On from here....

I chose this rendition because the ideas that I have been able to articulate in writing and through discussion will look very different in the reality of this country. Even well intentioned acts will be held suspect unless each situation is not considered carefully and with respect. Even as I type, I have been blocked from posting this blog. Coming from a North American mind set, I 'know' that anything is possible and change is the stuff of success. What do I do in the face of thousands of years of satisfaction.

With this in mind let me talk about what I have learned and wish to take away from this Masters experience.

I have learned that I cannot close my eyes to inequity. The days of my allowing things to go on as they are from a place of comfort are over. The resources that I have had the privilege to have and acquire  must be used for the improvement of the lives of the very young, their families and communities.

I have learned that I can make a difference. I do have a voice. Setting my thinking up against the standard of Walden has given me the confidence to speak out on issues.

My belief in the crucial period of the first two years of a child's life has been informed and more firmly founded. Perhaps with this age even more with others, educators are seen as care givers only. Little by little, I am seeing my Chinese assistants take pride in their role and take confidence in the importance of their work.

My long term goal is wrapped up in the capstone project. I will use my passion for the first years of life to make a difference. Starting with a curriculum on dvd, I look to collaborating on a book for the Chinese market.

I will be sad to leave this community. Even though I have only been with this group for two courses, you have offered me encouragement, ideas and support. We cannot imagine how our lives may intersect in the future. I look forward to each opportunity.

Dr. Shephard, thank you for your encouragement and many, many helpful resources. You have helped bridge the gap between the classroom and our mission. Thank you.

International Child Care Organizations

            My first port of call on the international search was the Association for the Childhood Education International (www.acei.org). Their mission is the ‘optimal’ education, development and well-being of every child. They also are interested in developing quality educators. They are dedicated to collaborate with any ongoing work. I am drawn to the use of ‘optimal’ and ‘global’ in their definition. Their vision is for every child in every nation to have access to quality education.

            ACEI is planning a second annual event, Institute for Global Education Diplomacy in 2013. People from around the globe who are interested in building a sustainable solution to education challenges will present and attend. This is held in Washington, DC. It is a joining of forces to find a solution for all.

            ACEI is affiliated with the Global Campaign for Education (www.camapign foreducation.org). This is a civil venture that holds governments responsible for providing free quality public education for all their citizens. The current campaign is Education for All Campaign for 2015.  They aid in providing quality resources, sharing programs and fighting for issues like gender discrimination.

            GCE has contacts in countries around the world that help report how the education system is faring. This could be one way to become a part of this organization. Their connection with UNESCO and the World Bank provide a job opportunity in Kampala, Uganda, Africa as an Education Programme Specialist. I will soon have the Masters Degree requirement; I have the international experience and English background. They do require strong IT skills which I probably could not meet but with a little work, perhaps.

            The sweeping education for every child in every nation has a strong appeal to me. They are not working presently in China but are in Mongolia. The future could cause our paths to cross again.

            The next stop was the International Step by Step Association (ISSA). Located in the Netherlands, it seeks to connect educators with organizations around the world. They provide education services and advocacy tools for children from birth to Primary school age. Their vision includes equal access to quality care and education. Their mandate is to help families, communities and professionals join forces for the empowerment of the young child.

            The resources offered include distance learning and online collaborations with NGO’s and interested educators. Included in their resources is Big Universe Learning. This is a book resource (www.readingcorner.org) with literature from publishers from all the countries they represent and in those languages. They are working at an organizational level to provide the means for changes to be made around the world.

            There are no jobs posted just not but I can become a member, free of charge and have access to what is being done worldwide. I have access to their library and their organizational member list. I can learn also about their annual conference.

            My last stop is Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org). I would invite you to visit this site. I thought I knew this organization but was unprepared for the wealth of success stories and positive innovative steps this organization takes. The mission is to go into the center of communities and help them help themselves. They educate and support projects like organic gardening in back yards, maternal health care to support children through their first year, and showing the value to governments of changing child labor into education experience. They begin with health care, then early childhood care and build quality elementary education access. They respond to natural disasters and remain to help the families and governments rebuild an empowered society.

            There is a job in San Luis Valley, Colorado. It is for a coordinator of Early Steps to School Success program (ESSS). This program recruits and supports pregnant women in good health care and their children through 5 years of age. I would help to provide parent training: building a good learning home environment. I would screen for and support developmental delay. I would build a book exchange literacy program. There is nothing about this job that I do not like or feel prepared for. In fact this is akin to my capstone challenge.

