Communication and Collaboration Final Blog

This week I attended a training and participated in an activity that was very appropriate to this current class on Communication and Collaboration.  The activity involved 5 participants who were each given an envelope that contained three pieces of a puzzle.  But, the pieces did not match .  For the activity, the members of the group had to exchange pieces to gather three pieces that would fit together to form a square.  However, according to the directions,  the participants couldn't talk and couldn't take from anyone else.  At first the group still tried individually to put their pieces together.  Then some of the members decided to give others some of their pieces.  As a result one person had a completed puzzle while everyone else still looked on.  Eventually, everyone got the idea and began to freely give their pieces to the others and quickly each person was able to complete their puzzle.  This simple activity had many good lessons.  First, it made us realize the importance of communication.   This activity would have been so much easier had the participants been able to talk to one another.  Second, a lesson about collaboration was learned.  Had the group not shared what they had or did not give up something to others,  no one would have been able to complete their puzzle.  A willingness to give and put the needs of the group ahead of individual needs helped the group make progress and achieve it's goals.  

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my colleagues from this course.  I appreciate your willingness to share and collaborate.  I know that I learned more as I read all of your discussions and blogs and got feedback from all of you.  Thank you!   

The Stages of Teams- Adjourning

Teams go through various stages including forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.  Forming is when a new team comes together and the members are getting to know each other.  The storming stage follows as conflict occurs over roles, relationships and ideas.  Teams who learn how to get past the conflict and work together then enter the norming stage.  During this stage team members put aside individual goals to achieve the goals of the team.  Some teams stop at the norming stage.  However some teams move onto the performing stage where they can problem solve quickly and effectively.  At this stage team members trust each other, they are interdependent and can work without the guidance of the leader.  At the adjourning stage, the team members say good bye to each other as the project ends. 
I have been a part of various teams during my career.  Some teams that I have worked in have never gotten past the storming stage whereas others have functioned at the performing stage.  I believe that adjourning from a group that is performing well together is the toughest group to leave.   One team that was difficult for me to leave was a group of child care providers who I worked with in a consortium.   The group was together for almost 10 years.  During that time the members came to trust each other and work well together.  At the end of the consortium, we had a luncheon as a celebration.   The members still keep in touch years after the end of our group. 
Adjourning is an important stage for teams, because it offers members an opportunity to celebrate successes and say goodbye to each other.  In preparing to finish my degree in the next 6 months, I will be saying goodbye to a group of people that I have experienced this journey with.  Although not a traditional team, we have come to know each other through the weekly discussions and posts.  It will be a wonderful to be able to celebrate the conclusion of our classes and the receipt of our degrees together. 

Dealing with Conflict in Relationships

Handling conflict in life is inevitable.  Whether in work or my personal life there are times when I have had to handle a disagreement.   I currently work with a child care practioner who often sees things very differently than I do.  We share similar goals because we both want her program to do well and we both want what is best for the children and families.  We differ however because I often read rules and regulations very literally whereas she looks at them very liberally, challenging what is allowable and what is not by "reading between the lines".  Currently this practitioner has been asking for my "approval" of something she would like to include in a grant application.  I am not sure of an answer because I have no knowledge or experience that what she is requesting will be allowable.  The provider however wants me to say that I agree.   We have conversations and although we haven't found agreement, we have maintained a working relationship.  Some things that have helped me to manage this type of conflict is that I don't involve my emotions.  Even though I am frustrated at times,  I always maintain my professionalism and talk with this practioner without getting emotional, using the "It's not personal, it's business" approach to the conflict.   Second,  I handle the conflict and don't avoid it- I remain open to discussion.    Third, when I am not certain of an answer to this practioners questions, I ask others in my office to get clarification.  I focus on the facts and avoid getting into a philosophical argument with the practioner. 

To my colleagues who are also taking this current class on communication,  do you deal with situations like this and how do you maintain working relationships when you have a conflict or a misundersstanding?

Evaluating My Communication and Listening Styles

For this week's assignment,  I completed three self assessments concerning my communication styles and listening:  1. )  Communication Anxiety 2.) Verbal Aggressiveness and 3.) Listening Styles.  I also asked my husband and a colleague complete these same assessments to provide me with feedback regarding how others view my communication and listening.  I was surprised that there was only one difference in the scoring of all the assessments between my scores and that of my family member and colleague.  My husband rated my communication anxiety as very low and judged me to be very confident in my communication whereas my colleague and I noted that I am uneasy in some situations but that I generally don't worry about communication.  The difference in the scores between my husband and I was substantial- over 10 points.  This surprised me as I thought that my husband and I would differ on my verbal aggressiveness rather than anxiety. 

