Three consequences of learning about the international early childhood field for my professional and personal development are there are similarities with the American and England early childhood education (ECE), differences with the Sweden early childhood education, and your colleagues from the international field are interested in communicating and sharing their ideas with you. The American and England ECE are alike in teaching a top down curriculum with making sure children have the basic skills in reading, math, and language. These systems are so structured that there is little time for play which is beneficial to all children.
Sweden's ECE has no formal learning for their children from ages 1 to 6 year old. The children are with the same group of people through all six years so there is conformity with both the students and the teachers. Children are safe, secure, and learn through play. The ECE program is fully funded by the Sweden government. The parents said that they would not send their children to the England system and the Swedish teachers say the English ECE is no fun. One English teacher who now teaches in Sweden says there is no way he could return to teaching back into the England system.
The collaboration form our colleagues for the international field was not done weekly. My English counterpart Elizabeth Wood sent me several chapters from her published books and journals to read form 2013 to 2015 which was very informative. I joined Social Policy Issues in Indonesia who discuss and share information on education and other ideas in Indonesia. The collaboration has open me up to other ideas in ECE and that we can implement some of their ideas into our practices to better ourselves, our students, and colleagues. This is my goal to continue collaborationg with my international contacts and to reach out and make more international contacts. Knowledge is power and we educators must continue to grow our knowledge in this field so that we can be better role models, leaders, and teachers for our students.
Hi Larry I cannot agree with you more with regards to the goal you have set for yourself. It is so important to be internationally-minded as well as open-minded about issues and trends in education all over the world. It has been great to read your informative posts the last few weeks and I have no doubt that you will succeed in your goal!
ReplyDeleteJustine
Larry,
ReplyDeleteexcellent post, I totally agree with you on ensuring that we are inclusive of all people and programs. I wanted to let you know that I truly enjoy reading your post weekly, they have been very informative and helpful to me on gaining a better understanding. I wish you much success on your educational journey.