1. Soraya is from the United Kingdom, just outside of London. Soraya writes:
In reference to the questions.
Poverty, I can't really report any major concerns, perhaps there are 3-4 unprivileged children within our school but all our children are equally treated.
The children that come from low-income families are provided with free school meals, free morning milk, free extra reading and free school outings, all these privileges are funded by our UK government.
In our class there are 30 children, 17 boys and 13 girls. Age group 5 to 6 year olds in my class.
There is a strong partnership between parents and our school, parents are involved in library duties, sports days, school trips, Christmas parties, summer fair, etc. Within the school we elect 5 parent governors, regular meetings are held to express concerns and views which we take very seriously and act on to improve the everyday running of the school.
Parents are regularly informed of their children's progress, 4 times a year we hold parents evening which is based on a 1 to 1 meeting with each child's parents.
Parents are also welcome to look at their child's work once a week.
2. Theresa if from Australia, close to Sydney.
Theresa is still continuing to do some research on her class and issues related to poverty. I was just recently connected with her, about three days ago, and she wants to do a thorough job in her research on poverty.
Through my exchanges with these two ladies, I was initially very skeptical in finding two individuals from other countries willing to oblige me in issues and trends in early childhood throughout this course. It was very challenging, to say the least, to find these people. I actually had to do some networking with friends I know to find these people. I also learned that these people are a bit nervous about providing me with information on their classrooms and/or community. One teacher said she felt inadequate to share such issues with someone from the United States. I feel I must do my best to make these two ladies feel comfortable in sharing what they can with me and not feel their information has to be too stressful for them to research. To date, I do not feel I have learned any new information or insights about issues of poverty in these countries. However, I feel as the ladies get comfortable with me and these issues, I will have some insights to share with everyone. In short, this assignment is tough!
I have to agree that the assignment is quite challenging to say the least. My guess is that some people are skeptical just as you are about connecting with people they don't know, especially those from other countries. With the way our world is today and the technological savvy of the unknown group of scammers, you just cannot be too cautious. In any event, I applaud your efforts and I'm sure that you and your contacts will make breakthroughs that will defy all of the odds.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, poverty is not ceasing to exist and the more people who get involved in the solution to the problem, the better off everyone will be.
I can totally empathize with you Jana; I have experienced similar challenges. I am hopeful for you, as we continue on this path to establishing professional contacts (abroad). Looking forward to your future posts!
ReplyDeleteI found your information with your conversation partner from the United Kingdom to be quite similar to what the United States offers students the free meals and how the parents are involved and meet with the teacher it seems they meet throughout the year during the grading periods as do the school systems in the United States. Thanks for sharing
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