My husband, my colleague and I rated my verbal aggressiveness as moderate.  The results of this assessment show that I maintain a good balance between respecting the viewpoint of others and arguing the facts without  attacking the person.   

Concerning my listening style, my husband, my colleague and I rated me as people oriented- trusting of others and an empathetic listener who is concerned with the emotions of others.  This result actually surprised my husband who after completing this assessment commented that he felt that I am action oriented- more business like, preferring clear to the point communication.   (I think this is because my husband can never make up his mind and I often have to push him to get to the point and make a decision.) 

The insight that I gained through this assignment is that apparently I have perceived my own communication and listening skills accurately since my scores for the most part matched that of my family member and co-worker.  I would agree that I am an empathetic listener, that I will argue with others but keep my arguments factual, and that even if I am slightly uneasy in some communication situations, I tend to not display that uneasiness or let it affect my ability to communicate in a number of situations.  Since I work on a daily basis with people in a variety of one on one, small group and large group situations it is important that I am able to communicate effectively.   

Communicating with Diverse Individuals

I  believe that I do communicate with others differently based on the situation rather than their affiliation with a social group or culture.  I can see this when I speak with different sized groups or groups made up of different audiences.  I am much more conscious of my language when speaking with larger groups and also when speaking with others in a professional manner versus when I am talking with family and friends.  However, overall, I believe I speak to others as I would want them to speak to me.  I tend to be polite and genuine in my communication with others regardless of who they are.  The three strategies I would identify when communicating with diverse individuals would be:

1.  Be mindful.  This means being aware of your own behavior as well as the behavior of others.  Looking for signs from non verbal communication  as well as being aware of the potentially unintentional messages that you may be sending through body language.  It also means thinking before you speak and considering the possible effects of what you are going to say. 

2.  Be Respectful.  Regardless of whether you share beliefs with the person you are communicating with or not, it is important to be respectful in communicating.  Appreciating others who are different will help to appreciate their different ways of communicating and interacting.   Appreciation  can be built by getting to know the person you are communicating with. 

3.  Listen.  I believe that every person wants to be heard.  I think it is an important skill when communicating with anyone regardless of culture.
 

Mike and Molly

For this week's assignment on communication, my instructions were to watch a show that I don't usually watch without the sound and try to determine what the relationships were between characters just by watching the body language.   I chose to watch Mike and Molly.  While watching the show there were a few relationships that were obvious by the body language but at times the body language did not indicate the real relationships of the characters.  

Some of the relationships that were obvious were the relationships between Mike and Molly.  The first scene showed them sitting in bed together, hugging and kissing so it was obvious that they were in an intimate relationship.  However it wasn't obvious whether they were married or not.  The second relationship was the relationship between Mike and his police partner.  There was one scene with both of them dressed in their uniforms eating a meal together. It was pretty obvious that they were partners for work.  Later scenes showed them in "street" clothes hanging out together so they obviously had a friendship beyond work.

Some relationships were more difficult to discern merely through body language.  In particular in the scene with the police officers, a lady enters the restaurant to talk to Mike's partner.   She hands him a box, they both get up and walk toward the door.  He attempts to hug her when she holds her hand out to shake his.  It wasn't until I watched the show with sound that I realized that this relationship was an affair that ended after the women went back to her husband.  However it was obvious through his body language that he was sad throughout the rest of the show. 

Other relationships that were not obvious were the relationships between Molly and her mother and sister.  I guessed that she was friends with these characters only to find out they were related.  Another relationship that was not obvious was the relationship between Molly and her mother-in-law.  I guessed that this women was a nosey neighbor who came to Molly's yard sale.  Actually, it was her mother in law.  The final relationship that was not obvious was the relationship between two of Mike's friends.  When I watched the show without sound I really didn't think these two characters were friends.  The one friend rolled his eyes, and at times looked very annoyed at the other.  When I watched the show with sound, this particular exchange was full of sarcasm but the two characters were friends. 

Through this experience, I learned that powerful messages are communicated through body language.  Without sound, I was able to focus on body language only.  I noticed that closer relationships were characterized by physical closeness between people and physical contact.  I also learned that sometimes body language could be deceiving as was the case during the exchange that had sarcasm involved.  In fact body language in this case was completely misleading and did not match the relationship.  I believe this can happen when underlying feelings are being covered up or differ from the words that are used.  In fact, body language can indicate underlying feelings that may differ from the words being said. 

