For this assignment I asked both of my contacts for
information on the four questions.
1. 1. What
issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed
where you live and work? My contact
(#1) from Italy said that there are so many children who would benefit from a
quality program but there just aren’t enough there to help all the children. My contact in UAE (Abu Dhabi, #2) said that
until recently early childhood was not given much importance, as it was
regarded as merely babysitting. She said
that everyone there has to have a labor card or work permit to work in any
organization.
2. 2. What
opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist? Contact #1 said she believes there is a lot
of information and research but too often she has seen people with knowledge at
their finger tips and ignore it. There
are special trainings designed around the curriculum and yet when the teachers
return to their classrooms they fail to implement or even more frustrating when
the administration does not let you implement the program correctly, as they
never attended the training. Contact #2
said that the education ministry has
realized that ECE is equally an important field and therefore teachers have to
have at least teacher training to work as a preschool teacher. For this reason
the ministry of education offers training program which they are insistent that
every unqualified teacher must take.
3. 3. What
are some of your professional goals?
Contact #1 Promote early identification of developmental delays and to
help teachers not be afraid to mention their concerns to parents. Contact #2 – The ministry of education has
also begun to realize the need for standard curriculums that cater to the
developmental needs of the children. Companies
are now hiring qualified individuals in education and curriculum to develop and
prepare the curriculum, this is where I would like to work.
4. 4. What
are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges? Contact #1 she wants to change children’s
lives for the better and to know at the end of the year that I have done my
very best to teach them. Her dream is to
find a way to make districts provide more than just the minimum services for
special needs children and to ensure that their services are not based on
funding but rather on need. Contact #2 stated that she loves teaching, but somewhere
down the line I would like to get to the things behind the desk and be part of
the preparation and building a curriculum that is developmentally appropriate
based on all the knowledge and learning that I am getting.
The conversations that I have had with my contact in
Italy, I can tell she and I have the same passion for working with special
needs children and that she wants all of her children to be successful. My contact in UAE has given me the
opportunity to look at the education system of another country that is totally
different from what one is a custom. I would like to say thank you to both of my international contacts for their support during this course.
Hi Wanda
ReplyDeleteI have been interested in following the information from your international contacts, especially the individual from Italy as she seems to have a focus on children with special needs while speaking about all children in a holistic manner. At this time I works exclusively with children with a diagnosis of autism and have found that many childcare settings do not accommodate the needs of children with special needs adequately. This can range from needing to rearrange the furniture in the classroom, to increasing the amount of interaction needed to engage the child. Some of her previous comments also motivated me to take a second look at the Reggio Approach to teaching and the benefits of this model. The North American Reggio Emilia Alliance has an e-newsletter available at http://www.reggioalliance.org/narea/communication_and_networking/e-newsletter.php if you are interested.
Carolyn
Hi Wanda, I am so sorry about the way Itlay do not have any help. I did know they have to a work labor card to work thier. I also like the way you said that you like to change children live because that the way I am.
ReplyDeleteHi Wanda,
ReplyDeleteIt has been very interesting reading the information you obtained from your contacts. The response that your first contact said to the question about professional goals stuck out to me, "Promote early identification of developmental delays and to help teachers not be afraid to mention their concerns to parents." Having a connections with parents is a huge part in the professional field of early childhood. I think that at first everyone is afraid to reach out to the parents and mention any type of concerns they may have for their children but once the effort is put out, the parents will most often want to work with the teacher to ensure their child is receiving the help that they need. I hope that your connection is able to reach the professional goal they set forth for themselves because it is so important that teachers have confidence when forming relationships with parents.
It appears that we have the same concerns in the U.S. as others working in other countries..A lack of programming and the stigma around the work. Public will building and systems building work should be part of any early childhood policy. We need money to build a greater system of early childhood, to sustain and build programs as well as create a new face for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWanda,
ReplyDeleteIn your post as well as in mine, we see that the same concerns are in other countries as well as the United States. I think it would be amazing to have an Universal set of standards, don't you? We all want to change these lives of children, for the better. You have had some wonderful international contacts and we have all learned a lot from them. We can always learn from each other.