Final Post for Week 8

Week 8 blog: 

 

There are at least three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field from both my personal and professional development.  One consequence is intended to learn about specific issues affecting early childhood from abroad that are different from the issues impacting my area and ways the country or community is dealing with it.  A second consequence is to learn about the same issues affecting their country and/or community and to learn about how if they are dealing with the issue efficiently or not efficiently.  A third consequence is gaining positive insights as to try new ways of supporting children in their learning. 

 

There is one goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends and the spirit of collegial relations.  The goal, for me, is to stay in close contact with my overseas colleagues.  I enjoyed learning about how they support their children’s growth and development.  I also found it interesting to learn that many of their concerns, especially with funding, are the same concerns my country’s early childhood professionals feel.  I enjoyed learning more about two of the programs from England and Australia and hope to continue gaining more insights from the two countries. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts: Part 3

Getting to Know Your International Contacts: Part 3

 Theresa from near Sydney, Australia writes: 

At the moment in the Sydney diocese schools there is a big push towards Inquire Learning. Each term a curriculum area is selected to be taught this way. There is a coordinator situated in each school to assist and support classroom teachers in this area.  (1 coordinators is a teacher who is released from regular teaching for a ½ day per wk to work on a given curriculum area.) There are also consultants at the Catholic Education Office (CEO) who come out to the schools and assist and advise the classroom teachers on classroom layout and ways to improve so as to give the children better choices in learning- the setting up of effective learning centres. With Inquire Learning, the teachers chose a topic and then the teachers set up 6 learning areas. The children then choose which area they want their learning to follow. The teacher then guides the tasks so as to provide the child with the skills, etc. that they need. The tasks are all about what he child needs. As my friend Debbie works in a 3 stream school, all 3 teachers in yr1 must get together weekly and plan the activities in relation to the Inquiry task.  There focus this term must be science and in particular mini beasts. She is taking in a pile of worms tomorrow for one of the learning centres.

As a support for teachers involved in Inquiry Learning this year, there will also be a conference in April where teachers involved in its teaching in 2013 will be inputting their experiences to aid those involved this year.

 

With professional development, each school system provides inservices for its teachers. Each year the schools are given a booklet outlining the planned inservices for that year. Each teacher is given the opportunity to apply to their principal to attend. These days are fully funded and so teachers are paid their days wages to attend. There are also twilight and after school inservices available. As these are outside of the regular school hrs than no extra pay is given. The CEO also organizes professional development in conjunction with the Universities. The last one I attended was at the University of Wollongong that went for 10 days scattered over 6 mths. It was one that dealt with Autism. Even though I was a relief teacher at the time, my application was still accepted to participate and I was paid to do it.  

 

Each school, regardless of which system they belong to have 4 professional inservice days each year, usually 1 each term. During these days the children do not attend school and the staff as a whole participate in some form of inservicing depending on the needs of the school and staff. These are usually held on school premises but may be held at another venue if warranted.

 

Professional goals? – To work collaboratively as part of a team, to be prepared and so not let others down, to keep up with all the changes and in particular all the technology.

 

Professional hopes and challenges? To be willing to share responsibility- giving over some tasks to someone else and being acceptant of their ability. Using technology to enhance the children’s learning. Keeping up your end of the bargain and not letting the team down. Allowing oneself to enjoy the children and the teaching experience and not get too caught up in the political and mechanical side of teaching.

Soraya near London, England writes: 

1)      No real issues known about as all the staff at our school provide the highest possible standards of quality of care and teaching, in UK all the schools are monitored by a government body called "OFSTED" office for standards in education, all schools throughout Uk are monitored and observed by this government body, they regularly visit our school and sit in on classes, OFSTED use a points system and each school are scored via performance of pupils and teaching abilities of the teachers.

2) Training is provided for our professional development by the government, example I will be attending a pediatric first aid course In next few weeks also we have various other mainly 1 day training sessions.

3) My professional goals are to expand my knowledge working with children and to provide support for my colleagues I work within the classroom, I also provide support for the parents.

4) I hope to develop my skills and learn sign language, I feel this is a skill and a challenge for me in order to have the chance to work with children who require special needs.

The insight I gained from my two colleagues from other countries is that we all have the same general goals in mind:  Helping children.  I also learned these two ladies have similar experiences and concerns as myself.  I like that the Australian school has more special services to monitor and support the educators and teachers during their regular visits to the school.

Sharing Web Resources

One specific section from the Zero to Three (2014) website was on brain development, which is a relevant topic to my current professional development.  The first three years of life are a period of incredible growth in all areas of a baby's development. By age 3, the brain has grown dramatically by producing billions of cells and hundreds of trillions of connections, or synapses, between these cells. Brain development is a lifelong project. Factors that form the brain during development are also responsible for storing information—new skills and memories—throughout life. The major difference between brain development in a child versus learning an adult is a matter of degree: the brain is far more impressionable (neuroscientists use the term plastic) in early life than in maturity. This plasticity has both a positive and a negative side. On the positive side, it means that young children's brains are more open to learning and enriching influences. On the negative side, it also means that young children's brains are more vulnerable to developmental problems should their environment prove especially impoverished or un-nurturing.

http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/brain-development/

 

How does nutrition affect the developing brain?

