Unlimited Resources in Poverty Research

For this week's blog assignment, I chose option 2, which reads:

• Imagine that you possess the means and the knowledge to conduct research studies about any topic in the early childhood field. Imagine further that you are not restricted by the reality of the present. Imagine that your study will make a major positive contribution to the well-being of children and/or their families. What topic would you choose? What can you imagine the positive contribution(s) would be?

If I had the ability to conduct any research of any topic, it would have to be research in Poverty and its' effects on young children and early learning and development. In this research, I would provide families suffering from the epidemic of poverty useful resources and economic benefits to assist in the beginning stages of providing adequate living and quality early childcare for their children. I could only imagine positive contributions would be that these young children would benefit from the results of this research. I would also hope that the families participating in this research would 'pay it forward' and help to provide other families, living in poverty, similar, if not, the same opportunities provided to them. Children involved in this research would be the opportunity to learn and develop their early learning abilities in adequate learning environments with well trained and qualified teachers. They would have exposure to and benefit from governmental programs such as School Readiness, to help minimize the educational and language gap affecting our young children today. 

Consequences and Goals of International Education

During these eight weeks, as I observed different websites and dissected the many values and standards of different countries and cultures, I was extremely enlightened. Awareness of this new knowledge opened a whole new spectrum of education that I was unaware of. We often talk about the educational lack that is shown in our country, but when learning about other countries, who obtain an even deeper lack of educational value and standard, it really causes one to re-evaluate just how much we lack in the area of education. Three consequences that I believe have impacted my current ideology of our educational values, all revealed through the dissecting and research of education in international countries, are letting go of your own personal biases regarding how other countries resolve educational dilemmas, gaining a new appreciation for how countries apply educational value and knowledge, and learning to appreciate the minimal advances we hold here in the states, compared to those in other countries. A goal of mine is to one day visit a country and observe and interact with the children in an educational setting. I believe that I would gain much insight and knowledge that can be applied to our educational system and early childhood settings here in the states.  

Quality from an ECCE stand point

UNESCO is a world wide network that specializes in Education. They head main quarters is located in Paris, with an additional 52 locations all around the world, including Bangkok, Beirut, Dakar and Santiago . Their strive for expanding progress in Early Education is dispersed across five different regions; Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America and Latin America and the Caribbean. UNESCO focuses on a number of themes geared to different aspects of Early Education, as well as, provides its' viewers with a plethora of educational programmes suited for the advancement and awareness of early education.


UNESCO'S ECCE, Early Child Care and Education, elaborately describes the importance of quality and access in early childhood programming on their website http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/quality/.


"Early childhood care and education programmes should emphasise the child’s holistic development and extend beyond assisting the child’s transition to formal schooling. High quality childcare, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, promotes motivation, confidence, good cognitive and linguistic development and school readiness" (UNESCO, Early Childcare quality programmes).
Adequate quality programming in early childhood education has been the discussion of debate for many years. Questions are asked of how does one determine if programming is or is not adequate enough, based on the economical status of a community? Other's may conclude that maybe the lack of qualified teachers contributes to the insignificance of quality programming. Despite the debate at hand, all in all, our children are suffering because of the lack of quality programming; particularly in low income communities. This not only occurs in the U.S., but this is an international dilemma. The inclusion of active parent involvement and adequate learning through Play ensure that children learn using tools to their fullest capacity, while engaging in full interaction. Although conducted on a regular basis, I have emerged more methods of learning through Play into my classroom, with the multi-use of different materials, some purchased with my own funding.


The international crisis of investments and financing in early childhood programming is a world wide dilemma. As the U.S. makes attempts to play a more pro-active role in the investments of financing and minimizing equities in early childhood programming, government officials in other countries struggle to accomplish this same goal. The struggle to mobilize resources needed to promote quality in early childhood plays second to the overlapping issues associated with universal education as a whole. Although the 1990 Jomtien Declaration on Education for All (EFA) declared that countries should view early education as a part of basic education, government funding for early education is so minimal, the mobilization of such funding seems almost impossible. Working for a non-profit organization, it appears that non-profit seems much more effective, as programming is supported by government subsidies, as well as, provides assistance for children and their families, particular of low income families.

Sharing Web Resources

While exploring the ISSA website, I came across their Bookstore link. Entitled the Reading Corner Initiative, this link provides its readers with access to numerous books, via hard copy or online, that they can read and share with children. The books are created by members of the ISSA, and can be shipped from the United States, the United Kingdom or Germany. Through this website, books can be ordered online and shipped to your home or school, or, can be downloaded in its entirety, and ready for reading, with just the click of a button. The books are also available to be purchased in 15 different languages. Ebooks version of the Ready Corner books can be ordered from http://www.titlewave.com/,www.dedicatedteacher.com/p/iss, and www.overdrive.com.
To view books in their entirety, these can be downloaded from www.biguniverse.com/kidsbookshops/issa.
A few of the books found on the Reading Corner Initiative website are:

  Grandpa has 27 grandchildren, all who loved him, and shared the mangos he brought home every day. But grandpa was getting sick, losing his memory and the ability to even cut the mangos. Grandpa died, he will never be forgotten.

  The story of two very different dogs that were friends-they played together, ate together and even slept together-until one day they had a disagreement and stopped being friends. Friendship wins out and they become friends again.

