This week I attempted to establish contact with early childhood professionals in Singapore, Serbia, and India. I was particularly interested in Singapore because much of the work I do for early math comes from Singapore. Singapore is a world leader in math instruction, and I am fascinated to learn more about what foundations are build during the early childhood years. Unfortunately, the contact listed by the Global Alliance of the NAEYC has an email address posted that is "permanently disabled," which I only learned after composing a long and thoughtful email to her!
2 of my aunts are Early Childhood professors, one at Kansas State University and one retired from Purdue University. They have done some work internationally, and I have reached out to them to "borrow" several of the contacts abroad. They are attempting to put me in touch with someone in Belgrade, Serbia, and several people at a University Lab School in India. One of my aunts has some contact with an ashram in India who runs a preschool program that she described as more like an orphanage. I'm interested to learn more about that.
In choosing the early childhood organization to study, I explored websites that appeared most relavant to the work that I do currently. I would suggest that when others are looking for an organization to study, base your decision off of what drives your passion for the field.
I have worked for the last 5 years in a chronically underserved community on the West Side of Chicago. Like many of the neighborhoods in the city, this community is highly segregated, as all of my students over the past 5 years are African American. For most of my families, I have seen first hand how local opportunities and resources are scarce. National Black Child Development Institute is working to to ensure that society provides opportunity for all children to have successful futures.
Resources included by this organization includes information on health and well-being, a framework for "what works," and suggestions for developing cultural competency. They also share links to resources shared by partner organizations. I have chosen to study this organization as we explore issues and trends in the field.
I can tell that you are very passionate about the community that you are working with and no doubt you will find many resources through this course in working with them. I am looking forward to reading and learning about your experiences and what works within your context.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post. It is obvious that you take pride in your work and care a lot about the children in your community. You seem to have many great resources already! I'm anxious to hear the feedback you will receive from your contacts outside of the US. Thank you for sharing.
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