Beginning my journey in research...

After completing my course on early childhood issues and trends, an article stood out for me that discussed the inequalities in teacher education. For my entire career I have been told that teachers who possess college degrees in early learning will provide better childhood outcomes than those who lack formal education. One of the articles I had read in that course also shed light on the differences in programmatic approaches to learning. Essentially, colleges turn out numerous graduates in early childhood education across the United States yet each graduate brings a different skill set and beliefs to our field. I have also observed teachers, who were parents, conduct the most meaningful activities with the children which has made me ponder if the degree is truly more important than experience with children.

All things considered, my subtopic will be to determine if teacher education is more important than experience with children. I have spent many hours researching the library and looking for articles on this topic and realize that I need to learn how to effectively search for the right criteria. I have entered several variations of the subtopic into the search bar and have come back with results from all fields of study including surgery and technology through higher education. If anyone has any tricks on how to effectively search for articles, I would greatly appreciate it!  I feel it has been difficult to locate specific articles that focus on early learning teacher quality. I have had the most success in searching the ProQuest database and creating a "My Research" account that has saved my chosen articles to reference later.

I have found the construction of the research chart to be a meaningful experience as it has helped me to truly focus on the material presented. I see myself inductively researching this topic especially since I have come across other articles that tie into my subtopic but are not specific to the topic. I located one that went on to compare a two year education with that of a four year education. This was something I had not considered prior to researching.

Consequences and Goals

As I reflect upon the journey of the last 8 weeks, I remember how excited I was to connect with someone from another country and learn about their successes, challenges, hopes, and dreams. I believe I obtained so much more than I ever thought possible. I understand we are to write about three consequences of this project, but I believe a consequence equates to something of a negative nature. I honestly don't believe that I have had an negative experiences, but I do have questions. I believe my awareness of issues has increased dramatically. This project has made me ponder if England can work together as a nation to develop a system of free preschool, why can't the United States? If the general theme of working in child care is the feeling of our profession being too absorbed in paperwork and less time with the children, why aren't we standing up and fighting for a change more often? In seeing that even England admits their system is faulty and they look to Scandinavia, why is the US looking at individual states for a best system, when one may exist across the ocean?

My goal for our profession would be to have the adoption of a global early learning office that would be represented by all. A colleague of mine recently went to a conference where early learning professionals spoke from all areas of the world. While most talked of high quality and endless paperwork with low pay, the representative share her experiences in watching numerous children die year after year because they lack the resources to maintain a hygienic environment. My staff complain about needing 17 steps to change a diaper, this person is burying children due to diarrhea.

 I would also like the United States to focus more on the social and economic impacts of quality early learning. As I have read in numerous articles, that for every dollar invested in our field, the return on investment is $7. Why are worrying about "bridges to nowhere" and funding Super Bowl commercials. Sorry, this type of funding will only promote the growth of prison cells. I want to keep by children out of them unless they're visiting on a field trip.

Opportunities in Excellence

I was able to gain some insight into the early learning system in Australia this week. My colleague shared the same issue we are discussing this week in that the profession is not recognized as a true profession despite the educational requirements and other standards. She went on to explain that education continues to be on the chopping block instead of increasing funding. I learned that they, too, are inundated with paperwork and feel they have less quality time with the children.

She is currently traveling throughout various areas of Australia and documenting her work on naturalistic playground spaces. She has attended a training Bush Schools training in which they work to truly incorporate the outdoors in a naturalistic way without the additional plastic playground equipment we typically see. (Archimedes Training Information ). She wishes to continue this training and travel throughout Europe to continue her research. She is truly passionate about children learning through sensory activities but sees that families look for more concrete examples of how their children are progressing. While Julia did not share vary many details regarding the requirements of their professional development, she did share that she is required to maintain first aid certification as well as child abuse reporting, courses in the health and safety domain and child development.

I see many of the same issues in the US are also experienced overseas. I knew there was a tremendous amount of work to have my professional recognized as a profession in my state. I did not realize that these same struggles were so far reaching. It's very overwhelming to now understand the magnitude of our challenges!

Exploring England

This week's assignment had me thoroughly searching the http://www.early-education.org.uk site. In looking deeper into the site, I found links to educational policy standpoints in England, Northern Ireland, Scottland and Wales. Each link leads to a resource for the country on their viewpoint of the progress and barriers of early childhood education. I chose to further delve into the England document. I found that they have 4 guiding principles that are very much in line with what we have been learning thus far in our coursework. They speak to the importance of relationships, recognizing each child as an individual, the components of an effective environment and how learning and development are inter-related. Several other links are embedded into the document such as the direct link to the agency that certifies facilities.

While this site does not offer a free newsletter, they do offer a subscription to their magazine that is published 3x per year called "Early Education". Archived issues are stored within their archives. They also offer a variety of free downloadable pamphlets. One that I found enlightening was on the topics of babies and how they learn on their first day. I recently attended a training that was on high quality infant/toddler environments and the trainer lacked supporting documentation on the topic. This pamphlet would have been useful to connect her presentation with supporting documents.