I thought nutrition should be focused on more as part of supporting brain development, since our focus on brain development has primarily been on children’s experiences.  The following is from the website regarding the importance of nutrition on the brain:

     Brain development is most sensitive to a baby's nutrition between mid-gestation and two years of age. Children who are malnourished--not just fussy eaters but truly deprived of adequate calories and protein in their diet--throughout this period do not adequately grow, either physically or mentally. Their brains are smaller than normal, because of reduced dendritic growth, reduced myelination, and the production of fewer glia (supporting cells in the brain which continue to form after birth and are responsible for producing myelin). Inadequate brain growth explains why children who were malnourished as fetuses and infants suffer often lasting behavioral and cognitive deficits, including slower language and fine motor development, lower IQ, and poorer school performance.

A baby's birth weight--and brain size--do depend on the quality of his or her mother's nutrition during pregnancy. Pregnant women should gain about 20 percent of their ideal pre-pregnancy weight (e.g., 26 pounds for a 130-lb woman) to insure adequate fetal growth. This requires consuming an extra 300 calories per day, including 10-12 extra grams of protein.

After birth, brain growth depends critically on the quality of a child's nutrition. Breast milk offers the best mix of nutrients for promoting brain growth, provided that breast-fed infants receive some form of iron supplementation beginning around six months of age. (Most infant cereals are fortified with iron, and breast-fed babies require this supplementation at six months whether or not their mothers are iron-deficient.) Iron deficiency has been clearly linked to cognitive deficits in young children. Iron is critical for maintaining an adequate number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, which in turn are necessary to fuel brain growth. Bottle-fed babies should receive formula that contains iron.

Because of the rapid pace of myelination in early life, children need a high level of fat in their diets--some 50 percent of their total calories--until about two years of age. Babies should receive most of this fat from breast milk or formula in the first year of life, and breastmilk remains an excellent source of liquid nutrition into the toddler years. However, whole cow's milk can be introduced after the first birthday, and provides an excellent source of both fat and protein for toddlers in the second year. After two years of age, children should begin transitioning to a more heart-healthy level of dietary fat (no more than 30 percent of total calories), including lower-fat cow's milk (1 or 2%).

http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/brain-development/faqs-on-the-brain.html#nutrition

Are there any differences in the development of boys' and girls' brains?

Learning about gender differences added new insights to me regarding brain development.  The information this topic:

Neuroscientists have known for many years that the brains of men and women are not identical. Men's brains tend to be more lateralized—that is, the two hemispheres operate more independently during specific mental tasks like speaking or navigating around one's environment. For the same kinds of tasks, females tend to use both their cerebral hemispheres more equally. Another difference is size: males of all ages tend to have slightly larger brains, on average, than females, even after correcting for differences in body size.

Electrical measurements reveal differences in boys' and girls' brain function from the moment of birth. By three months of age, boys' and girls' brains respond differently to the sound of human speech. Because they appear so early in life, such differences are presumably a product of sex-related genes or hormones. We do know that testosterone levels rise in male fetuses as early as seven weeks of gestation, and that testosterone affects the growth and survival of neurons in many parts of the brain. Female sex hormones may also play a role in shaping brain development, but their function is currently not well understood.

Sex differences in the brain are reflected in the somewhat different developmental timetables of girls and boys. By most measures of sensory and cognitive development, girls are slightly more advanced: vision, hearing, memory, smell, and touch are all more acute in female than male infants. Girl babies also tend to be somewhat more socially-attuned—responding more readily to human voices or faces, or crying more vigorously in response to another infant's cry—and they generally lead boys in the emergence of fine motor and language skills.

http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/brain-development/faqs-on-the-brain.html#differences

Overall, the website is a wonderful resource to use in discovering a variety of new topics and gaining new insights regarding familiar topics. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts: Part 2

Theresa in Australia:

 

  There are 3 levels of government, federal state and local council.Like the States, they all have different responsibilities and fund different things or contribute a percentage. Our school year runs 27th-28th Jan through to a week before Christmas. Most Long day Care Centres

 

Each of the states is responsible for the education facilities within it. There is a National Curriculum (Foundation to Yr 12)in place thus ensuring chn moving home about the country are not educationally disadvantaged.

 

We have 4 basic levels of education- Preschool, Primary, High School and Tertiary.

 

Early Childhood facilities are divided into the following-

1. Long Day Care Centres which takes chn from 6 weeks till they are ready for school. They open around 7am and some close as late as 6pm. Chn that are in the 3 & 4yr rooms participate in programmed learning activities in preparation for school.

2. Pre Schools which generally are open 9 till around 3pm. These have programmed learning activities preparing chn for school

3. Family Day Care. Here chn are looked after by a child care worker in her home. The hours are negotiated between parents and worker. No set program is followed. These are regulated by the local councils who set the no of chn allowed, usually 4 depending on the ages. The workers are supported by the council as far as I know.