            There are always people who will need assistance and support but it is encouraging to read of these many successes.

Agencies for Early Childhood with a Vision for the whole country

Firstly, allow me to apologize for posting this so late. It was difficult to find national organizations that had any opening for an English speaker. However, this might not be the case if I were able to read their sites. They are not open to translation as yet.

The first organization is The Amity Foundation ( www.amityfoundation.org ). This is supported by overseas Chinese and Hong Kong Chinese. It works to help grassroots companies get a start and maintain in their assistance to the social challenges of China. In 2009, they founded the Nanjing Amity NGO Development Center. This center helps communication among social agencies, the academic community, businesses and government.

I am drawn to this organization because as a Christian, I see an agency that is representing our faith as it ought to be. They work within the boundaries of the law and society. They work with other religions to bring about needed aid. For example they teamed with the Muslim community to address  HIV/AIDS (www.amityfoundation.org). Their motto Love Never Ends well represents the Christian faith and causes it to be useful and accepted.

They team up with communities and businesses to build healthy water systems and provide other developmental support for a sustainable solution in rural areas. Shangxi, the provincial location of my Capstone project, is one of the areas in which they operate.

They facilitate Summer English Programs (SEP) where English speakers spend a month with rural teachers to help with English. This could be expanded to training in teaching skills if done by an early childhood practitioner. There are no job openings at present. I could apply for a summer volunteer position and work my way into the organization that way.

Half the Sky (www.halfthesky.org) is an orphanage for abandoned children. It is an outgrowth of China Care Foundation (www.chinacare.org) that provide immediate medical and follow up care for these children. When they are recuperated they now can go to Half the Sky.

Half the Sky is a project birthed from a need noticed by Jenny and Richard Bowan when they adopted a toddler in 1997. The child's cognitive and emotional growth had been severely hampered from lack of interpersonal interaction: nurturing and language. With their tender loving care they saw this little one gain confidence, emotional depth and cognitive strength. Seeing this as a need for many children in orphanages they opened Half the Sky.

They are now expanding throughout China and in fact in 2014, they project to be training teachers for Shanxi Province. Their intent is to establish Children's Centers headed by Child Development Experts from each area whom they have trained.

Again, this is an internationally run organization. To be a part of it here at this time  would be through volunteering in the orphanages. My hope would be that we could partner in communities where I would be working with parents/caregivers and young children in the family setting.

The next organization is headed by a Taiwanese business woman. It is the internationally acclaimed music and movement program, Musikgarten (www.musikgarten ; www.piedpiper.cc). This is a program for Babies up to 9 years. Of particular interest to me are the Baby Music, Family Music and Cycle of Seasons. Ms Seng has created a Chinese programme with the permission of  Dr. Lorna Heyge, the founder and creator of Musikgarten. She has researched, recorded and put in print Chinese folk songs, many for the first time. This alone is a feat deserving international recognition.

I did Musikgarten training with Ms Seng in Taiwan and she has asked me to conduct teacher training with her. I do not have the time now. However, I hope to collaborate with her as I move into Shanxi province.

The final organization is Rural China Education Foundation (www.rcef.org). This is an organization headed by overseas Chinese wishing to improve the quality of education in rural areas by way of curriculum development and teacher training.

They are presently working in several rural provinces. My role with them would be volunteer : either through a teaching program or as a committee member helping with research and curriculum development.

These agencies have again inspired me as to what can be done with a little heart and will.

Potential Roles in the ECE Community

I am a resident in a foreign, non-English speaking environment so my work in this field seems to be restricted to my own international school and international organizations with offices in this country. However, these are such exciting ventures.

The first is Plan International (www.planinternational) and more specifically Plan China (www.planchina). This  organization was established in 1995 and works to see that the early childhood community has access the their rights of health, education, protection and home.

Their vision expresses this by stating that each and every child has the chance to live out their congenital potential. They work to provide and improve for basic needs for survival; help build bridges from a marginalized place to cities and opportunities; and to promote the rights of children in the community and society at large.

Of particular interest to me is their goal to raise awareness about the critical importance of the 0-3 years and 3-6 years. Apparently, if schools are available, the wont of the parents is to enforce book learning and memorizing with the desks and long hours that accompany this way of learning. The focus of their approach is play - YEAH!  for our team!. They are working to show parents that their children have a much better chance at succeeding at school and onwards to a career and life skills.

