Looking at the consequences of learning about international early childhood field for my professional and personal development are:
#1: Finding people to communicate with. I only heard back from one of my contacts, and when I responded back asking more questions I didn't get any. I was disappointed by this because I was really excited to learn more about how early childhood education was different from the United States.
#2: The language barrier. I think this could complicate communication and learning about the international early childhood field because there is no direct translation of a language, and thus making contacts difficult between two people.
#3: Realizing that every country has different policies. I find this a consequence because if we are trying to advocate for all the children in our world, we have to realize that early childhood policies are different in every country. This could make advocating difficult because we will have to be aware of all the different policies.
Through all the blog posts I read throughout this class, I think a goal for the field related to international awareness and trends is to be supportive, not for our country's children, but for children all over the world. All children should be given the chance to be successful, not just certain countries. We have to realize that some countries have better programs than others, and we have to be supportive to all of them, no matter what.
I want to thank my colleagues for everything I have learned throughout this class. I really enjoyed reading about what your international contacts had to say about early childhood education in their country, and how it is similar and different compared to the United States program. Best of luck as we continue on this journey!
Abby,
ReplyDeleteAs always your many comments are quite insightful. I did not get a response from my contacts throughout this course, but was excited to read as my colleagues provided feedback about their conversations. I believe that it would be good to continue to try at establishing contacts though, because it is indeed useful to have colleagues in other parts of the world to compare practices and discuss issues.
I also agree with your statements about the language barrier and the differences in policies. I believe that the language barrier is an unintended consequence, but one in which we have to try to work around by probably google translator or another software because our colleagues who speak other languages will also have ideas about the field and relevant information about issues and trends in their country.
On the issue of each country having different policies, I believe that there should be an early childhood association across the world to establish universal standards and policies. NAEYC is great but standards should be universal.
Abby,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and I did find it at first hard to make connections with someone, but once I did I really appreciate what they had to say. I really enjoyed reading your post and wish you all the best in future courses.