Getting to know international contacts- Part 2

My international contact from Finland shared her thoughts about the issues of excellence and equity in the early childhood field.  She shared her individual thoughts and personal experiences and reminds to regard them as solely her own and that other Finnish kindergarten teachers and early childhood education experts may think differently about these issues.  I am glad she pointed this out as it is easy to make generalizations and assumptions.  She had some interesting things to say.

About excellence:

• We say (or at least some people here say) that early childhood education (ECE) should be high-quality and given by educated professionals. Education is really important for everyone who works with children in early childhood education field but I don' know about the word quality when it comes to children. Well, of course it HAS to be high-quality teaching and care but I think that the quality is so hard to measure in that sometimes one can start to measure wrong things and in the end the measurements don't show if the early childhood education is actually what it should be. Few things of course tell a lot and they are teachers and other workers education (as high as possible), size of a child group (I think in US you call it a kindergarten/preschool class), enough time to play and do things that children desire and what they are interested in.

• Our government is forming a new act for early childhood education. The present act is from 1973 so anyone can understand that it is time to renew it. And its focus is more on children's social welfare than on education so we need a new act. Children's social welfare is of course an important issue as well but ECE is not social work and kindergarten teachers are not social workers. Good, thorough and modern law for early childhood education is definitely one thing what comes to excellence. Now we just have to wait and hope that it's going to be good. In addition to laws we have National Curriculum Guidelines on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Finland (see here in English http://www.julkari.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/75535/267671cb-0ec0-4039-b97b-7ac6ce6b9c10.pdf?sequence=1) which gives guidelines for our early childhood education but is only a recommendation and not compulsory to follow.

• After the publishing the document ECEC has moved from Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to Ministry of Education and Culture and the emphasis of ECE has changed from "ECE as a social operation to ECE as an educational operation". Laws and curriculum guidelines helps excellence and equity in the early childhood field.

• Early childhood education is excellent when children have enough time to play, wonder about the world and do things they desire and they can do these things with peers and with educated adults. This doesn't mean that children shouldn't be taught new things or they could always do only the things that they want to. That is why teachers and other educators have to know children and give them opportunities to learn new things.

• Learning should be fun but some things children learn when they don't have that much fun (e.g. learning to play with some new things or with new children is not always fun at first but when a child learns the rules and the way that play should be played and his/her new friends it will be fun) and here I think adult has a big role.

• Adults have to see what is good for children and that is why teachers have to be educated. By teacher's positive attitude on learning new things and making learning interesting, children engage more on learning and get feelings of success and want to learn more. Because young children's learning is very complete it's important to teach and raise a child in cooperation with parents.

• Parents of course know their own child best and they are their child's experts. Teacher’s role is to be expert on learning and child's development and of course manage group of children and all of their learning. And I believe that early childhood education gives something to children what she/he doesn't experience with her/his parents and family.

• One important thing is planning. Teacher should have enough time to plan the teaching and activities in kindergarten. Well planned education provides excellence in the ECE field in every places.

About equity:

• In Finland every child has the subjective right to participate in municipal or private (all private ones are non-profit) kindergarten or family day care (usually at the childminder's home). As I mentioned earlier the amount of fees are in relation to parent’s salary). It seems that the subjective right is an issue that arouses opinions and discussion. Some people don't support it and some think it's the best thing for children development and learning. Those who don't support it, argue that children who have parent(s) home with younger siblings or are unemployed should be home with their parents. In my opinion, every child despite her/his background should have access to some kind of early childhood education outside home where they could spend some time per day with educated kindergarten teacher(s). This may not concern the youngest children (maybe over 2 or 3 years-old) because it is proved that babies should be and develop with their parents. Of course children with working parents have the right to take part in early childhood which usually is kindergarten. We have discussed that the government would take the subjective right away from children who don't suffer from social problems but I actually don't know what is the situation at this point with that issue.

• All children with working parents don't go to kindergarten. They may have nanny at home or they go to family day care at the childminder's home. The problem with different nanny’s is that they are not always educated and the quality can vary. On the other hand, I have seen great childminder’s so the issue is not that simple. Childminder’s may be educated and usually they get pedagogic support from their bosses who usually are kindergarten bosses as well. The ideal is that every child gets good and professional teaching and care which is individually designed in collaboration with parents.