A Great Communicator

When I think of someone who is skilled at communicating, I think of my brother.  My brother is employed as a business manager, but I often joke with him that he should have been a politician or a lawyer.  This is because of his skill at communicating in a way that makes people listen and like him.  What makes him a good communicator?  First and foremost, he speaks with integrity.  Unlike a politician however he doesn't tell people things that are not true in an attempt to "win them over".  Instead he speaks truthfully.  If he tells someone that he is going to do something,  he does it.  He also speaks honestly.  Sometimes he is so honest that I wonder why others don't get mad at him.  He is the friend that will tell you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear.  For that reason, I think others respect him.  He also speaks with confidence.  I think when a person speaks with confidence others tend to listen.  Finally, my brother is a good listener as well as a speaker.  Most important,  he is very good at not only listening but "reading" people and adjusting how he communicates and interacts with them based on his intuition and the situation.

I have often wanted to be a great communicator like my brother.  His frank honesty that is delivered in a way that is helpful is something that I need to be able to do in my work to address any issues that may arise.   In addition, I work with many different types of people in various situations, so reading others and adjusting my communication in those situations is an important skill, one that I am still practicing.   

Diversity in Early Childhood Edcuation- Goals for the Future

It is my hope that early childhood professionals would learn to value differences when working with young children, families and colleagues.  Working in the world in which we live today, differences are actually the most common element of our work.  Instead of fearing or judging these differences we need to embrace them as part of the world in which we live.  Difference does not mean "deficit" or "wrong"; it simply means that it is beyond what may be common for us.  However, we need to also consider that what may be different for one of us, may be common and normal for another.  Working with differences pushes us out of our comfort zones...but it is through this experience that we learn and grow not only as early childhood professionals but as human beings.  So this is my goal for the early childhood field-  lets value each person for their uniqueness and lets teach our young children to be open minded and respectful of differences so that we can create a future in which diversity will actually seem common and not "different". 


A note of thanks:   Thank you to my classmates.  It has been a pleasure getting to know you this semester through blogs and discussions.  You have taught me a lot about diversity and helped me to grow both as an early childhood professional and as person.  I wish you all the best and look forward to future classes together.  Thank you Dr. Sheri for your support and for feedback throughout this journey over the last eight weeks which encouraged me to step beyond my own comfort zone and helped me to gain a true appreciation for diversity. 

Welcoming Families from Around the World

Imagine that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon.  How would you prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family?

For the purpose of this scenario, I am going to imagine a family from Russia.  
First I think that it is important to have materials (handbook, program information, etc) that are in the primary language of the family.  I would also learn some of the families language so that I could communicate with the child and family even though it may be limited.
Second, I would arrange the learning environment so that it represents all of the cultures of the children in the class including items from their cultures. 
Third, I would welcome the family into the group for an enrollment visit and get to know the family and their beliefs and values as much as possible.  I would ask the family to provide me with information about their child and family. 
Forth, once enrolled I would incorporate the child and families' information into how I work with the child and family, to make their experience in the program relevant to them.
Fifth, I would make sure that I watch for any issues of bias and prejudice, addressing any issues immediately to resolve them.
 Being prepared for any family to enter an early childhood classroom will help the children and the family transition into the program and help them feel at ease. It will also help me to meet the needs of this child and family and form the relationships that are so important in the early learning environment.

Banning Children from Restaurants...A Recent Example of Ageism

The Today Show reported this week that more and more restaurants are jumping on the bandwagon to ban children from their restaurants...citing recent restaurants that have established "child free policies".   This follows similar reports on major news networks and newspapers in the past few months about restaurants across the country banning children  up to the age of 18.  In a poll on facebook, the Today Show asked "Would you be likely to frequent a restaurant in an evening that banned kids?" (http://on.today.com/14CsRQF).  Comments to this poll spanned both sides of the issue from people who eagerly welcome a restaurant environment that is free of "crying, whining and loud" children to those who stand in support of children's rights and remind others that on occasion parents need to eat something other than fastfood.  But there is a much bigger issue behind this report.  Is this another instance of discrimination in our country? Are children just the latest on the list of groups to feel the rejection of institutionalized discrimination?  The old saying "Children should be seen and not heard"...echoed through my mind as I read this story. 

My reaction:  The parent of two young children and an Early Childhood Professional, I feel that I must advocate for children and families in this instance.  I have taken my children to many restaurants at all times of the day and sometimes later than 7 pm because of family outings.  I can remember one instance when we were eating at the Olive Garden in Altoona, PA.  We were seated close to a couple who was obviously on a "date".   The couple quietly talked with each other, and held hands as they ate.  After they finished eating they walked up to our table and expressed how they enjoyed watching our family eat.   The couple was very nice and we took it as a compliment, but it also reminded me of how our family, in particular our children, are watched and judged by others when we are eating out.  As working parents, my husband and I enjoy spending our free time with our kids and that includes eating out on Friday evening, Saturday or Sunday.  I can't imagine going to a restaurant on a regular basis without them.  At other times, I've noticed that in some restaurants we have visited that all of the families with kids are seated in the same area of the restaurant all together and away from other patrons.