In correlation with awareness, accessibility and affordability, England tends to struggle as much as the United States in eliminating these barriers for families. England strives to provide free nursery school for 3 and 4 year olds for 15 hours, yet the connection with funding such a program and childhood outcomes has not been made. The following is a link to the site that further explains these issues:
http://www.nao.org.uk/report/delivering-the-free-entitlement-to-education-for-three-and-four-year-olds/ In researching this site, I have made the realization that the US is not alone in the fight for funding in supporting early childhood education. It appears we all need the money to support children and families, but this need has forced educators to put additional stresses on children to prove they are worth the money. I wish there was another way to fund our future than relying on others to do so.

It's a Small World After All

While I have to admit that I have not had much luck in conversing with people from the websites I have chosen, I did explore the Global Children's Initiative site and found that they are working on three main activities in their advocacy efforts for ECE.

The first project includes working with high level leaders across the globe to share research in an effort to educate policy makers on the true science of child development. Just the ability to communicate with other countries and stand unified in a cause is amazing to me.

The second project includes linking the health and well being of children to the positive outcomes. As I have learned throughout this coursework, stressors have a tremendous effect on learning. For example, linking cases of Malaria and it's effects on overall development in children in Zambia or the effects of war on children in Sierra Leone.

I feel that I have always supported the concept of providing a secure environment for the children in my care. Often times, I have still observed that some children need additional support services through our Mental Health specialists in our region. The need for these services reaches across our oceans and into other countries. Something that made my awareness increase was the funding provided to support children with HIV/AIDS in Rwanda. Based on our discussion boards recently, we've been so wrapped up on standards and curriculum, that we may have lost sight that other children need services to survive first rather than preparing them for Kindergarten. If we can't meet their primary needs, how will we ever meet their secondary ones?

I believe that each person looks at what excellence is as something completely different. After reviewing the Global site, I believe in the 3rd world countries, the ability to survive into adulthood would be considered excellence, while in the more industrialized nations, the ability to obtain a college degree with the foundation set in ECE would constitute excellence. I reviewed The Australian Early Childhood Network page and found multiple posts on what professionalism means to the member. Things like completing reflections or just having a mind set that no matter what is thrown at you, you are a professional.

England - Issues/Trends

In exploring http://www.early-education.org.uk, the publications and resources area has been the most beneficial to me in my career. In this area, numerous leaflets are available for professionals as resources on topics ranging from how to improve outdoor play options to helping children cope with change.

The concept that made me reflect and pause was the fact that all 3 and 4 year old are entitled to 15 hours of nursery school for 38 weeks. While I have yet to find out how this is supported financially, I recognize what a tremendous support this must be for families. In Northern Ireland, approximately 90% of children ages 3-4 may have funded preschool however there is no guarantee that the family will receive funding. In the event that the need surpasses the availability, spaces will be awarded to those families in socio-economical disadvantaged area and four years olds. I wonder why one country is able to fund early learning successfully, while another cannot guarantee placement.

The economists are debating about funding the 15 hour nursery school and what methodology creates the highest return on investment. While the report did not share long-term child outcomes, it did discuss variations in the concept of single funding formula and whether the local regions participated. It appeared that many of the respondents represented in the survey felt this type of funding would be a disaster as they felt their programs were already high quality and located in low income areas.

Based on the information I have reviewed thus far, I believe that England has some of the very same challenges that the US has in promoting quality and retaining highly qualified teachers. Another issue that I feel is prominent in my own facility includes whether or not to incorporate technology into the classroom. Our ERS standards have all but diminished screen time based on the lack of developing relationships and other vital skills. The above site has a leaflet that includes various ways children of all ages (including infants) are exposed to technology and benefits of inclusion. Their stance was that today's children are born into a techno world, why not embrace it?

Introducing...

I have reached out to two child care organizations and have learned a lot about child care services overseas. While I have not been able to obtain personal names of the people who are posting on either site, I have gained insight into programming.

I am following the Grafton House Day Care Nursery located in England. They have posted various pictures of various foods they use to supplement children's lunches with. Some days the pictures are fruits or rice pudding, but I have also seen they offer a baked potato topped with cheese. The offer free day care for 15 hours for 2 and 3 year olds. I have yet to learn how this is possible. They are in the process of participating in a walk to "Stomp out Hunger" by wearing willies (appear to be rain boats of various colors).

As mentioned in a previous post, I am also following the Australian Early Childhood Network. Again, I have not been able to obtain a specific persons name who runs the page, but have recently read a post that they shared regarding readiness age for formal schooling. They posted an article from England praising their system as well as Finland. The article can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24058227. It appears to me that we all look to other countries for better ways to meet children's needs. Maybe if we took a little from each other's cultures, we'd have the perfect system!

I have learned that poverty can have far reaching effects beyond the ability to pay the bills. Poverty also effects primary needs of food and housing as well as mental health issues and education. I have also located an agency in my local area that provides funding to assist those who live in poverty. They are a grant agency that manages donations from philanthropists and matches them with worthy projects. I am pleased to see that an agency like this exists in my area.