Saturday, June 6, 2015

Getting to Know My International Contacts-Part 2

          I gained insight from two sources for this week's assignment, "The Global Children's Initiative" (GCI) which focuses on enhancing life skills for young children globally and to help the economy gain positive achievements for families from all walks of life. I also referred to the article "Current issues in comparative education, Volume 11, 2009" which discusses the school system in Southern Zambia located in Africa regarding the following issues:
*Over-enrollment - not enough schools to support students/70 students in one class with one teacher  and the likelihood of reaching half of the class educationally.
*Lack of funds to make improvements and provide material such as books, furniture, and teachers. teachers must share one text for lesson planning.
*The turn over of educators-the time in which it takes a teacher to receive teaching credentials (2-3 years).
     Insights gained from The Global Children's Initiative are:
*Improving the knowledge base of Brazilian communities to better understand the effects of supportive guidance for young children's development.
*Encouraging leadership in Brazil to learn valuable information in regards to early childhood development.
     Additional information in particular is that gained from video footage, "Saving Brains" with Dr. Karlee Silver in which she discusses:
*Malnourishment and lack of attention for young children in Canada
*What interventions are best based on the environment
*Better understanding of risk factors
     One of my overseas contacts did contact me to apologize due to "job training". I will share information once I receive via e-mail.

References
Harvard University's Global Initiative website: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/
 

Thomas, C. M. & Thomas, M. A. (2009). Current Issues in Comparative Education, Vol. 11. Early Childhood Care and Education in Zambia: An Integral Part of Educational Provision? Retrieved from http://devweb.tc.columbia.edu/i/a/document/25626_11Thomas.pdf
 
 

 

3 comments:

  1. Shelita,

    Who would've thought that in Africa that there would be over enrollment? I never would've thought that over enrollment of so many children would be the case. It shows me that these children take their education very seriously. Thank you for opening up my ignorant eyes to such useful information.

    Adrienne Stephens

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  2. 70 kids in one class? That's a lot and the teacher is totally out of her ratio. How is it possible to learn with 70 people in a class? My college classes didn't have this many colleagues in one class. Great post and great insight. Learning each day.

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  3. Hi Shelita,

    I found the same resources and info as you. I was definitely astounded with the conditions in these various parts of the world. Overall, seeing what the everyday ECE issues are for these countries has made me truly appreciate the small "first world problems" we have here. I won't hop up on my soap box today but I'm glad you shared this info!

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