UNESCO website

Browsing the UNSECO website, I found out some interesting papers relating equity, access, and quality.

The E-9 Initiative-  in 1993, nine high-population countries – Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan – launched the E-9 Initiative in regards of access to basic education. These 9 countries meet every 2 years and share their concrete progress among them. Due to the expectations of a growing number of dual income households, there will be more need for ECCE services. Mexico had the highest enrolment rate, 76%, with less private enrollment.  “In general, countries with a higher enrolment rate tend to show a smaller proportion of private enrolments. Public investment has a clearly positive association with expanded access. ”

In Brazil, even though they do invest on ECCE; the north region is the most economically disadvantaged in the country, with and enrollment rate of 39%. Thus, only a small amount of children are enrolled in expensive ECCE public services.  “In Brazil, the problem of inequity may have to do with an ineffective distribution of public resources”. This definitively accentuates my belief about the big role of politicians in the early childhood field.  

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001374/137408e.pdf

Separately, in New Zealand home based early childhood services are preferred among parents, due to the home like environment. Each homebased care at a qualified caregiver’s home has its coordinator. A qualified caregiver must hold Diploma of Teaching. The coordinator assigns a certain number of children for a certain number of hours. I think this is a great strategy for empowering women in the work force and at the same time the government sets its expectations and qualifications.  “Home-based services, along with other early childhood services receiving government funding subsidies, are reviewed externally by the Education Review Office (ERO), the government department with responsibility for reporting publicly on the quality of education in early childhood services/schools”.   The homebased caregiver is also required to attend to professional developments to ensure quality.

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001373/137381e.pdf

More on the Zero to Three website

Follow some of the outside links that you have not yet explored. Where do they lead?

I visited several websites regarding state policies and initiatives related to Quality Improvement in Arizona through the Zero to Three website. One webpage was hacked and the others couldn’t even be found. The one that I could investigate more on was the Quality First rating system in Arizona.  “Quality First is a voluntary rating system that assesses child care centers and home-based providers on safety, environment, curriculum, credentialing, and teaching style”. It is not mandatory and it it’s funded by the state government. When centers enroll to participate they are first evaluated and then they are given an improvement plan with supervising coaches that help them become a high quality program. When they implement the plan they are given funds for equipment, professional development for teachers, and even scholarships for low income children.  

http://www.azftf.gov/Pages/default.aspx

Thoroughly search one area of the site. What do you find?

I read a power point presentation: TOWARD A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR OUR YOUNGEST CHILDREN: Building A Strong infant-toddler Workforce and I found out some really good information. Because the first 3 years of life are crucial, and early experiences shape the architecture of the brain, those who are around young children should be professionals that care and are knowledgeable about child development. “Young children cared for by adults with higher levels of formal education and specialized training in child development have been found to be more sociable, exhibit more sophisticated use of language, and perform better on cognitive tasks”. So this means that the state and federal government should invest to promote high quality professionals, with better compensation for those who make the extra effort.

 http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/professional-development-final-for-web.pdf

If you receive an e-newsletter, follow a link related to one of the issues you have been studying. What new information is available?

In my Zero to Three newsletters the information I receive is regarding child development and parenting, which I happen to love. I have a 5 year old and a 9 month old baby, and to be honest I realized that I’ve forgotten some of the issues regarding parenting with babies. So the information I read has become a mind refreshing.  

Does the website or the e-newsletter contain any information that adds to your understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education?

The zero to three website had as a topic this month the beginnings towards equity in the path of the early childhood field regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) signed in 1993 by former president Bill Clinton. Senator Dodd and Bond, made child care more accessible and affordable for working families. “FMLA guarantees eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, care for a seriously ill family member, or recover from their own serious health conditions”. The FMLA movement was the voices of families throughout the U.S. and the collision of more than 100 organizations that made the noise for policy makers. It wasn’t an easy process; it took several rejections before it became a law.

http://zerotothreepolicy.tumblr.com/

What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain this week from exploring the website and/or the e-newsletter?

This week I’ve learn that there are many factors that contribute to achieve equity, accessibility, and affordability. I’ve learn that the early childhood is a battle field where one needs to fight for what we think it's worth it. I’ve learned that the virtue of policy makers really matters because they help us make our voice be heard even louder and our information is their ammunition.   

Harvard's Global Children's Initiative

I browsed through the Harvard website and found out that the Center on the Developing Child is a center that provides co-funding and professional advisors for different programs around the World such as Brazil and Chile. One of its important contributors was the center Mother Child Education Foundation (AҪEV) in Turkey.

Turkey- in Turkey they have an excellent program for low income families with the purpose to provide equality on educational opportunities. They conduct research, publications, tv education programs, Early Childhood and Family Education, Adult Literacy and Women’s Support Education, Rural Education, Women’s Empowerment, Disability Rights, Gender, and Child Protection. They have partners throughout Turkey as well as international partners. They first investigate what are the needs of the particular region they are helping and then create programs for such needs. The AҪEV programs are available in 65 cities in Turkey. In America they have actually ran a pilot program in Mexico in 2010.

http://www.acev.org/en/anasayfa

Brazil-  Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância is a collaboration between the Center on the Developing Child of Harvard university, and other funding partners. The program is a compiling of information regarding science of child health and development that serves as a tool to effectively communicate recent research to policy makers and social leaders in Brazil. They also have a training program that effectively teaches participants how to create programs, how to advocate for funding, and how to implement the program. It is particularly referred to the problematic of Brazil. You can visit the website for more information.

http://www.ncpi.org.br/en-US/Pages/default.aspx

Chile- the program Un Buen Comienzo strives to improve the early educational experiences of Chilean children (4-6 years old) through professional development for teachers for two years at municipal schools. Their goal is to improve the quality of education children receive with a focus on language development as well as critical health areas. They also have seminars available.

http://www.fundacionoportunidad.cl/?lang=en

Exploring my web resource

What specific section(s) or information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?

The Zero to Three website is totally a professional tool to me because they provide you with a lot of information for those who take care of infants and toddlers, and as you already know my goal is to open up a center that serves infants and toddlers. It shows you different things from recommendations of kinds of play at different stages all the way to advocacy actions and lessons online about child care.

Which ideas/statements/resources, either on the website or in an e-newsletter, did you find controversial or made you think about an issue in new ways?

Definitely the one issue that made me think about in new ways was the impact of child trauma. Recognizing the levels of trauma and how deep the trauma is. Even though we can’t give theraphy such as a specialized psychologist would do, we can learn how to treat the child with trauma and build resiliency for the child and his parents.

What information does the website or the e-newsletter contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field?

The website definitely made me think about the importance of the different fields. From an economists point of view they have different powerpoints talking numbers and statistics about this field. From a neuroscientist point of view they have a plethora of information about how the brain works and its developmental stages. Finally, from a political point of view they have resources on how to advocate for different causes regarding the early childhood field or just to stay informed.  

What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or e-newsletter?

The one new insight that I gained was to know about the provision of childhood mental health. To be honest I haven’t heard about this issue as a strong one in my community. So, exploring more the issue and the challenges of funding this program made me more aware of the situation.