Getting to know international contacts.. Alternative

Through exploring the Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child’s website, I was able to discover several interesting resources and projects that are working towards educating professionals, families, and researchers on the many levels of early childhood mental health. Several of the resources and papers available to read pertain to how we can work to support children when working against things such as, but not limited to, toxic stress and biology’s affect on children’s resilience in adverse situations. Resources are in the form of papers, research briefs, and video summaries of several findings.

Within the resources available through the CDC’s website, an incredibly important topic is available for viewers to read through: the stages of neglect. As professionals in the early childhood field, we are required to be mandated reporters. Yet, as I have come to learn, many professionals are not sure what specific incidents qualify as neglect or abuse. Through the same link to the Paper in Progress of the InBrief series, one can find a 5 minute video research brief that identifies the science of neglect. The video outlines the most basic definition of neglect, stating that neglect is when a child does not receive a return of an interaction, whether it is a vocal or visual “serve”, if the “return” is not provided a child’s biological needs are not being met. 

Sharing Web Resources.. Continued

As I currently work in a handful of different settings, I find that the blog on the Global Fund for Children’s website is most relevant to my current professional development. What I have found in my own personal experiences is that no matter the level of diversity in a given area, looking at the experiences of others in similar situations can provide a professional with incredible insight as to how they can meet the needs of the population they work with. For me personally, I always find that hearing others stories of struggle and triumph provide me with the inspiration to think outside the box when created new approaches to support families and children in my care.

The grants provided by GFC require candidates to meet very specific criterion. Part of these criterions helps the organization maintain accessibility to funding for a certain population of people/groups. Something that caught my attention is that the annual budget for the grantee must not exceed a specific amount. The reason for this is so that only projects in the earliest stages have access to the GFC grant money. This struck me as something that can be fairly limiting. I wonder about the organizations that may exceed the annual spending limit, but also might be spread across many different projects. Would it be fair to exclude these candidates from accessing funding?

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

I am still unsuccessful on my search to build international relationships. I have, though, reached out to a close friend who is currently working as a community developer and music educator in a rural region in Nicaragua. We are able to keep in touch fairly regularly, yet his responses depend on his access to internet. I am hoping to hear from him soon!

With this prospective connection to Nicaragua, I have begun to seek information regarding child and family poverty throughout the country. Much of the information I have gained is through the organization Save the Children. The organization has been in tact since 1980, and works diligently to support children and families living in poverty throughout Nicaragua, and several other countries.

In Nicaragua it is uncommon for children to attend school, let alone complete their education beyond sixth grade. Although many children drop out of school due to a lack of accessibility or a need to help provide income for their families, a child's lack of certain mathematical understandings leads to the child's inability to access greater income and opportunities for themselves and their families. Children and families also suffer from a prevalence of natural disasters, such as earth quakes and hurricanes, that cripple their families as well as their communities' economies. With these natural disasters, children and families also are deeply affected by wide-spread malnutrition, combined with a lack of adequate medical care. Organizations such as Save the Children work to provide children and families with access to educational programs, disaster assistance, and nutritional support.

Sharing Web Resources

The Global Fund For Children

https://www.globalfundforchildren.org/

As the world continues to develop, communities across the globe continue to seek support when planning for a wide array of supports for their youngest members. The Global Fund For Children works to connect donors to impactful grassroots organizations that target high needs populations, regardless of the living implications. Rather than reading applications of grantees, GFC sends experts to areas that are in need of financial support, and gathers first hand information and experiences to determine who and where grant money will be allocated. 

As grants seem to be the universal method of receiving funding for supporting a large-scale project, I find it to be very inspirational that GFC takes the time to physically understand the issues that grantees are hoping to change. By sending an expert to the very neighborhoods that are seeking help, it ensures a logical, experientially based decision when choosing grantees.

