International Colleagues - The Search

I began this week putting some feelers out for educators that would enjoy discussing education with me during the following weeks.

First of all since I am here in China, I would like to make contact with a teacher in a public pre-school or kindergarten. I have asked a colleague to check at her son's school to see if anyone would be interested. She thought they would be reticent to do it in person but thought there might be one that would enjoy doing it in print.I would like this to be an on-going relationship. I am waiting to on hear back.

Secondly, a now 3 year old student of our school who began in my class has a grandmother who is a newly- retired educator in Peru. She has 30 years experience with 3 to 5 year olds and she is excited to talk about early education in her country. She is here visiting for a month so we may be able to meet for coffee as well.

Lastly, I have requested if the mother of one of my colleagues would be interested in this project. She is a special education educator in England and also has experience in Hong Kong. Her daughter was quite certain that she would enjoy discussing her field and the changes she has seen over the years with me. However, I have not yet made direct contact with her.

Education Website.
This has been an interesting journey for me.
En route to the international sites, I joined the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and will be receiving their newsletter.
I also became a member of The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and will be receiving publications from them. I will also be accessing the great ideas that popped out in just a quick pass through.
Since the first course I have been wondering which journals to subscribe and this assignment has helped me make that decision.
I look forward to sharing these articles with my colleagues and parents.

When I arrived in the international territory, I chose the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). This is chock-full of ideas and information. Their vision is to support with knowledge communities,  families, educators and the early childhood population.  
To this end the click areas have names like: Building Community; Engaging Worldwide, which gives information about education in countries around the world; Sharing Knowledge, providing a resource center; Taking Action, which investigates ways to ensure the rights of the child and his family; Advancing Education, projects that put this knowledge into action.


Then there is a radio where there are interviews about current research and issues.

 An area topped 'Focus Forum', provides quarterly reviews on age groups up to early adolescence.


In addition to this there is an E-newsletter and a subscription to  Journal of Research in Childhood Education. At least I think so. I paid the subscription and they said they would get back to me by mail within 2 weeks. But I do live in China. We'll see.


Another interesting subject on this site's home page was the announcing that 2012-2022 is the Decade of the Child. It will be interesting to find out what that all entails.


I am certain over the next weeks there will be much to report from this already informative site.