• When talking about social work and teachers I don't mean that teachers should close their eyes when it comes to social issues but they are specialized in teaching and they should solve social issues in cooperation with social workers and other experts on that field. Teachers should support families when they are struggling with social issues because a child is a whole and when a child feels well she/he is strong enough to be interested on the world around them and learn new things
  
  
  

Sharing Web Resources

The newsletter for this month had a lot of information regarding professional development:

·      They offer DEC's online professional development-

The topic this time is: Addressing Challenging Behavior and Child Learning

The presenters will describe strategies to address challenging behavior and child learning through assessments linked to intervention. 

·      They call to participate in DEC's Lead Academy-
      Applications available now for a four-month cohort-based program designed to bring together leading young professionals from across the country.  Through exploring personal, leadership values and beliefs, participants will:
      * Share their knowledge with colleagues

      * Develop and implement strategies to advance in their careers
      * Empower one another to advocate for themselves and their ideas
      (This sounds a lot like what we do here at Walden University)

·       They promote the DEC Conference on October 7-9, 2014 in St. Louis-

They encourage early childhood professionals to register, serve as a sponsor or exhibitor, register for the pre-conference sessions/workshops, reserve a meeting or event space as well as nominate a colleague or student for the DEC Award.

From the website there was a message that was posted about more information about the UN Treaty on Disability Rights.  With the support of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) I learned that the, “United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international treaty that protects the human rights of individuals with disabilities…Opponents continue to use inaccurate scare tactics to diminish support in the Senate”.  I was shocked to learn that there are “opponents” to such a treaty.  It made me think and wonder who could be against the push for human rights for every person?

Through links on the website I was able to find information that adds to my understanding of how politicians support the early childhood field.  Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole is advocating for the ratification of the disability rights treaty (McHugh, 2014).  Children are included in this treaty and have already been a focus of concern in the past such as how it might be:

…used to interfere with the ability of parents with disabled children to decide what action is in the best interest of their children. Unelected, foreign bureaucrats, not parents, would decide what is in the best interests of the disabled child, even in the home (McHugh, 2014). 

I can see how this is a concern and why when it comes to politics there has be support from people who really understand the situation.  Politicians have to help advocate as it might make huge differences in the early childhood field if they don’t.  

Reference

McHugh, J. (July 23, 2014). Dole Back on Hill to try and push through U.N. disabilities treaty. [Web Article/Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/07/23/dole-back-on-hill-to-try-and-push-through-u-n-disabilities-treaty/

Getting to know international contacts- Part 1

Hello colleagues, I would like to introduce my international professional contact to you all.  In a previous blog assignment in another course, we were asked to learn more information about the education system in a different country.  I had heard a lot about Finland so that is what I chose to share.  Impressed with the education system and the economy there I decided to continue to learn more about the country and was able to contact a Kindergarten teacher * and project planner of the Playful Learning Center in association with the University of Helsinki.

I asked her to tell me more about the issue of poverty in Finland and have learned a lot of information from her responses.  These are some things she had to say:

• In Finland poverty is not that big of an issue as it is in many other countries. We do have people and families who struggle with small incomes and are under our national poverty line and live a quite modest life but our social service system gives money to everyone who either has small or no income at all. Benefits like no kindergarten fees and some free hobbies for children are also made available.

• The tax system is a bit different than in USA.  We pay quite big amounts of taxes but with that money we make sure that our public services are free or demand only a small payment.

• In Finland pre-school (4 hours per day) and everything that children do there including materials, trips and lunch are free. So the poverty doesn't always occur in a child’s everyday life in kindergarten or in pre-school and as a teacher we don't have to deal with poverty as often as in some other countries.

• Still it doesn't mean that we don't have poverty in Finland. You notice it from poor quality clothes and toys. But usually you don't even notice it. Sometimes families from other cultures don’t work but I found that children don’t suffer from low incomes in kindergarten.
  
