It has been
another amazing leg along the road to completion; this time taking me halfway
around the world to gain perspective of how early childhood education differs
in Africa through the eyes of my new “friend” Mahamadou. As a consequence of this course component,
I not only reached a bit beyond my comfort zone and initiated contact with a
stranger, but also became more aware of how resources are allocated throughout
many regions of the world.
With this new
perspective I explored additional links closer to home, which raised the
question of “If the US has committed to aid early education in other countries,
who is committing to help us?” Even though most of our children “enjoy” greater
comforts than many around the world (clean water, electricity, toilets), early
care and education are still not accessible to everyone and thus we are setting
ourselves up for dependence on other nations when our children are less able to
compete in the global market. Nonetheless, the fact remains that there is a
large population of children right here at home that need our help – I’m not
saying that we should deny others, I would just like for us to take care of our
homes before we reach out to our neighbors. Prioritize. (That isn’t intended to
be as selfish as it sounds, nor am I being contradictory to my other posts.)
I hope for our profession that we continue to speak as one voice around the globe to influence policy all the way from our site supervisors to world leaders. We must all follow our passion as we have in the past to eradicate inequity in early education (all education) not only for children and families but for teachers and professionals as well.
For you my friends, I look forward to continuing along this journey with you - meeting new voices, sharing new perspectives and reaching towards a world where we can make a difference for all children.
I have so enjoyed reading your blogs and discussion board posts. You are eloquent! I hear what you are saying about prioritizing, and I agree with you. I also agree that it is hard to advocate for home first without sounding selfish. Perhaps as we help those in our homes we can also teach them to reach out and help others. "Pay it forward" so to speak.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing so much or your heart and passion with us..with me!
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that wee need to help our children here at home have more access to early care and education so that they are able to compete in the global market and to become self sufficient, productive members of society. I think that we can help other countries with providing what is needed for their young children by being an example of how to provide the support and resources that families and young children need.
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteYou have been an inspiration throughout this course and I thank you for all your educative posts. The well of learning is very deep, we can only draw out the water when we let down the pail. Throwing out the net to other places for partnership has given wider perspective and broader views of early care in other places, this is the most important consequence of collaboration.You are not being selfish when you think U.S. should help the people at home, but U.S. is the big brother to other nations, no matter what,a lot is being done in the US that is not done many other countries of the world. American influence is needed to help us move the profession forward with relevance all over the world. Hopefully, the influence will quickly yield positive result for the benefit of the young children. I wish you success as you progress with the other courses.
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteYou raised a very good point in asking the question of who will help the US in our time of need? The problem is that for so many years, we were perceived as a powerful entity and now that we've fallen backwards, the relationships with allies that once were strong have also fallen backwards. I was astounded to read that so many nations experience childhood education (or lack thereof) in the same manner that we do. As you mentioned, so many nations are struggling to educate their children in the same manner that we are struggling. My new favorite phrase lately has been-how is that possible? Unfortunately, that's a question I'm still trying to answer. It's been a pleasure being in this class with you and learning your insights.