Getting to know international contacts- Part 3

Here are some thoughts on quality from my international contact from Finland:

• Issues regarding quality that are discussed is the education of teachers and other workers, the content of early childhood education including the amount of children's play, the teacher's ability to handle every child as a person and give an opportunity for every child to develop and learn individually but notice if the child needs special education and provide it to them. 
• In addition to all this teachers should be able to handle a group of children, not only two or three children at the same time. A teacher is expected to be the professional of child development and early years learning.
• Professional development requires thinking. In my opinion, teachers get good abilities from education to develop their professionality but it's only the beginning. The development requires different situations where teachers' have to reflect their work as a teacher, learn from their success and mistakes and develop their thinking. Teachers grow professionally every day while working, but the growing demands support from colleagues and from the director of kindergarten.
• My professional goals at this moment are to improve early childhood education by doing reserach of children's learning and try to influence on early childhood education that children could be able to feel well and enjoy in learning. As a teacher my goal is to give every child the confidence to learn new things, to create possibilities for children to find learning inspiring and get them to realize that the world is full of interesting new things and even the ones who are struggling with learning would find their own ways to learn and trust themselves as learners.
• My one ultimate dream is that kindergarten teachers and their work would be more appreciated and the understanding of the importance of early childhood education would increase. One thing that should definitely improve is the salary. It's way too low considering the demanding and hard work that kindergarten teachers do everyday.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found some information on UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage.

-UNESCO advocates for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programmes that attend to health, nutrition, security and learning and which provide for children’s holistic development.

-Today, early childhood policies are placed within a broader context of social development, gender equity and poverty reduction.

-It is important to note that pre-primary education must promote the child’s holistic development and should not be implemented like early primary education.

(UNESCO, 2014)

These three insights relate to my professional goals.  First, I agree with and believe in the holistic approach when working with children and strive to uphold that ideal in my work.  Second, I understand the impact of early childhood care and development and its affects on greater social issues and try to keep that in mind as I assist children and families.  Last, I also find it important that early childhood education does not loose sight of  the developmental, emotional and social skills that are so important in the early years.  While I understand the importance of preparing children for academic success I also understand the importance of play and hope to share this information with colleagues and families in throughout my professional career.

Reference 

UNESCO. (2014) Early Childhood Care and Education. [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/