ECE Internationally

In past eight weeks I have had the opportunity to explore Early Childhood Education on a global scale.  I am grateful the course afforded me such chance because I hope to one day impact the field at that level.  As a result:

1. I have learnt that many are committed to the field; their commitment makes it easier for me to reach out for help when needed and afforded me a vast support system as to what I wish to contribute to the field.

2. I now have a multitude of websites, podcasts, and others that allow me to stay abreast of what is happening around the world as far as children are concerned.

3. I have a better understanding of how I can navigate through the UNICEF website and obtain the information I seek.  This particular organization is one of great interest due to the fact that they have been making a difference in my country of birth, Haiti, for as long as I can recall.

With every course my understanding and knowledge of the field grows and I feel one step closer to my professional goals.  I wish to continue to establish at least one professional contact in each corner of the world since I was unable to make contact with anyone professionally in the past eight weeks.  One goal established for this summer is to start with one professional contact in Australia.

New Ideas/Insights

I explored the UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage and found that many are interested in education for all.  The Access and Equity section of the website speaks of urging governments "to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy in favor of the poor. A policy of universalisation with targeting can minimize inequity where governments aim for universal access among the target age group, but simultaneously prioritize the poor." (UNESCO website)  I found this information particularly interesting because one of my professional goals is to universalize preschool for children first in the US then globally.
"The greatest difficulty faced by countries in their efforts to expand and improve the quality of early childhood care and education is the mobilization of resources."  (UNESCO website) This makes complete sense since governments cannot allocate resources they do not have.  Unfortunately, there is never an unlimited amount of resources and distribution needs to be intelligent and effective.  Officials are burdened with the task of deciding where resources will benefit the majority and the task is a very difficult one.
Because many different sector of government affect early childhood it is difficult to coordinate and intergrate.  "Cross-sectoral coordination is difficult, especially at the national level. It is one of the main challenges facing governments of both developed and developing countries trying to promote a holistic approach to early childhood. Responses vary and some countries have sought to remove the problem by integrating sectoral responsibilities into a single ministry." (UNESCO website)

NBCDI Website

After exploring some of the other links not explored, I found that the website offers tips on various ways the organization contributes to early childhood through policy, health, family engagement, literacy, and child welfare.  The policy section describes how the organization only supports policies that are good for Black children and families, supports them, and how they can make life better for said families.
The organization focuses on making sure that black children are reading proficiently by the end of the third day.  They have an initiative going on that ensures reading proficiency for children under the age of 8.  The organization believes that because reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a good predictor of educational success, they provide resources to support reading proficiency for African American children under the age of 8.
The National Black Child Development Institute:
1. Ensure that African American culture is recognized, respected and reflected in child welfare practices, by integrating appropriate cultural competence teaching into social work training and prevention practices, and by engaging in community support practices that encourage family-to-family mentoring and kinship care support.
2. Implement targeted efforts to actively recruit foster and adoptive families that reflect the culture and ethnicity of children in out-of-home placement, given the dearth of licensed African American foster families and adoptive parents.
3. Focus attention on the issues of racial disproportionality and service disparities in child welfare systems with the goal of reducing and ultimately eliminating those disparities.
4. Engage in effective prevention efforts, including parenting and family support practices, to keep Black children safely in their homes and reduce the number of Black children removed from their homes.
The website recognizes the disparities for African American children and works to supplement the educational experience for them. 

Global Childhood Initiative

This week I found it enlightening and encouraging that there are individuals that are taking a stand for children all over the world.  I explored the Harvard University Global Children's Initiative website and was relieved that there are others who feel the way I do.  "The Center’s commitment to global work represents both an acknowledgement of moral responsibility to meet the needs of all children and a critical investment in the roots of economic productivity, positive health outcomes, and strong civil society in all nations, from the poorest to the most affluent." (Harvard Website)  I appreciated that work was being done all over the world to support development of children in countries who otherwise could not afford to do so effectively.
Listed below are a couple of projects the Global children Initiative dedicates its time:
"While a large number of studies have investigated the impact of early childhood experiences on children’s developmental, health, and educational outcomes in developed countries, relatively little evidence is available on early childhood development in sub-Saharan Africa. To address this knowledge gap, the Zambian Ministry of Education, the Examination Council of Zambia, UNICEF, the University of Zambia, and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University launched the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project (ZECDP) in 2009, a collaborative effort to measure the effects of an ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children’s development in Zambia.
Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), “A Good Start,” is a collaborative project in Santiago, Chile, to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. The idea is to improve the quality of educational offerings for four to six year olds, particularly in the area of language development. This project is also designed to intervene in critical health areas that improve school attendance as well as social emotional development, and it seeks to involve the children's families in their education.
My dream to support children globally is becoming more tangible.

References
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/