 

The Long Day Care Centres and the Preschools can be either privately owned and operated or run by council. In NSW they charge $70 + a day per child (3yr +) depending where they are located. Babies also cost extra. The Govt does help with some funding. The set Govt rate is $70 a day. If parents are on pensions, they only pay any amount above the $70/day. I.e., if the fees are $75/day, the govt pays the $70 and they pay the extra $5 and is automatically deducted before the bill is issued.Parents who both work, even if one parent only works 1 day a week and earn less than approx $120,000 each, they receive a 50% refund off set rate, and if only 1 parent works the refund is 25% off the set rate. With working parents they pay the fees up front and they are then rebated quarterly through the tax office.

 

With compulsory education there are several systems. The public system which is run by the State Education Dept. The Catholic systemic, which are run by the individual diocese, the catholic independent schools, private religious schools and private schools. All these schools have to be registered and follow teaching programs set by the Board of studies.

 

The school year begins tomorrow and in NSW any child any that turn 5yrs by the end of June in the Catholic System, and end of July in the public system can begin regular school. Many parents these days, especially in the better off suburbs are keeping their chn back and not starting the chn till they are 6. Kinder, 1 & 2 ( even though come under the category Early Childhood) are the infant years and as part of compulsory education each child is funded by both the state and federal govt's. Public schools don't charge additional school fees but parent pay some monies to cover the cost of excursions, books and consumables. The Catholic Systemic schools each have their own scale of fees which are paid in addition to the govt funding. The Sydney Deuces for instance has a sliding scale of school fees for the 1st,2nd & 3rd child at school, the 4th and subsequent chn are free. In the Wollongong dieses, you only pay for your first one at school then the rest are free. You do however have to pay book/ excursion/consumable fees for all of them. Irrespective of these fees, if a parent wishes their child to have a Catholic school education and can't afford them the principals have the right to waver the fees. No child is to be denied a catholic education because of money- part of the philosophy. The other private schools set their own fees, and some can be quite high.

 

The other states would work on a similar basis with minor differences. In Qld for instance, the chn start compulsory ed a year later and go straight into Yr1.

 

Soraya in England:

 

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.

     I received new information from Theresa, but nothing new from Soraya.  Soraya said she was having a difficult time providing me with issues affecting young children too much in her area.  I have also learned that both private and public funding is an important part of providing young children with early childhood care.  As far as whether or not the care is high quality is yet to be determined. I am still waiting for more update from both Soraya and Theresa. 

Sharing Web Resources

     After reviewing the Zero to Three website, (2013), I liked the 2013 Federal policy on getting young children ready for school.  I particularly like the fact that it is recognized on a Federal level that young children’s earliest experiences, along with genetic impacts, form brain architecture and take place in the milieu of relationships with caring and nurturing adults, primarily parents.  I also learned that 6 million infants and toddlers spend time in child care, therefore caregivers indeed play a key role. These relationships foster the social and emotional skills, such as confidence, persistence, self-regulation, attentiveness, and ability to form relationships.  These important skills set infants and toddlers on the path to being confident learners, productive workers, and emotionally competent individuals. Emotions drive learning, as social-emotional and cognitive development interlink to form the solid foundation of early brain architecture.

     I also learned about more issues through the necessity in addressing the needs of infants and toddlers across the spectrum of delays and disabilities could be promoted through a “Meeting Early Milestones Challenge Fund.”  The goal is to encourage states and communities to build a more comprehensive network that could connect children with milder developmental disabilities and delays to beneficial treatment services.  In addition, it would underscore the importance of social and emotional development by increasing access to and the quality of Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Services: Direct mental health services funding to increase the availability of mental health professionals trained to address the needs of infants and toddlers. It would also promote strategies to identify and treat maternal depression, beginning prenatally and expand Medicaid reimbursement for relationship-based mental health services (such as therapy provided to children and parents together).  The need to adopt policies and practices at the state and local level oriented toward the developmental needs of infants and toddlers, including assessment; health, mental health, and developmental services; and appropriate foster care practices is also strongly recommended.

     The aforementioned information is the type of information economists, neuroscientists, or politicians all would agree in funding for the benefit of early education.  In addition, President Obama pledges to give $1.6 billion to fund early childhood. 

     The Zero to Three Offers Recommendations for School-Readiness:

     My School Readiness Checklist • Someone who is just crazy about me: talks to me, sings to me, reads me books, plays finger games, lets me explore but is always there • Someone who does all these things when my parents are at work • Good food (even peas) • A place to call home • Being warm when it’s cold outside • Safe neighborhood • A doctor just for kids and one for my teeth (when I get them) • Lots of toys and books • Playing inside and outside • Parents who aren’t worried all the time • Someone who helps me when I can’t do what other kids do.

 

References

Zero to Three.  (2013).  PUTTING INFANTS AND TODDLERS ON THE PATH TO SCHOOL READINESS: An Agenda for the Administration and 113thCongress. Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/federal-policy/