Do we forget in our society that children are people too?  They have rights just the same as any other person.  As Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, stated     
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."  The question I would pose is...what does banning children from restaurants say about our society? 
Another quote, one by Dr Suess,  reminds us ""A person's a person, no matter how small." 
So until we as a society recognize that children have certain rights, and understand more about child development, then children will not receive equitable treatment.   

Just a little something extra...

Microaggressions

Have you ever said something that offended someone?  Has someone ever said something to you that offended you even though that wasn't their intention? Whether it is an intentional assault on someone else, an unintentional insult or invalidating someone else's feelings, these microaggressions often occur in everyday life and the results can be psychologically and emotionally harmful to the recipient.  Microaggressions are often targeted at people due to their race, gender or sexual orientation but can be aimed at any person identified with any ostracized group.   As I studied this week about microaggressions,  I was made more aware of these instances as I observed interactions around me and also as I interacted with others. 

While traveling this week I was standing outside of a hotel when the valet opened a car door for someone pulling up to check in.  The valet obviously recognized the couple and welcomed them back to the hotel.  The gentleman commented to the valet "When we pulled up, my wife said "There's that guy that looks like Arseno Hall that was here last year".  The valet didn't respond but went about his work.  This struck me as an inappropriate comment as I stood there and watched and I wondered what the valet really thought of these guests.  I wondered if the valet had been offended.  Had I been the recipient of that comment I may have been offended because it really devalues you as a person when someone refers to you as someone else or views you only by a characteristic.  What may have been meant as a compliment could quickly turn into an insult.   I know how I would feel if someone referred to me as Melissa McCarthy...lumping me into a category with someone else based solely on one characteristic without knowing my name or anything about me.

Observing for and considering the implications of microagressions this week, has made me more considerate of others.  It has made me review  my own actions, the things I say to others and how someone could be unintentionally offended by something I say. 

My friends' perspectives on Culture and Diversity

For this week's blog I enlisted the use of facebook to ask my Friends how they would define culture and diversity.  The following are the responses that I received

• Diversity-celebrating differences and culture maybe the way we live/things we believe that make us unique
• Culture our beliefs and how we live. Diversity different cultures, different races ......etc....
• Diversity deals with variety and culture is more the ideas/beliefs of a group of people
• Culture- our environment, family, beliefs- how/where we are raised has the impact of who people become. Diversity is the difference of all people in their differences of race, beliefs, language, culture... And all other differences that people have. 
• Culture ~ our religious beliefs, food, fashion, music, family function. Diversity ~ the things that are different about us such as culture, and ethnicity. it seems that when we use the word diversity it is used in a positive way. Our differences that allow us to function together. Just a thought.
• I define culture as the traditions, beliefs and religions of specific groups of people. Food, home styles, clothing, parenting styles, education and government define the culture we live in. I define diversity as an inclusion and acceptance of people with differing abilities, beliefs, religions and ethnicity.

Reviewing these answers based on what I have learned this semester about culture and diversity I noticed that many of the answers actually contain more that what would normally be associated with culture-dress, holidays, artifacts and food- the surface things that people usually associate with culture.  Instead the answers contained many references to deeper culture, including beliefs, family function, language, traditions, the way we live which could be reference to things like gender roles, relationships, work, ideas about education, etc. I also saw reference to diversity including more than just ethnic diversity.  Diversity actually includes many aspects like abilities, beliefs, class, etc.  One aspect of culture that I did not see included was showing emotions.  I think that this is a part of culture that is easy to overlook because we may not associate emotions to culture as much as we would attribute it to individual tendencies.  However, I believe our culture has a great deal to do with how we express emotion.  As one of my friends pointed out diversity actually seems to have positive meaning referencing how differences can actually be viewed as a positive thing.  Another friend pointed out that how people are raised has an impact on the people they become.  SO TRUE!  As I have learned throughout this course, culture is the lens that we view the world through.  This is so important for the young children who we care for and educate.  They are so impressionable and even at the preschool age they are figuring out their own identity and how they "fit" into the world.  They often form their own identity by seeing how their parents fit into the larger culture of our society.  This has a great message for Early Care and Education Professionals.  We need to make our programs reflective and of the cultures of the children and families with whom we work.  We also need to build relationships and partnerships with the families of the children.  Last but most importantly, we need to be respectful of the children, their families and their cultures despite how that may differ from our own culture.  All children deserve to feel safe and valued.  One way that we can do that is to show them that we value them and their families. 

My Family Culture

This week's assignment:  A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.  What would you take?  How would you feel if upon arrival you were told you had to give up two of the items?  What are any insights gained as a result of this exercise?

