Impact of Having International Resources

Over these past few weeks I have really enjoyed learning about the early childhood field from a global perspective; studying the ISSA website and talking with Jerneja, my contact in Slovenia. Having these resources enriched my professional development and gave me new insights into the early childhood field. 

For me, the three main consequences of learning about the international early childhood field have been:

1. Gaining new resources. To be an effective professional in this field, you need a wide range of knowledge. Today’s world is very interconnected and we have to learn about and respect others if we want to promote healthy development for all children. Learning about the international early childhood field not only expanded my knowledge on global issues that affect children and their families, but gave me new resources to draw upon.

2. Learning about the issues, trends, and challenges early childhood professionals in other countries are facing. Studying the ISSA website and talking with Jerneja opened my eyes to issues and challenges that others are facing-and also how they are overcoming them. Sometimes I take for granted the resources we have here, I complain about the budget cuts and lack of resources, but looking at the early childhood field from a global perspective and realizing that others may have even less to work with has been really motivating. Seeing how they work with their resources and overcome their challenges have been great examples and have given me ideas and inspiration.

3. Developing an awareness of the international early childhood community and the resources others use. Not only have I gained new resources, but I have an awareness for the international early childhood community and international organizations that promote the well-being of children and families worldwide. We can learn so much from others if we keep an open mind, and knowing that I can communicate with someone from another country or read about a initiative in another region is wonderful. I now have a sense of how strong the EC community is and I have gained more confidence from discussing early childhood issues and trends with a professional outside the US. I surprised at how many international organizations for the field of early childhood there are and my awareness of this field at an international level has increased-and this is a large community of professionals with great ideas, opinions, advice, and perspectives that they are willing to share!

Overall, I think that one goal for the early childhood field in relation to international awareness of issues and trends should be to have more collaboration, workshops, newsletters, and shared resources between countries and programs. The organization of ISSA is an international organization (made up of 29 nongovernmental organizations in Central/Eastern Europe) and is a great example of what can be done when resources are pooled together and shared. The ISSA Newsletter highlights different issues and trends from the different countries it works with and holds conferences and workshops in different countries that ISSA members attend to discuss current issues, trends, and promote collaboration. If the early childhood field adopted more strategies like these, organizations from different countries could help each other, share resources, and collaborate on ways to promote healthy development of children worldwide and provide high quality services for all. 

ECE Issues in Slovenia

I have been talking to Jerneja, my contact in Slovenia, about the issues and challenges that early childhood educators are facing where she lives. Her responses were very interesting and I wanted to share them here. According to Jerneja, the main two challenges that Slovenia’s early childhood education system faces are (1) the lack of spaces for children in early childhood programs and (2) the inclusion of Roma children.

1. Jerneja told me that Slovenia has recently been through what she calls a “baby boom” and as a result there are many young children and families in need of childcare. In addition to the “baby boom,” there “is a state law that every second, third etc. child from the same family has a free pre-school service (no monthly fees have to be paid)” (personal communication, April 10, 2011), which also places a strain on the system financially. Jerneja says that this issue has been going on for a few years but is becoming more challenging although the government is working on it. She says that she hopes it will be resolved soon because many children and families are being turned away from preschools and educators have larger class sizes.

2. Jerneja says that the other main challenge Slovenia is facing is the full inclusion of Roma children and their families because they currently have “low representation” in early childhood programs. She says that this has also been a challenge that Slovenia has faced for some time but “our Centre is currently involved in a project, which is co-financed by Ministry of Education and Sport and by European Social Fund. The main goal of this project is to include Roma children and their families in pre-school programs from the very beginning” (personal communication, April 10, 2011).  She said that she is glad to be a part of this project because she thinks that it is important for children and families to have access to quality programs from birth. (For more information on the Roma: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_(Romani_subgroup).)

Jerneja also told me that ISSA provides many training and professional growth opportunities for early childhood educators in Slovenia. She says that ISSA is working on expanding- there are currently 35 centers implementing ISSA practices in Slovenia (personal communication, April 10, 2011)- and sharing resources with other programs in the area in hopes that children and families have more access to high quality programs; this is Jerneja’s hope as well.

It has been very interesting talking to Jerneja; I have learned a lot of information about a place that I have never been to over these past few weeks! It amazes me that we are so far apart but still have similar issues, challenges, and hopes for the future.

Sharing Web Resources: ISSA & Equity

This week I did a little more exploring on the ISSA website. First, I looked under the Events section and followed some links about the past ISSA conferences. The one that I found most interesting was the link to the Riga 2010 International Conference, Embracing Inclusive Approaches for Children and Youth with Special Education Needs. This was a conference held by Division of International Special Education and Services/USA (DISES), the Council for Exceptional Children/USA (CEC), the Center for Education Initiatives/Latvia (CEI) and the International Step by Step Association. When I followed the link, it directed me to a section of the Council of Exceptional Children’s website and I found information about the conference and select power point presentations from the speakers. In addition to this, the website had more information about professional development, news and issues about special education, and policy/advocacy information…another great resource to bookmark!