  
• In bad cases poverty and it's side effects like tattered clothes or old toys can cause bullying and mistreatment from peers. In this case teachers and other workers play a big role. Especially in kindergarten children are so small and are not that aware of poverty or other issues in society. Children may not even notice if someone is poor if all children are treated the same way by adults. In general, teacher's good behavior towards poor children and their families gives a good example to other children how to treat people. This kind of issue may sound small when thinking about poverty and children who don't get food and water every day but that is because in Finland we don't deal with those kind of problems.  This is quite an important and general issue that we have to think about as teachers.
  
  
• Some children come to kindergarten with tattered, dirty or unsuitable clothes for prevailing weather conditions or you can see that a child hasn’t showered for a week. Usually these kind of families do get help for social services and if we notice any neglect of children we call immediately to child welfare inspector and they start helping the child and the family.

• When it comes to learning and development, too often I have seen children from poor families who get only little support or hardly any on learning. Parents who struggle with money don't have time or energy to read books to their children, play with them, have good long conversations or explore and wonder about the world with their children. Luckily in Finland children have to go to school or get home education and soon they have to go to preschool as well (amendment coming soon) where children get high quality education, care and support.

• Sometimes children are referred to kindergarten as a child welfare action. Our education system supports children from every background. Still this isn't always enough and children suffer from their parents low incomes. But because this isn't that simple either, poverty is not automatically the reason for this.
  
  
• Universally I think that poverty is a really big obstacle what comes to education and learning and children welfare. The more people are educated and able to learn new things and aware of what's going on in the world the more they are able to control their lives and feel well.
  (personal communication, 7/16/14)
  
  

One insight I have learned about the issue of poverty is how it fluctuates throughout areas, cities, counties, states and countries.  It seems that poverty has been overcome in some places and that gives hope that there are effective ways to help people who are dealing with poverty.  

*To keep student identities and specific references unrecognizable and private I will not be publishing the teacher's name

Sharing Web Resources

I decided to change my organization, I want to learn more about special education and early intervention programs so the organization I will be researching and reporting on is the Division of Early Childhood.  Their work focuses on helping children with special needs and their families.  Their website link is: http://www.dec-sped.org/

One current issue/trend from the website that caught my attention is from their latest posted news.  The post is a revised set of DEC recommended practices for early intervention and early childhood special education.  These act as guidelines for early childhood professionals as well as families.  Among these recommendations, in the topic of environment they used a term I had never heard of before, “Universal Design for Learning”.  They ask for practitioners to consider the main principles of this theory when creating “accessible environments” (DEC, 2014).   Upon further research I found out that UDL focuses the “what, how and why of learning” to differentiate curriculum based on brain networks that address these questions (National Center on Universal Design for Learning, 2012).  This is a very practical approach to learning for any child and I see how the DEC would recommend it specifically for children with special needs.

Related to diversity, I also learned that the DEC recommends that assessments be done “with use assessment materials and strategies that are appropriate for the child’s age and level of development and accommodate the child’s sensory, physical, communication, cultural, linguistic, social, and emotional characteristics” (DEC, p.7).  I was surprised but glad that they mentioned cultural characteristics as they are sometimes left out.  Furthermore they recommend that “Practitioners build trusting and respectful partnerships with the family through interactions that are sensitive and responsive to cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic diversity” (DEC, p.9).  There are many different types of diversity and it important to keep them in mind when working with children and families.

References

Division for Early Childhood. (2014). DEC recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special education 2014. Retrieved from http://www.dec-sped.org/recommendedpractices

National Center on Universal Design for Learning.( 2012).  What is UDL? [web page]. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl

Getting Ready—Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I searched different websites and found two professionals that I have sent e-mails to but have not heard back from yet.  If I do not hear back from them by next week I assume I will have to choose the alternate assignment for Part 1. 

As far as choosing the early childhood organization I decided to choose Zero To Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families.  I chose them because I remember reading many of their articles in the courses and was particularly inspired by the words of Leticia Lara, the regional manager for outreach and professional development for Zero To Three.  In the video "The Passion for Early Childhood" in the Foundations: Early Childhood course she spoke with such heart and that is why I chose that early childhood organization.