The three items I would take that represent our family culture are:  a Bible, a scrapbook, and a SMART phone.  The Bible obviously represents my families beliefs and values.   I also keep things to remember loved ones in my Bible...cards, pictures, etc. of special occasions.   I use the Bible to guide my daily living.  When I have a dilemma, I look for the answer within it.  I have often found it not only helpful but also a comfort during all the different times of my life.   The second item I would take is a scrapbook.  The scrapbook contains memories and information about things that our family has enjoyed doing from swimming to taking vacations and the things we do everyday life.   Our family culture revolves around spending time together and being with one another.  The third item is a cell phone because it represents the connection to others from the use of facebook to reading about current happenings on the internet and music that is a part of our everyday lives. Everyone in my family loves music...from Gospel to Top 40 hits.  But most importantly, the cell phone represents my connection to others through the phone and also through social media.  I talk with other members of my family daily and share stories with friends and family using facebook.

If I had to give up two of the items...my bible and the connection with family and friends would be the hardest to give up. I would probably keep however my cellphone because I could access on online Bible and also have photos and memories that I have stored on it.  That is if the other culture has internet access...  If it is completely different then the chances are that cell phone and internet service are not a part of that culture. In that case I would keep my Bible.   

The insights I have gained during this exercise is that my family culture is not necessarily tied to material things.  I found it difficult to identify things that represent my family culture...my family culture goes beyond the "stuff" we have.  It's more about our beliefs and our time spent together.  I have other things that I have collected from my relatives...a chair my grandfather made, dishes that my grandmother gave me, etc.  but these things are just things and only hold value due to the memories and the people that gave them to me.  So to say that culture goes way beyond the "stuff" is an understatement.   This holds true for children when they are a part of the early childhood environment.  Including culture means more than having food and items that may or may not represent a child's culture,  It means recognizing and valuing the beliefs and the family's way of doing things.  Culture goes far beyond and is much more significant than "things" (Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O., 2010).

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) pg. 56.

My Reflection on Research in the Early Childhood Field

For the last eight weeks, I have studied about research in the early childhood field, and as a result learned a great deal about research from the terms used to how to plan a research project.  In addiition to planning research, I have learned valuable information about researching topics on the internet and how to determine whether or not a website and the information was reliable.  I have also learned how to read research papers with more ease and comprehension.  

Often during the last two months, I have found myself thinking about research duriing my everyday work.  I often find myself  thinking "that would make a good research question" and asking myself "would I use a quantitative or qualitative approach to studying that question?"      Before taking this class, I considered research as something that was completed by scientists and not early childhood professionals.  I now realize that early childhood professionals have the ability to gather information and conduct research projects that can provide valuable insight into the field of early care and education.  

International Research

This week I reviewed European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) website. at http://www.eecera.org/journal/ to answer the following questions:   

What are some of the current international research topics?  It was interesting to learn that many of the same topics that researchers and early childhood professionals are researching in the United States are also being examined in other countries.  The issues of transitioning children, school readiness, the professionalism of child care, access and quality are being examined. 

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?  While reviewing the website, I found a study that was completed in Greece about Parent Perceptions of Quality in Early Childhood programs.  The study compared the results of the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale Parent Questionairre (ECERSPQ) with the results of the ECERS-R  that was completed by trained professionals.  The study was large with over 500 parents participating.  The results found that in general parent's perceived the program as being a higher quality than the trained observers.  I was very interested in the ECERSPQ as a way to study parent perceptions of quality.   A brief search for more information about this tool did not yield results.  However it gave me some ideas to use as part of the research simulation on parent perceptions of quality in early care and education. 

 What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?  The access to the journal articles on the website provided another source of information for my studies.  It was a great to find these journal articles. 

The Benefits of Research

Research in the field of Early Care and Education has contributed to a better understanding of how young children develop and grow.  Brain research has identified the importance of the first five years of life in the overall development and learning of  children. Also,through research we have identified that quality early childhood programs benefit young children,  families and communities.  These benefits include less grade repetition, lower dropout rates, higher school completion rate, improved health and nurition, improved social and emotional behavior, improved parent-child relationships, increased earning potential and economic self sufficiency.    Research has even helped to identify what practices create quality environments for young children to grow and thrive in. 

Dispite my initial concerns over ethical questions, I have gained a better understanding of the importance of research in the Early Childhood Field this week.  I have also learned how research is guided by ethical guidelines and principles that have been designed to protect subjects from being harmed or exploited.  The overall contributions to the field of early care and education have been significant. 