Going back to the ISSA website, I searched another area of the website that I have not really paid too much attention too and found some more really interesting information. Clicking on the ISSA Bookstore link takes you to a section about ISSA’s Reading Corner Initiative. This ISSA initiative is designed to provide information about high-quality children’s literature and reading to parents and educators. I thought it was really neat because all of the books promoted here are from one of the 26 countries ISSA works with, are available in all the languages spoken in those countries, and can be downloaded and used by parents and educators. Overall, I just thought that this was a really great way to promote literacy and provide high quality books and materials to children and their families.

Lastly, I read another article this week from the Winter 2010-2011 ISSA Newsletter. The article that I read this week, “ISSA and Partners Work to Improve Access to Quality Early Education Provisions in Rural Kazakhstan” is really relevant to the discussion that we have been having on equity and excellence. The article discussed a current project in Kazakhstan “Civil Society Partnership for Rural Children.” This project aims “to support every child’s right to quality education by developing models of child-centered, cost-effective early education services in rural areas in partnership with parents, local educational institutions, and municipal governments” (ISSA, 2010-2011). We have been talking about how many children and families do not have access to high quality early childhood education and what can be done to eliminate the barriers to awareness, access, and responsiveness. ISSA and its partners are working in Kazakhstan to eliminate these barriers by working with and empowering local communities, establishing high quality programs in rural areas (including teacher and parent classes/training),  and developing other outreach programs.

For more information about Kazakhstan from UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/kazakhstan.html

This week gave me some new insights into global issues of equity and excellence as well as other issues in the early childhood field. I learned what steps other countries and organizations are taking to reduce inequities and promote excellence and high quality programs. I also gained some new information from looking at the power point presentations from the Riga 2010 International Conference and what the countries involved in this conference are doing to promote inclusion of all the children in their areas. From exploring the ISSA website and its links this week, I saw many issues are surrounding the field of early childhood and what professionals in this field are doing to address them. I think what I really gained this week was a sense of how the international community of early childhood educators is working towards promoting positive child development and sharing information and resources with each other.

References:

ISSA. Winter 2010-2011. “ISSA and Partners Work to Improve Access to Quality Early Education Provisions in Rural Kazakhstan.” Retrieved from ISSA Newsletter: http://www.issa.nl/newsletter/10/winter/network5.html.

Equity and Excellence in Slovenia

I am really excited that I have heard back from one of my contacts! Jerneja is a doctoral student of Educational Studies at the University of Primorska in Slovenia. She has a Bachelor’s in Pedagogy and her Master’s in Inclusive Education and currently works at the Educational Research Institute’s Developmental Research Centre for Educational Initiatives Step by Step. Overall, she sounds like an amazing person and I am honored to learn more about her and the early childhood system in Slovenia!

This week we have been discussing issues related to equity and excellence here in the US. Jerneja has shared with me what she knows about these issues in Slovenia. She said that the early childhood education system in Slovenia is divided into two parts. The first part is the national preschool curriculum that preschools are required to follow. The national curriculum does not tell the teachers how to teach but what to teach. It is divided into 6 different areas: movement, language, arts, nature, mathematics, and environment (society and relationships). To ensure equity, Jerneja says that “there are also principles and goals in the curriculum, which require the inclusion of all ‘different’ children and families - with ‘different’ I mean migrants, children with disabilities, Roma children, etc.” (personal communication, March 28, 2011). One of the main goals for equity in early childhood education in Slovenia is to fully include Roma children and their families, something that the ISSA preschools are currently working on.

In addition to the national curriculum, the second part of the preschool system in Slovenia is the “how” part of the curriculum. While the national curriculum tells teachers what to teach, the principles of the centers influence the methods and practices that they use. Jerneja says that ISSA’s principles for preschools help promote quality and excellence through the developmentally appropriate methods that they use. According to Jerneja, there are 35  ISSA preschools in Slovenia that use these high-quality practices, other early childhood education programs may use other principles that do not necessarily ensure high quality but ISSA is working on expanding and promoting developmentally appropriate practices to other centers. 

I also just wanted to share what Jerneja told me about poverty in Slovenia. She wrote that poverty has affected many families, especially over the past few years. The concern is that enrollment in preschool services will decline because families will not be able to afford it. Right now, families with low-incomes pay less but Jerneja says that many of the families she works with are struggling to pay these costs. She says that she is concerned about this because she knows the affects of early childhood education and how it is especially important for children from low SES backgrounds. She wrote that in general, “poverty in society maybe still isn't so well seen, because people still have some savings. But it's going to be bigger and bigger problem in our society very soon.” (personal communication, March 28, 2011).

So far I have learned a lot from my conversation with Jerneja. It’s interesting that even though we are miles apart, we still have some of the same concerns and goals for our early childhood programs. I also thought that it was really interesting that Slovenia has a national curriculum that preschools are required to use, this seems that it could potentially increase the equity in the Slovenian early childhood education programs.

More information:

This is the website for the organization that Jerneja works for: http://www.issa.nl/org_profiles/slovenia.html

Slovenia’s Step by Step Program (Korak za Korakom): http://www.korakzakorakom.si/content/view/16/30/