There are no jobs available just now. However, I have emailed Liu Jianghong  the Chinese director. I told him of my school affiliation and my pending Master's completion. There was some mention of teacher training programmes as well. Mentioning both of these areas, I asked if there was a way that we could help these ventures.

The next organization is Right to Play from Toronto, Canada (www.righttoplay.com/canada/). Wouldn't you like to be the one who thought up that title! Their second title is: Sport for development and peace.  Their slogan is: When Children Play, the World Wins. They use games to educate , empower, and build social and cognitive skills. They base their mandate on the UN statement on the rights of every child to education, health, social life and inclusion.

Their vision is a healthy world and the mission is to use sport and play to educate and empower children to overcome the effects of poverty, conflict and disease in disadvantaged communities (www.rtp.org).

Since 2007 they have worked with government, local organizations and private interests to fulfill their mission. It seems that there is a need for qualified teachers in China but there are no jobs posted. Immediately I could assist by donations. I have subscribed for emails so will keep up to date in ways I can help.

The job that interested me is in Islamabad, Pakistan. This person would  build curriculum and help coordinate facilitating projects in schools and communities. While not here, it would give experience and contact with the organization. Another plus is I only need a good command of English. I would need to complete this Masters and I have the seven years required experience. The only thing I would need to do is move to Pakistan which would not be out of the question to be able to work with such a fantastic and developmentally sound premise.

I have  left this one until last because it also speaks to the community of practice that we have talked about this week. The source organization is Migrant Resource Network (www.mrn-china.org). Their mission statement is: Building collaborative movement among organizations assisting migrants in China (www.mrn-china.org). Starting in Beijing in 2008 they have worked to support and strengthen non--governmental agencies to actually build a community of practice. In the sharing of resources and experiences these communities learn with and from each other and together face the challenge at hand. By helping these groups on the ground join forces a great impact will be realized and the effort will be more sustainable. The goal is see a change for the better in the position of migrants in the Chinese social system.

Organizations are pooled to address health care, laws, living conditions, financial aid and education. Businesses, government departments, community aids, local and international companies and private citizens are working members of this network system.

The organization under this umbrella that I would choose to be a part of is Compassion for Migrant Children - Included (www.cmc-china.org). Their statement of mission is; a future and a hope for every migrant child. They look to do this by establishing community centers in migrant communities.

All the jobs available for this organization must be filled by local staff. However, there are opportunities open for volunteering. Events like  Open House Weekends. This is a program running 11-12 weeks twice a year from 1330 hrs to 1630 hrs on Saturdays. This would mean a commitment for each Saturday.

Super Saturday Program runs 11-12 weeks twice a yer from 0930 hrs to1130 hrs on Saturdays. The commitment is for every Saturday as well.

There are also winter and summer camp programs that would be a week commitment during our holiday periods.

These programs would be ESL as well as social and life skills.

This is mostly a time commitment which I would be able to do during the Spring Festival holiday. I meet the requirements. The import of this activity is to interact with this organization and see other ways that I can assist.

This has been an amazing search. In a very short time I have become acquainted and made furthering contact with organizations that I did not know existed and they are right here on my doorstep. Every new day opens  new doors of opportunity.

References

Compassion for Migrant Children (Included). www.cmc-china.org

Migrant Resource Network. www.mrn-china.org .

Plan International. www.plan-international.org

Plan China. www.plan-china.org

Right to Play. www.righttoplay.com/canada/

From the Classroom....

I planned to write this blog last evening. However, when I read the word 'passion' in the assignment mine had pretty much dissipated into panic. I had just completed the first draft on our application paper for this week and the enormity of the task was daunting. There is so much to consider: that it be developmentally appropriate; that no one is excluded; that everyone has their individual curriculum that best meets their needs.

Then you have the cultures, ethnicities, languages, personalities, years of tradition, government, laws and being the foreigner.

Not to mention  the poverty; internalized failure and hopelessness; abandonment and years of getting by: doing the best with what they are left with.

Did I mention the disabilities that probably have not been given a name and could be thought to be best terminated or at least thrown away. This could include girls.

And...

But wait....