Research Simulation Week 1

Researching information on the internet this week brought to mind the saying "Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.".  I actually considered using this quote as part of my discussion post for class this week.  However,  when I "googled" it to find out who authored the quote, I found conflicting answers including Edgar Allen Poe, Benjamin Franklin and Proverbs.  This simple search illustrated to me how difficult it can be to find accurate and trustworthy information on the internet.  After all, anyone can post things on the internet whether it is true or not. For this reason, I have always approached using information from websites cautiously and have relied on ones that I am familar with to get information.  This week's study has helped me to distinguish the credibility of websites and information by looking at indicators of credibility, accuracy, reasonableness and support.  I found this extremely helpful in my searching for information.  
As I begin my research simulation, I have picked the topic of quality child care and narrowed it down to three subtopics including the effects of quality child care on children's development especially their readiness for school,  parent's perception of quality child care and evaluations of quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS).
I chose the topic of quality in child care because of my passion for working with child care programs to improve quality.  As a former child care director who now works as an employee of a QRIS program, I am very interested in looking at ways that quality can be improved in child care.  As a working parent, I am interested at how quality programs can be made available to parents who need a safe and healthy place for their child to be while they are working and how quality influences a parents decision in choosing child care.  At this point I am going to focus more on parent perceptions of quality and how this affects their choice of child care.  Because the definition of quality can be so broad and can depend on perception, I think it's important to take into consideration the perspective of parents.  Afterall, they decide on what type of early care and education program to enroll their child in. 

Lessons Learned- International Early Childhood Education

Over the past eight weeks I have studied various websites and podcasts about the international early care and education community.  In addition, I have reached out to collegues in other countries to learn more about early childhood education as it exists around the world.  This has been an eye opening and rewarding experience to learn about how other nations view  childhood and provide early care and education to young children.  It has given me a glimpse into cultures  and experiences that are very different from my own and expanded my knowledge about how issues like poverty, equity, excellence and diversity, affect children around the world and how early care and education programs worldwide have addressed these issues.  In addition, I have also gained knowledge of resources and information that I can use in my work.  But most importantly, I have recognized that the early childhood communtiy worldwide is more alike then different.  We share similar goals and we have a wealth of knowledge that can be shared with each other to benefit all children.  So while there are better educational systems than ours in the United States and many that suffer greater challenges,  I believe there are lessons we can learn from the successes and failures of other countries and in turn much that they learn from our successes and failures.   My goal for the field of early care and education is to consider what we have in common with early care and education professionals around the world and to find ways that we can provide better early care and education by sharing our experiences and learning from each other. 

UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage

This week I reviewed the UNESCO’s “Early Childhood Care and Education” webpage (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/), The three insights I have gained include:

 1.  The country ECE profiles that are part of this site provide valuable information about ECE as it exists in other countries.  I have found in reviewing the information that other countries are struggling with the same issues of equity, affordability, quality and access.  I look forward to reading more of these and learning about my counterparts in other countries.

2.  The international resources from books to videos are also another source of imformation.  The video of the early childhood programme for the nomadic Loipi of northern Kenya was very interesting and to me reinforced my belief in focusing on the whole child- from nutrition to socialization- as part of early childhood education. 

3.  In addition,  the policy briefs are very informative.  Upon reviewing the brief "Preschool Class for 6-year olds in Sweden: A Bridge between Early Childhood and Compulsory School", I found it interesting that lowering the entry age of children for school was a concern in Sweden because of their view of childhood as "a golden time of life" and that lowering the entry age would take away a part of childhood.  This echos my own concern that a focus on academic standards in the United States could lead our early educators to use practices that might take away from our children "being kids".

After reviewing this website I plan on adding it to my list of resources to use and refer to. 

 

 

Sharing Web Resources- The Global Summit on Childhood

My search of the ACEI website this week took me to a video of the Global Summit on Childhood held in Washington DC in March of 2012.  The feature speaker was Christopher Clouder from the U.K. who spoke about his work traveling the world to study childhood.  He began his inspiring speech  by saying “I dreamed that life was joy.  And then I awoke and realized life was duty.   And then I went to work and low and behold I discovered that duty can be joy.  We have a duty to all of the children in the world.   We are very fortunate that we work with children and can experience this joy that children bring to the world.”  Clouder described the early educator’s relationship to children by saying  “children inform us, children inspire us” and that we as educators are in search of that” quality of childhood that has a joyousness to it.”  He also described how educators from around the world are brought together often to discuss problems…” When we work together, so often we see what is deficient, what could be better, what is not right, the injustices, the cruelity…but we should not let that  fact be a burden”  Instead he pointed to the fact that as early educators we need to work together to “find those roots of childhood joy”  and that is “what encourages us to go back to our individual struggles, the challenges we face in our daily world knowing that we are with others finding that childhood quality that lives within every human being throughout their lives.”

