International Wrap Up

            On a professional and personal level it is sad knowing that children around the world struggle with access to high quality early childhood education.  I could understand some of the “third world countries” having barriers and issues in relation to quality and access.  But some of the leading world powers have problems with quality and access to early childhood.  We are a perfect example of that.  The consequence is that it makes me want to work and advocate even harder for the children in our country and around the world.  We all have issues and that should be seen.  We are not independent of each other in our struggles.  If we can advocate for one, we can advocate for all.

            Another consequence of learning about early childhood on the international level is that I am able to learn from their efforts.  If a country had success with a program, I look at it and see how I can adapt to fit my county’s needs.  Also if something was not successful, I can learn and not repeat the mistake.  At the same, I can analyze it to see why it wasn’t successful and learn from their mistakes as well.  From researching Early Childhood Australia’s website, I came away with ideas and information.  I love how they were a one-stop shop for early childhood in Australia.  My Partnership is looking at redesigning our website.  I would love for our website to be formatted after theirs.  Plus the website also gave me additional resources I can use in the future. 

            A third consequence of learning about international issues and trends is more of an observation that I have made.  It seems that while the US is one of the leading researchers into early childhood, other countries are using our results and really making a difference.  Yes I said earlier we all have issues especially when it comes to quality and access.  But there are countries that are further along in their recognition of early childhood’s importance and making huge strides in advancing it.  We could learn from that.  We need to do more with our own research such as funding and creating or amending our policies.  It would make all the difference in the world. 

            My goal is to stay aware of issues and trends in early childhood on the global level.  I think that is key in making a difference.  By being aware, I can learn and input it into my work on the local level.  My other goal is also to keep in contact with Ms. Smith.  I have learned a lot from her and it would be great to keep that connection strong because it will help me keep in touch with the global issues and trends.

International Contacts Part 3

            One of the main problems is regulating quality in the Bahamas.  According to Ms. Smith, programs have to report themselves in order to be monitored for quality and accountability.  The issue is that some programs do not report and register.  Steps and policies are being advocated for so that all programs must register.  This also brings up another issue: monitoring.  Apparently the programs that are registered are not properly monitored due to staffing issues.  Again, policies are being drafted to address the staffing issue. 

            The ability to obtain an Associate’s Degree in early childhood is plentiful in the Bahamas.  Almost every higher learning institute has early childhood programs and certificates.  This is helpful since there are several islands that make up the Bahamas.  Most people obtain their Bachelor degrees through online learning although some of the schools do offer the program.  The Bahamas has not seen the push for higher degrees in early childhood even though the thoughts and policies behind early childhood are great.  Her hopes and dreams revolve around increasing the standards for preschool teacher education. 

            Ms. Smith and her colleagues are advocates for increased education and monitoring of standards.   She feels blessed that her country takes early childhood education seriously and is included in the Ministry of Education department.  Her hopes and dreams include increasing quality and the ability to properly monitor all programs.  The biggest challenge is the geography of the Bahamas themselves since they are a group of islands.  Tourism is also another challenge.  Potential staff for early childhood is drawn to the tourism industry because it usually pays better.  Ms. Smith hopes that more money from tourism will be put into early childhood education and draw more people to the field. 

Sharing Web Resources

            While exploring the Early Childhood Australia website, I explored several of the outside links.  The major one I explored lead to http://www.mychild.gov.au/.  This website is a parent’s dream for childcare information.  It gives parents information on different types of childcare, what facilities are in their area, the facilities’ fees and availability, etc.  The website also has many helpful links for parents to learn more information about children’s health, development, and well-being.  It also serves to provide links to parenting and family support services.  It is a one stop website for parents needing information on children, childcare, and help in Australia. 

            One area of the website I searched was about the National Quality Standard Professional Learning Program (NQS PLP), which is implemented by Early Childhood Australia in 2011.  The NQS PLP is a program designed to help the field better implement the Early Years Framework in every day activities.  It is Australia’s version of Early Learning Standards.  The NQS PLP helps teachers and other professionals find ways to implement these standards in their classroom.  Social media and discussion forums allow teachers across the country to discuss successes, idea, challenges, etc.  It also provides them with additional professional development and support. 

            From the e-newsletter, Web Watch, I found a link to an article that discusses an issue we have talked about this week, and that is access to early childhood.  The article can be found at http://greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/national-childcare-survey-shows-parents-sector-can%E2%80%99t-afford-cuts.  A national survey was conducted that showed prices were going up for families that had children in childcare.  Costs for childcare are going up and owners/directors are passing that cost to the parents.  The article calls for additional funding for early childhood from the government to help ease the burden of costs.  Another issue is that many families are not able to find available care.  The facilities are filled up and families are put on an endless waiting list.  So you either need childcare and you cannot get it, or you have it and are paying a high price for it. 

            The information I found corresponds to the issues we have been discussing.  People have issues to accessibility and struggling to implement early learning standards to increase quality for all children.  I think the biggest insight is learning more about the NQS PLP.  I think a program like that would be beneficial in the US but it would require national early learning standards.  But I do like how it is set up to let teachers communicate with each other to learn and develop. 

            Another insight I have gained this week is that Australia seems to be more open with parents.  There is a ton of information for the parents to access.  It is also either written in user-friendly terms for the parents or early childhood terminology is explained.  Parents have access to a wealth of information and it is found online.  The websites have a wealth of knowledge for parents and it is like a one stop shop.  If they are able to access one website, there are links to others.  Although for some parents this might be a bit of an information overload.  However, I find that in the US it seems more difficult for parents to get access to information.  Websites and resources seem to be more geared to professionals in the field.  I think we need better access to parents and Australia seems to be a good model for this initiative. 

International Contact-Part 2

            I finally made contact with someone!  It dawned on me that one of the facilitators of my Cultural Competence Collaborative has international contacts.  I was correct and pointed me in the direction of the Bahamas.  I made contact with Ms. Smith who is the director of a school that serves children from preschool to 9^th grade.  I was able to learn a lot about excellence and equity in the Bahamas.

            Since I had studied school readiness for my Discussion, I talked to Ms. Smith about the concept.  She is able to see how children transition from the preschool years to the primary years due to the wide range at her school.  Like I learned in my Discussion, school readiness is dependent upon standards and achievement gaps.  The Bahamas have not been able to hide from any of these issues.  She admitted that the government was a strong supporter of the early childhood years because they realize their importance.  However, this knowledge and support has not translated into policies and laws for early childhood like she would like to see.  Standards are not what they should be.  Due to the low standards, there are variances in the quality of schools.  Ms. Smith runs a school that keeps high standards but knows of others that do not and the children that attend that school.  Those children attend the school because that is all their family can afford.  Ms. Smith is able to keep her children school ready and close the achievement gaps due to high standards and her school.  It is easy to help guide that huge transition when everything is under the same roof.  She also commented that she works with dedicated individuals that help contribute to her successes in this area.  She acknowledges that she is lucky especially compared to other schools on her island.  The biggest issue that she continues to face is polices and government support.  According to her over the past few years, this has greatly improved.  The government has created a Ministry advancing early childhood with a program called INSPIRE.  INSPIRE was created to help children who cannot get access to early childhood programs.  This program provides materials and other services to these children.  She is excited to see how this program improves the lives of these children.