The International Early Childhood Field and its Importance

Week # 8 Blog Assignment: The International Early Childhood Field and its Importance

First I must sincerely thank Dr. Terry Davis and all my colleagues for all that I have learned from this course, Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field. I hope to continue to grow and develop as an early childhood professional and as a Masters student.

As I engage in the reflective process with regard to learning about issues and trends in the early childhood field internationally, there are three consequences that I wish to share with my fellow colleagues.

The first consequence is the fact that I must continue to promote education for all students all over the world. Every child, every family needs to know that the way to advance is via education –quality education. Thus everyone involved in the early childhood education process must seek to collaborate and share best practices and ideas on how to help advance education for our children.

The second consequence revolves around how invaluable our role as early childhood professionals is to the development of a nation. As educators, I firmly believe that we hold in our hands the keys to help eradicate poverty and to provide the foundation for sustainable growth and development. That is why we need to advocate for a stronger infrastructure that will promote equality and equity and affordability  for all children.

The third consequence relates to the idea that we cannot view the education of our children in terms of how much monetary gains we can receive from it, but we have to ensure that we are engaging our children in an educational process that will help them to think critically, that will fit them to live and work with others that are culturally diverse from themselves and in the long run help them to be future leaders of the world.

One goal that I have for the international early childhood field is the continued advocacy for the eradication of poverty. I believe that once poverty is eradicated, inequality will be lessened. This goal may seem to be far –fetched. However, we as educators can begin right where we are in the classrooms, in our communities, with our families to start changing the minds of the young, impressionable ones. We as educators are the agents of change on the international scene and as we learn about the issues and trends on the world scene, the knowledge that we receive is to be shared with others to ignite the hearts to continue the fight for the education of our children.

Once again, I wish all my colleagues success in the rest of the courses to come.Continue to advocate for the children who cannot speak for themselves at this time.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

Week # 7 Blog Assignment: Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 3

Three new insights that I have gained about the Issues relating to international early childhood education that relate to my professional goals from the UNESCO website would include the following:

1.      The promotion of quality education for all students all over the world.

Education is extremely important to a country’s advancement, with Nepal being no exception and for the first time an international education conference was hosted for Nepal, the title of which was “Quality in the Classroom.”

It isn't access. It's quality. Kathmandu Conference looks at quality in the classroom

 

This four day conference was held on April 4-7, 2013.This was good news on the international scene since Nepal is one of the poor nations that need to improve the quality of education for its people. The following information gives insight on who were the participants at this conference.

“The Rato Bangala Foundation (RBF) in cooperation with the Department of Education (MoE, GoN) is hosting Nepal’s first international education conference entitled ‘Quality in the Classroom’. Other partners for this conference are: the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Asian Development Bank, Unicef, UNESCO, Open Society Foundations and Rato Bangala School. The overall objective of which is to bring together classroom practitioners, education leaders, policymakers, researchers and other stakeholders, including parents and students to share ideas and showcase best practices in school education from Nepal and more broadly, regionally and globally.

Education is key to a country’s progress, with Nepal being no exception. Although, it has been a prominent issue for discussion at the forefront of development dialogue for a number of years, it is now pertinent to involve all stakeholders in addressing imperative issues of concern such as the ‘quality of education’. Quantitative issues of access have prioritized the focus of efforts, whilst issues of quality have received little or no attention. Such issues can only be tackled through a partnership of stakeholders at all levels, instigated and inspired through an exchange of ideas, innovations and best practices. This conference aims to redress this imbalance by focusing on ‘Quality in the Classroom’.” http://ratobangalaconferences.edu.np/

2. The second insight focuses on being highly qualified, dedicated, caring professionals who are lifelong learners. There is a need for highly trained, qualified teachers all over the world and the focus for Global Action on Education for All (21-27 April) will be the vital role of teachers in reaching educational goals. At this point I wish to include the exciting plans for Global Action Education Week for your perusal.

Global Action Week: “We will not meet our education goals without teachers”.

© UNESCO/René Edde - A primary school class of Bagmati.

“Every Child Needs a Teacher” is the slogan of the 2013 Global Action Week on Education for All (21-27 April) which focuses on the vital role of teachers in reaching education goals. In the words of the campaign: “Without teachers a school is just a building”.

Organized annually by the Global Campaign for Education, a civil society movement, the Week is an occasion to promote the right to quality education for all. Each year UNESCO mobilizes its networks and organizes activities worldwide on a given theme.

Teachers, their training, recruitment, retention, status and working conditions are among the Organization’s top priorities. “Teachers are the single most influential and powerful force for equity, access and quality in education,” says Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO. “The fact is, we will not meet our Education for All goals without teachers.”

Teachers are also a key element in the United Nations Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative, which is driven by UNESCO, and are thus an indispensable part of the post-2015 global development agenda.