 

Clouder also spoke of working with young children by saying “When working with children we have to be respectful to the child, they are our teachers.”  He described teaching as a reciprocal process rather than a one way process of the teacher giving a child knowledge.  

 

Describing the future of childhood and of education, Clouder said “We have to find our paths as we go along…we are also always learning our way.  The childhood of us is not the childhood of today and the childhood of today is not the childhood of the future.”  

Clouder read a quote from a declaration that UNICEF put together about the future of the education system worldwide, basically coming to the conclusion that educational institutions of the future must  put more emphasis on children’s social and emotional capabilities.   It also stated that the importance of acquiring factual knowledge will decline significantly in favor of the ability to find access to and creatively utilize information.  

 

Although,  Clouder was not discussing the specific topics of accessibility, responsiveness and awareness his speech was an inspiring reminder to me of the reason that we as early care and education professionals work in this field.  Earlier this week in my discussion post I described ways in which early care and education professionals can be more responsive to the needs of children and families.  I included in my post the fact that child care workers should be paid better and that professional development and technical assistance should be available to programs seeking quality.  These are some of the things  that I have often seen as barriers to providing responsive care and education in child care.  However, most child care workers are not working in the field of early care and education to become rich.  Instead they work because of the joy of childhood that Clouder described in his speech.  I visited a program as part of my work this week and as I talked with the director, she spoke about her dedicated staff.  She said that even though her staff only make minimum wage ($7.25/hr) they have dedicated their lives to the families and the children.  The director told me of how her staff paid for their registration fees and spent a Saturday at a conference without being paid because they wanted to.  I realized that a responsive early childhood educator is more than someone who has a degree in early childhood and makes substantially more than minimum wage.  They have a passion for working with young children and they continue to learn and grow as part of the reciprocal relationship with the children and families.  Education alone does not make a great teacher.  Likewise, more pay does not make a teacher better.  It takes heart, dedication and a love for the joy of childhood.  Passion for working with young children is a quality that is priceless.

 

 Reference

Clouder, Christopher (2012) The Future of Childhood.  The Global Summit on Childhood Retreived from:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7r-idxHixo&feature=youtu.be

 

Equity and Excellence in Early Care and Education

This week I listened to a podcast by Maysoun Chehab is the Regional Early Childhood Care and Education Program Coordinator, at the Arab Resource Collective (ARC), a not-for-profit non-governmental organization based in Beirut, Lebanon to  raise awareness of child rights and providing training early childhood caregivers on best practices.  She described her most rewarding projects as the psychosocial support project after the war in Lebanon in 2006.  During the war, 126 primary schools were destroyed.  The ARC trained parents and teachers about the children’s post conflict emotional and social reactions.  Maysoun commented that they found that they had to provide the parents and the teachers with support first so that they then would be better equipped to support the children.  It is important that parents of young children are taking care of themselves so that they can better care for their children.  This reminded me of Head Start and Early Head Start program in the United States.  In HS/EHS, parents and families are provided with supports because they are viewed as the child's first and most important teacher.  Parents are encouraged to acheive family goals which support the families economic and social well being and ultimately supports the learning and develop of the children in the family.

An Economic View of Child Care

This week’s review of the website National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies http://www.naccrra.org/ lead me to two articles that I found particularly interesting as a result of studying this week about the way early childhood education is viewed by economist, politicians and neurobiologists.  

“How parents are making budgetary trade-offs to offset the cost of childcare”  By Susan Johnston September 4, 2012  Retrieved from US News and World Report http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2012/09/04/dealing-with-the-rising-cost-of-childcare and “Child Care costs exceed rent in most states” by Emily Jane Fox @CNN August 16, 2012 retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/16/pf/child-care-cost/

Both of these articles used information from the NACCRRA website to take a look at the economic side of child care for parents and for centers.  For parents the cost of child care is getting increasingly difficult to pay.  To quote the article by Emily Jane “While the experience of raising a child may be priceless, the cost to provide care for them is getting to be more than most parents can afford”.  This is the issue that economists and politicians alike are and should be concerned with.  As parents and families are spending more money on child care, cost for other expenses like food and gas are also on the rise(Fox, 2012).  In addition,  in 35 states the cost of infant care exceeds the tuition at a four year public college (Johnston, 2012) and costs more than rent payments in 35 of the 50 states for a single child and exceeds rent payments in all 50 states when paying for two children (Fox, 2012).  As child care costs are taking more and money out of the pockets of working parents, families are spending less on other things like entertainment and travel (Johnston, 2012).  

