Each module in this course has further enhanced my capacity in the field of early childhood care and education. The in-depth discourse with colleagues, international professionals, our own instructor, Dr. Klein as well as the many articles that have been made available as well as what I discovered have added to the vast array of ideas acquired.
Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for my professional and personal development are:
· To develop a greater awareness of the issues and trends facing the field of early childhood in other parts of the world and learn of the measures adopted to improve the life chances of all children especially those children whose academic development is likely to lag behind.
· To increase my resolve to continue my advocacy efforts to ensure that quality care and education is available to all children. Interestingly, several weeks were spent collaborating on equity and excellence as it relates to policies, availability, accessibility and affordability as well as early childhood professionals because these areas are extremely pertinent for a successful program. They impact significantly on the success of programs and it was important for me to share with my international contact and at the same time learn about how these areas are being addressed in her sphere.
· To foster lasting professional relationships. Dr. Lyon has extended that invitation to me. I wanted to raise the issue in my closing remarks with regards to whether we can continue our professional relationship but I was a bit hesitant. She was quite generous in doing so and for this I am forever grateful. It is important to know that there are persons not only on a local level but on the international level that one can discuss issues pertaining to children’s development and the field of early childhood as well, as we strive to ensure that the bars of quality education continue to remain high and social justice is attained for all served in the field.
· One goal for the field related to international awareness is that we will continue to extend our level of awareness to include issues and trends on the international arena so we can learn from their efforts, obtain additional support for the measures we hope to implement in our local programs so we can improve the quality of service provided for children, families and the field at large. The quality of care young children receive will impact directly on the state of the economy.
THANK YOU NOTE
Finally, I must express thanks to all my colleagues for the level of collaboration that occurred during the last 8 weeks. I must say it was deep, insightful and compelling. We would have learnt a lot from each other and I wish you all the best in your future courses. I am sure some of us will share the same classroom in the next course. All the best! God Bless!
Hello Evlyn
ReplyDeleteYou wrote another very informative blog. I must say this class have been full of important infomrmation and resources containing to issues and trends in the early childhod education. I am happy that you made contact with Dr.Susan Lyons and the collaboration will continue throughout your professional career. Although we were not in the same group in this class, but I want to let you know that I learned a lot and enjoyed reading all your blog. God Bless!
Thank You Evlyn,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed your perspectives and directives during this course. I like that you stated a few times in this last post that learning about practices in other countries and communities will help us to learn what may or may not work in our own communities for EC. The ideas can always be adjusted to better fit our individual needs as well. Thank you again.
Evlyn,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you these eight weeks totally expand my wealth of knowledge. I enjoyed every bit of it as well. Even though I did not get the opportunity of learning directly from an international contact, I learnt a lot from the other resources. I consider you as my international early childhood professional that I always could learn from. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, knowledge and wisdom.
Hope to be in class with you again. Wish you all best in future courses.
Evlyn,
ReplyDeleteOnce again thanks for sharing!
The challenges we face regarding the issues and trends are enormous but not impossible. We need integral effort to give children and families the opportunity to live decent lives. Thus we have to provide the education to match all chikdren needs and cultural backgrounds. It
goes through searching strategies and
initiatives to achieve equity and to pomote a unique childhood development culture across the diversity of cultures.
Thank you for sharing so much in this class. I have learned from both you and Dr. Lyons and I am glad to hear you will be continuing the collaborative efforts the two of you have created. Learning about other programs really can help us make our own programs better.
ReplyDelete