree in early childhood education
• 42% Opportunity to work with excellent teacher
• 38% Creative abilities
• 32% Close supervision and mentoring
• 31% Associate's degree in early childhood education
• 22% Regular participation in local workshops
• 21% Multiple years of experience teaching preschool
• 12% Participation in rigorous in-house training program

They find these ratings intriguing. They wanted to know other people’s reaction on this survey and requested them to share their views on their discussion board or Facebook. This will help them add perspective to this international trend report.

Base on the outcome of this survey, the character or personality of the teachers ranked higher than education attainment. In my opinion, it is really important that teachers should have positive and nurturing relationship with the children. We cannot also dismiss the importance of their educational attainment. What is your reaction?  

Reference:

 Early Childhood Council New Zealand (EEC)
http://www.ecc.org.nz/MainMenu 
(Review also media resources at: http://www.ecc.org.nz/Category?Action=View&Category_id=159)