Massive challenges

“Teachers are essential to meet the aspirations of every girl and boy -- they hold the keys to the sustainable development of every society,” says Ms Bokova.

However, like the village teachers in rural Thailand coping with overcrowded classes and different languages; like Maiga Hadizatou Hamzatou in Mali, who kept teaching when her city was invaded, Karima Yousufi in Afghanistan or Awa Sow in Senegal who had to resist gender stereotyping, teachers everywhere face different challenges.

The overwhelming challenge faced by the profession is one of numbers and quality. Some 6.8 million teachers are needed to achieve universal primary education by 2015. Other issues affecting teachers at all levels of education systems and in formal and non-formal education settings alike, include escalating violence, a climate of austerity and cutbacks and the need to improve working conditions so as to attract qualified people to the profession. 

Legal frameworks for teachers

A major part of UNESCO’s work on teachers is actively upholding legal frameworks that promote teachers’ status and working conditions. A committee of experts appointed by UNESCO and the International Labour Organization meets every three years to monitor the application of these recommendations and advise UNESCO and ILO accordingly.  Civil societies may also use the conventions to demand their right to quality teachers and quality education for every child, youth and adult. 

A broader definition

“Advocacy events like Global Action Week are a good opportunity to consider a broader definition of teachers,” says Carolyn Medel-Anonuevo of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, which recently held an international workshop on improving the status of literacy facilitators. “Teachers of literacy possibly have the lowest status of all, with low remuneration, and very little in-service training.”

"Global Action Week is also an opportunity to highlight the importance of improving the status of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) teachers, if we are really serious about building the foundation of learning throughout life," adds Maki Hayashikawa, from UNESCO’s Section for Basic Education

Whatever the level or specialization, UNESCO is on standby to help governments prioritize teacher training, support and retention in national education policies.

1.    The final insight places emphasis on being an advocate or voice for the children who has no voice. This is also an important aspect of my professional goal. I am aiming like Mrs.Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, to be a strong advocate for all children to have access to quality education in whatever area that I am asked to serve in the field of early childhood.

The following is an excerpt of the address that was made by Mrs. Irina Bokova.

19.04.2013 - ODG

UNESCO puts spotlight on equity and teachers during Learning for All meetings in DC

 

© UNESCO/E. Abramson Rebuilding schools after the 2010 earthquake, Haiti

On 18 April, the Director-General took part in a day of events aimed at galvanizing renewed action to improve education access and quality, and accelerate progress towards the 2015 goals, co-organized by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank and UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown.

In her remarks, the Director-General issued a strong call for more concerted action to reach marginalized groups, highlighting the need for special efforts to reinforce teacher training and professional development as the single most powerful force for driving improvements in equity, access and quality.

Ministers of Education and Finance from seven countries joined multilateral and bilateral development agencies to discuss the main obstacles to education progress and effective strategies to overcome them. A wide-range of issues were discussed, but several common themes emerged, with strong emphasis on the need for integrated approaches that address the overlapping causes of exclusion, and for bolder action to tackle barrier to learning, in particular the shortage of trained teachers.

In discussions with the Ministers of Finance and Education of Nigeria, where only 60% of educators working in primary schools are qualified to teach, Mrs. Bokova put the spotlight on the importance of strengthening school leadership as a lever for improving teaching professionalism and reinforcing support to teachers in the classroom. She also urged the need to reinforce governance at national, state and local levels to ensure resources reach the most vulnerable populations. Support to strengthen system-wide capacity and develop robust, data-driven national education plans was also an important theme in meetings the Director-General attended with political leaders from Haiti and Yemen. During the exchange with Ministers of Finance and Education from Bangladesh, attention focused on effective measures to bring learning opportunities to underprivileged groups. Mrs. Bokova highlighted the potential of community learning centers to expand access, foster intergenerational learning, and strengthen the link between education and the workplace. 

Following the series of individual country meetings, participants came together in a high-level round table to share views on common bottlenecks to progress and identify priorities for action for governments and their development partners. “We must prove that we can pool our resources and muster our will in the sure knowledge that educating children now will pay dividends to whole societies for generations to come,” the Secretary-General affirmed in his remarks.

UNESCO’s Director-General highlighted the importance of strengthening national capacity to deliver good quality education and of sound data to inform smart policy making. She also underscored the role of non-formal delivery mechanisms in reaching marginalized groups, and called for greater attention to the needs of children in conflict situations.

“Addressing the global learning crisis is essential to ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity,” President Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank stated in his remarks at the event.

The day’s events closed with a strong call for collective action to promote girls’ education and end gender disparities at all levels. The UN Secretary-General highlighted UNESCO’s efforts to provide literacy to girls and women in Afghanistan as a strong example of what could be achieved through concerted international engagement.

Reference

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/