Being an international company, GFC provides outsiders a clear access to success stories in all regions that they support. On the web page, a view can select a region (i.e. Middle East and North Africa) and read of the various opportunities for growth that the funding provided by the organization as created. Through browsing many of stories, it is clear that the organization focuses merely on community development. It seems as though as long as the grantee provides a compelling argument for why funded is necessary, along with a clear outline for their plan of action, anything can be possible.

Establishing Professional Contacts & Resources

Having been unable to access the World Forum Foundation prior to beginning this assignment, I had decided to research the information available through The Global Fund for Children (GFC). As I entered the GFC's website, I found several different options for obtaining information regarding what the organization is involved in throughout the globe. Ultimately, this organization speaks on behalf of children around the world. Several of the issues discussed are relation to poverty, violence, and inaccessibility/successful retrieval of special needs resources. The tool I chose to research closely was the GFC's blog. On the blogs provided, several writers and advocates speak up regarding issues that are relevant in the regions in which they live.

I had initially searched for contact information for several of the bloggers, but was unsuccessful in finding a way to contact them personally. Instead, I will follow several bloggers throughout this course and try to interpret the information they are sharing in a manner that I can connect the issues to my own personal experiences and understandings. From the GFC's main blog page, several different topics are available for viewing. The different titles listed include the author's names in a link form. When  you click on the author's name, it takes you a page containing all blog posts contributed by this author. Several of the authors right on consistent topics, where others discuss a variety of issues experienced in their geographic regions.

https://www.globalfundforchildren.org/blog/

Thank You

"If you want to be creative, stay in part a child, with the creativity and invention that characterizes children before they are deformed by adult society."

Jean Piaget

As our careers take flight, along with our minds, I want to take a moment to remind all of my colleagues and peers to always keep a piece of childhood close to your hearts.

As many of us know, Jean Piaget is one of the most influential theorists in the field of early care and education. He believed that learning and development is a process for all, and not ever person accomplishes each milestone at the same moment. This understanding is one that is so vital as we continue through our adult lives. The process of learning is not always easy for us, yet we must remember that is it an incredible journey of discoveries. With an open heart and an open mind, we have the power to shape our minds into vessels of social justice. We believe that children are incredible creatures, new to the world, and changing at unimaginable rates. As we change our worlds to support all children in their discoveries, we must be sure to support ourselves in the process. Take failures as opportunities to learn and grow, just as a child takes the process of falling as a vital part of learning to walk. Keep your head up, and your heart smiling. Find joy in every walk, paying attention to the small wonders. You, my friends, will change the world. Thank you for all of your support, and I look forward to seeing the world of opportunities we will create together!

Test this, not that.

Testing. Assessments. Data. It's all we ever hear about education these days. It's amazing to me how much focus is placed on measuring children's development, yet so little emphasis is placed on the process of learning. At least that's how it seems when looking at educating young children from the American public's perspective.

If you think about childhood, development and learning, everything leads back to one simple skill: problem solving. Whether it's a child's ability to solve the problem of stress management, or simple to solve a mathematical equation for their daily homework; a child's ability to navigate through whatever tasks or challenges that might be presented is the very best way to measure the quality and growth of a child's development.

I always find myself stumbling upon research produced in Finland, outlining why their educational system is far superior than the education system in the United States. In an article shared with the National Educators Association in 2010. One of the common facts stated throughout the article, is how Finland continues to avoid the common practice of evaluation and assessment. Rather, the country builds the quality of their programs based on the universal access to resources, teacher preparation, and quality individualization of programs for students requiring extensive supports. It makes so much sense: spend the time and efforts providing opportunities for growth, education, and improvements in the areas of student growth and practitioner growth (educators and educational professionals). By doing so, children are given more opportunities to grow and learn in more well rounded ways- with time to grow socially and emotionally, in turn increasing their academic success later in life. 

Resources
Darling-Hammon, L. (2010). Steady Work: Finland Builds a Strong Teaching and Learning System. Rethinking Schools, Volume 24, Number 4. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/40991.htm