It is Sunday morning. A beautiful, sunny Autumn day. My world is full of hope and smiles. I am attending my friend's second birthday which means games in the park and pizza. I have wonderful resourceful people around me and live in a country where anything is possible when you put your mind to it. The contacts I have made in the past three months are already walking me along the path of future opportunities.

So..

I will begin where I am - in my classroom. Disabilities are the biggest vacuum in our Nursery curriculum. Right away I need to start putting pictures on the wall, ordering books and teaming  up with an orphanage with whom we can share photos and names. Lucky for me the lady with whom I would like to team up with in an anti-bias adventure, volunteers at just such a place.

Amazing what a good night's sleep and sunshine can accomplish.

The second doable and important thing is building our library with anti-bias children's literature. Books are the very best way to move an idea along, I think. This will garner comments from the teachers and new insights from the students. And perhaps push the borders of our doors open even further.

I will continue my contact with UNICEF here. Also working on an internet, instructional tool on child development that will be sold and gifted to the very places I want to make a difference in. The producer's dream is that when we finish, I could travel to the areas where it has been distributed and do something like a well baby clinic, complementing what they have studied on line. This all seems nebulous right now and I have lived here long enough to know there may be roadblocks up ahead that I could not have imagined.

OK now I am ready for the passion: Keep on keeping on.

May the words and passion of Louise Derman-Sparks remain clear in my thinking. May I see each child as valuable and not turn away anyone. May they learn respect for themselves and those around them through the life I model. May they be equipped to go out and stand up against unfairness and injustice (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).

Now to my classmates. Thank you for welcoming me into your group. Because I took the summer off, I am a new member. Thanks for the personal and professional examples and the expressions of your passions. I hope to meet you again in the next class. If not, good luck to you and may your flame for ant-bias education keep burning brightly.

Reference

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-Bias Education. Washington, D.C.:

            National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

UNICEF - Child Supporter abd Protector

I felt a little like dropping in on an old friend when I went to the East Asia and the Pacific area of the UNICEF website this week. One of the first names I see is Gillian Mellsop, UNICEF's representative in China. She has worked tirelessly to get the Chinese Central government to put real effort behind their words of caring for the poverty in this country. Her special interest in children and families has set the path for the projects I will speak about today. Her passion for the welfare of this country and relentless 'badgering' of the officials has shown leaks of success in this mission.

Most recently UNICEF is launching a fund to provide schools to improve and provide education for those who are marginalized . These include girls, some ethnicities, those with disabilities, those in poverty and those in remote areas. They are providing inclusive education which is largely unheard of in the mainstream schools here. The schools for the blind,  cognitively challenged and the like are far from the support at the center of the city and public support.

With the help of these funds, UNICEF is looking to train teachers to include all children,  providing an anti-bias and  first class education. This  education will include life skills: health, nutrition, hygiene, sanitation, HIV prevention and safe drinking water. A similar program has been successful in Africa and now it is coming  Asia Pacific including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines as well as China.

These children face a life of exclusion and hopelessness and one that is often cut off too soon with little hope for the next generation. The need is huge and I find it overwhelming. I need to visit this site more often and stay in contact. Because, UNICEF is making a positive difference and have a reputation that is worth putting your money, time and skills behind.

Another issue that UNICEF is supporting is that of breast feeding. By way of a Chinese social network and web chats with experts and professionals they are offering the modern mother with facts and support for breast feeding.  This practice is under attack by the formula making companies and culture. With UNICEF support they are able to stand up for what is right for their child and provide a healthy beginning.

One more set of children that UNICEF is protecting is the child of the migrant worker. These children are often left at home with grandparents with often little or no education opportunities. They are separated from their parents and often live in poverty and unsafe conditions.UNICEF is looking for ways to unite the children with their parents in the place of work and see that they are able to enroll in area schools. Coming to the city and even seeing traffic lights is often foreign to these children so again UNICEF is reaching out to give them survival/life skills for city living.

My principal brought back news a few months ago about the school board looking to close the schools for migrant children. The reason they gave is that they need to be in their home area because the school budget here cannot support them. This does not consider that there may not be adequate or any schooling in their area.  It looks like UNICEF is working with the governments and the National Working Committee on Women and Children (NWCCW) here in Beijing to find ways to provide support for these families.