My Supports

My parents-

They support me by always believing in me.  They are always there for me no matter what.  They support me with their unconditional love and advice.  I call my mom and dad every day and go home often to visit too.  We have a very understanding relationship and that benefits me because I am able to count on them for anything.  Family is so important to me and without them I would lose the foundation of my understanding of a positive family dynamic.

My sister-

She is always there for me on a level that no one else can reach.  I always text her and call her because we have so many inside jokes.  The benefits of having her as my support is that she is dependable, wise and makes me so happy because of the fun and understanding relationship we have.  Without her I would lose that level of support, I don’t think anyone could understand me like my sister does. 

My coworkers-

On a workday I look to them for support in different ways.  They support my work and role on the job.  They depend on my expertise and I depend on them to learn new things and collaborate. Even in the lunchroom I know I can expect to have a good time with them.  They support me by making the work environment fun and informative which benefits my work ethic.  Without them work wouldn’t be as fun and informative.

My phone-

I simply had to include my phone because it is the way I communicate with all my human supports.  I also do not have a landline phone so my cell phone is my only support in an emergency.  The benefit is how easy it makes communication because I can call, text and email.  I even use it as my alarm, calendar/planner and set reminders for myself.  Without it I would have to get a landline phone and use the old paper and pen way to note things.  I still use post-it’s a lot but I imagine how much more it would be without the convenience of my smartphone.

Financial Aid-

It made all of this possible.  It supports me financially so that I am able to continue my education to get a higher degree and get a better job.  The benefit is that it keeps me motivated because I know that one day I will have to pay everything back.  Without it I would have to work a lot, keep saving until I had enough or ask my parents for help.

My music-

I love my music so I am constantly listening to it.  It supports my well-being and benefits me by making me happy or helping me get through things.  Without it I would be hard because there never goes a day when I do not listen to music.

The challenge I chose to imagine is deafness.  I learned to sign the alphabet in kindergarten and never forgot it.  In high school I took a year of sign language and got pretty good at it.  If I were a person who is deaf the support I would want would be simple, for people to understand the challenge and be kind about it.  Potential benefits of this support would make the challenge less challenging because there would be a shared, respectful and positive understanding.  The support I would need might be a hearing aid, a translator or a pen and paper to write things for people.

My Connections to Play

Quotes that represent my childhood:

Life is a game, play it. –Mother Teresa

My sister and I played school, store, restaurant, bank… we were literally playing life and we loved it!

Every child is an artist. –Pablo Picasso

I always loved coloring, painting and drawing as a child.  I even earned my Bachelor’s degree in Art and taught art classes to children. 

My essential play items:

Crayons- I loved coloring.  I found some of my old books in the garage and noticed that I used to sign my masterpieces.

Little dishes from Mexico-  I still have them. Some were my mothers that she passed on and some were gifts from relatives.  My sister and I would use these in our restaurant. 

My parents always supported play in my childhood.  They let my sister and I use the living room as our restaurant and were even our best customers.  At my grandma’s house they always made sure to sweep under the dining room table since my sister and I made it into our own little home.  I played with the neighborhood kids once and a while but my favorite thing to do would be to play with my cousins.  We would build forts, play hide and seek even at night, play like we were traveling in the van and play baseball with no bat but an empty plastic juice bottle.  We definitely used our imaginations. 

I feel today is very different.  Technology has made such an impact on child’s play.  Instead of building with blocks they can build with their finger on a screen.  Instead of playing dress up they can tap clothes onto a doll on the screen.  Instead of playing with a Spiderman action figure they can make a digital Spiderman shoot webs and swing through the city.  While it is still hands on in some sense the play space range has really been reduced to sitting or lying down.  The opportunity to use the imagination and real physical objects has been taken away as well.  I hope this can change both in the home and at school.  Children need that freedom to learn by exploring and having fun.

Play has been a big part of my life.  I had a happy childhood where some of my best memories are of play.   I played with everyone even my older cousins, aunts and uncles would amuse me.  They taught me how to play marbles, bingo and different card games.  I still enjoy playing those games and others.  I recently learned how to play a different game of dominoes and Yahtzee. 

I have kept in mind the theory of learning through play and use it to work with children who have learning disabilities at work.  I also help children who don’t know how to jump rope or skip at recess.  I feel like those are things every child should know how to do.