The flip side of this issue is the side of the child care programs.  Why does child care cost so much?  Why are programs raising their rates?  It comes down to the cost of care.  In addition to the fact that child care programs are feeling the effects of economy along with every other part of our society, an increased need for higher quality has also added to the price tag of care.  As Marsha Basloe, executive director of New York's Early Care & Learning Council was quoted in Fox’s article stated "We have very high regulations and standards, from the ratio of teachers to students, to training and education standards, and that leads to a greater cost,".  Quality care is important especially since it has been linked better outcomes for children in later years.  To summarize the data about quality, basically it means that children attending quality early care and education programs are more likely to be successful in school and in life.  And quality simply costs more.

One of the quotes from Fox’s article that I found particularly interesting and somewhat controversial was a comment by David Abuaf, chief investment officer at Hefty Wealth Partners in Auburn, Ind., explaining  that rising college costs contribute to rising service costs, including childcare he was quoted in saying "The cost of educated people has outpaced the demand for regular goods."  I related this statement to the fact that research has linked the education level of child care providers to the quality of care provided creating a need for the wages of child care providers to rise to cover the cost of their education and also for child care centers to recruit and retain quality providers.   

But to pay those wages, child care centers need to increase the cost of care for parents.  

So how do programs balance the cost of quality care with the rates they are charging parents?  How can we as a nation provide quality and affordable child care to all of the children and families who need it?  Don’t our children deserve the right to have equal access to quality care and education that will give them the start they need in life to be successful?  After all, the future of our children and the future of our nation depend on it.

Getting to Know International Contacts in Early Childhood Education

I received an initial response (Aileen from Alberta,  Canada) in my attempt to contact other ECE professionals from around the world, but additional contacts have not received a response.  For that reason I choose to listen to a podcast for this week's blog assignment.  I choose the Podcast by Meridas Eka Yora which I retrieved from :  http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/.  Meridas is the founder and director of the institution Fajar Hiayah for Islamic Education and Director of the Yayasan Fajar Hidayah Foundation. He developed three boarding schools for children who are orphaned.  Many of the orphans were as a result of the tsunami that struck southern Indonesia and devastated the region in 2004.  However additional orphans are a result of conflicts in the area where children may have seen their parents killed.  In the orphanages,  the preschool teachers are placed in the role of the mother and father and nurse as well as the teacher.  Meirdas described the schools as the families for the children where the older children act as older brothers and sister.   Meridas further described how physcologists were hired but they found that the best psychologists were the teachers and other children and how some children were unable to accept what happened to their families even months after the tsunami and how these children received special treatment from people like him who would take these children into their homes. 
After listening to the podcast I have a better understanding of how an area devastated by disaster and conflict handles educating young children.  For the teachers in these programs in southern Indonesia, their role is not only important but vital to the physical, emotional and cognitive well being of the children.  I believe that often in the United States we focus so much on academics that we often forget the importance of caring for the whole child.  Through natural disaster and conflict, this program in Indonesia has found a way to meet the needs of the children and to provide an education to the most vulnerable.  I believe that in helping families living in poverty in America, it is important that we as early childhood educators are familar with local resources so that we can make referrals to families and help them access the resources needed to meet all of their child's needs.

National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies

This week I looked more closely at the  National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
http://www.naccrra.org/.   NACCRRA works to make sure that all families in the United States have quality and affordable child care.  The NACCRRA works through research and advocacy for policies that improve the lives of children and families.  I found many resources for child care providers including information about the recent school shooting at Sandy Hook and how to help children cope with traumatic events, talking to children about violence and coping with crisis.  I also found links to child care news by each state and information about state and federal policies and politcal information. Although I did not see anything related to the topic of my study this week (Diversity and Demographics), I found that it had many resources and information that would be helpful to child care providers.  This is definitely a resource I will continue to use. 

Establishing Contacts and Expanding Resources

As part of this week's blog assignment for my class on Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Education, I have sent e-mails to early education professionals in the United Kingdom, China, Australia and Canada.  I picked countries and professionals that most likely speak English so that language would not be a barrier to communicating with them.  Five of my seven e-mails were immediately returned undeliverable.  I tried to search the professional websites from these countries to find e-mails for possible contact with no luck so far.  I will continue to work on making professional contacts because I really look forward to learning more about early education as it exists in other countries and cultures.  In making contact, I sent a short e-mail explaining why I was contacting them and that I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with them about early education.  I can only imagine that if i were the one receiving an e-mail from someone I did not know that I would probably be afraid to open the e-mail due to computer viruses.  My hope is someone takes a chance, reads and returns my e-mail.   

For expanding resources, I already receive information from NAEYC, NHSA and Birth to Three and get information through facebook from them as well, so I decided to look into National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies and Association for Childhood Education International as I work with many child care programs.  I look forward to learning more through these organizations.