UNICEF seems to have its finger on the pulse of what is needed for the marginalized children in this country to find hope, health and success. I suggested at  our last staff meeting that we not exchange gifts this  year but choose a cause to donate to. The support of these inclusive schools may be my choice. Perhaps we could even offer some teacher training and supplies.  It makes me imagine that these children that have gone without for so long just might be the best educated in the country.

UNICEF puts the child as its first priority. This means supporting the expectant mother, the family, the community and the education and health institutions. Seems to me they are going about the solution in the best way to make a better for the child.

Reference

www.unicef/eastasia and the pacific.com

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

In the introduction of their book, So Sexy So Soon, Levin and Kilbourne (2009 ) address the reality of increased exposure in early childhood to sexual vocabulary and behavior. They point out that  it is largely media driven and has more to do with "consuming than connecting" (Levin & Kilbourne,2009,  p. 5). I agree with the concern expressed for the retrieval of a time in a child's life when they should be free to investigate in a developmentally appropriate way. Rather they are forced to deal with issues before they are ready. The sad result is that their ideas become narrow and rigid and are not easily informed with factual information(Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).

My young 7 year old friend has recently asked her mother about babies and the sexual act. She was satisfied with the idea of friendship, love, marriage then babies. However, she pointed out that a friend re-arranged these steps. The fact that it is best to do something so important with someone you know and love very well  seemed to make sense to her on that day. Hopefully this honest answer will cause her to come back to her mother when other questions surface.

In department stores, the pink/princess clothing seems to be up front and center. It is difficult to find clothing for little girls that is useful for exploration and investigation. This seems to say to the girl that you are only an object of beauty and your mission is beauty and desirability (Lee, 2008). As Levin and Kilbourne (2009) warn these sort of messages divide the gender roles even farther apart and deny the girl the chance to explore all that may be available to her.

Being aware of this onslaught I wonder if it were counteracted with healthy activities and space for climbing, jumping, roller blading/ wiggle boarding/ skate boarding,  running and the like there would be less time for this kind of exploration. I do believe that screen time should be monitored and limited in early childhood. The fact is active and social play is usually the preferred choice unless there is a state of inertia in front of a screen.

I wonder also at the aura of fear that is put around the student/teacher bond. A 5 year old boy  came to us from a country where teachers were not permitted to touch the children a couple of years ago. Our teachers do not have these sort of restrictions or suspicion as yet. We are still free to touch/hug children in appropriate ways. I can imagine it is abused. But it does not come into our thinking most of the time. Other than saying there must be two teachers with the children at any time, it is not spoken of. This child went home with stories of sexual abuse by his teacher. We immediately sent him to a clinic connected to our school to see a pediatrician. She was suspect of the story and saw no physical evidence. Then started a series of meetings involving the teacher, child, principal and parents and multiple calls to a child psychologist also connected to our school. The end result was the teacher had asked him to push his chair in and when he started to walk away, she touched his shoulder to direct him to the chair. In his anger at her, he made up this story. He used terminology that shocked us and that was not brought up in the class because honestly the rest of the children had not been exposed to it.  We were all saddened by this because, understandably the teacher was cautious around him and we listened and watched his interactions with the other children very closely. The time that could have been spent running, climbing, discovering his new friends in Beijing was muddied with this pre-occupation. He came near the end of the school year and was off to Primary school and we did not succeed in successfully getting him 'in' to the school with friends and freedom of choice.

I am not saying abstinence. Children are inquisitive and need answers that meet them at their level of understanding. They need to be aware of human anatomy and have correct terminology. Many are having siblings or see women who are pregnant so a factual explanation that satisfies their curiosity without overwhelming is necessary. 

A 5 year old Kuwaiti girl in the Primary class is pre-occupied with her wardrobe and hair and often spends most of her work time arranging her one of these or looking in the mirror. More worrisome is her refusing lunch because she does not want to get fat. This is all a part of the freedom of choice that should be available in early childhood.

Children are curious and need to have answers to their inquiries. However, they need to be answers that they can work with - simple and concrete.  As much as is possible they need to be protected from having to cope with complexities of relationships and spend their time in developmentally appropriate activities.

Emotions and connectedness are huge issues in life. We spend most of our life span trying to get a handle on them.  Seems to me the longer a child has to explore and work through healthy relationships within his family, teachers and peers the better equipped he will be to navigate his way through later complexities

References

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Lee, L. (2008). Understanding gender through Disney’s marriages: A study of young Korean immigrant girls. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(1), 11-18. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.