  Rita finds a young parrot in the garden and brings it home. The parrot learned to repeat everything Rita said, driving her parents crazy. Fearing her parents will force her to let the parrot go, Rita decides to run away with the parrot. The misadventure and Rita are saved from disaster by the talking parrot.

Learning about this aspect of the website provides more clarity and understanding about the term diversity, more so than equity. Although that is the focus for this weeks learning curve, I strongly believe that diversity also plays a major role in equity and excellence. The acceptance of diversity among children in early learning environments lays a great foundation for the conception of receptiveness and perceptiveness. Applying the reading of these books in early learning classrooms can introduce the notion of diversity and acceptance in their early stages of life. 
Learning about the Reading Corner Initiative enlightened my knowledge of the powerful effects unity can have, when all members share the same goal and have the same motives in mind. When we as Early Childhood Educators can share the same goals, humble ourselves in how to achieve those goals and apply our knowledge and abilities in our respected positions, and maybe even step outside the box a bit, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.   

Global Children's Initiative

The Global Children's Initiative is an integrated international approach to child survival, health and development in the earliest years of life, founded in 2006 at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. "We view healthy child development as the foundation of economic prosperity, strong communities, and a just society, and our mission is to advance that vision by using science to enhance child well-being through innovations in policy and practice (Global Children's Initiative). The Global Children's Initiative strives to provide a healthy platform for children internationally, to secure a strong foundation within their immediate surroundings, including family, school and society. They strive to use the essential tools of science to create and implement health, learning and and cognitive behavior. They are committed to guiding the design, implementation and evaluation of such scientific programs and practices. The Global Children's Initiative is also utilizing public policies to create and implement these innovated programs.

The Global Children's Initiative concentrates on three strategic objectives:

• To reframe public discourse about he early childhood period by educating policy makers about the underlying commonality science of learning, cognition and health
• To support innovative, multidisciplinary research and demonstration projects in various parts of the world to enhance global understanding of how healthy development happens, how it can be derailed and how to get it back on track
• To build leadership capacity in child development research and policy among individuals and institutions in low-and middle-income countries in order to increase the number and influence of diverse perspectives that are contributing to the global movement on behalf of young children.   

The Global Children's Initiative focuses on a maintains their primary attention on three main domains that are drastically changing and affecting the Early Care Education arena; early childhood development, mental health (diversity), and children in crisis and conflict situations (I.E., poverty).

ISSA Services in Relevance to my Profession

International Step by Step Association is a caring organization that connects early childhood professionals and organizations in the early childhood field. "ISSA promotes equal access to quality education and care for all children, especially in the early years of their lives" (ISSA, http://www.issa.nl/index.html).

One of the services provided by the ISSA, is promoting quality, and supporting professionals. In my current profession in the early childhood field, these missions are extremely important. In my career, I strive to promote and support quality education not only in my classroom, but in my facility and my community. The quality of care is essential in the growth and production of young children, and as teachers, we should be advocates for such quality. A few of the outlined areas that ISSA concentrates on are Interactions, Family and Community, Teaching Strategies and Professional Development, all of which are essential to high quality child care. I am particularly intrigued in the new launch of a ISSA online course geared to Kindergarten/Preschool educators on child centered education. I think this is a great opportunity for educators to strengthen their motives and intentions in the classroom.
The Principles mentioned earlier, and few others, are Principles that the ISSA strongly believe should be followed by educators, administrators and policymakers, in order to make rational and effective decisions in the best interest of our children.
I believe this website provides educators, parents, and policymakers with crucial information that contribute to the essential progression of young children. This website can be utilized by all individuals of all areas, all with the same purpose in mind; to make decisions in the best interest of our children, in efforts to promote high quality education.

Overseas Development Institutes (ODI)

Unfortunately, I have not heard back from my international contact, and I have encountered numerous issues with uploading the websites provided. However, I was able to upload one of the alternative links provided. Below is an informative description of an international organization that strives to reduce poverty in undeveloped countries, like Africa and the UK.

Overseas Development Institutes, also known as ODI, is the UK's leading independent organization on international development and humanitarian issues. "Our mission is to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievment os sustainable livelihoods in developing countries. We do this by locking together high quality applied research, practical policy-focused dissemination and debate. We work with partners in the public and private sectors, in both developing and developed countries." (http://www.odi.org.uk/about). The ODI is in partnership with many other organizations, in the strive to fight poverty, such as OneWorld, EUFORIC, and Business Action for Africa, just to name a few. The link below provides its' viewers with a world history of how ODI came to development, the motives and intent's of ODI and how ODI strives to rid of poverty through policy changes, asking questions and finding answers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xuyRI00tbCg

The ODI foresees and undergoes numerous program's to pursue the fundamental and agricultural development of foreign countries. For example, the Agricultural Development and Policy program "works to promote understanding of transitions in food and agriculture, and appropriate policy responses. This is done with the aim of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving the sustainability of rural livelihoods in the face of increasing social, economic and physical shocks and stresses." (ODI). They also conduct, what they call, Flagship Projects. One project, the Africa Power and Policy Program works hand in hand with African politicians and leaders to develop a coherent political structure to enhance the development of Africa.   

The Overseas Development Institute does much more than fight against poverty, as a whole, but it conducts extensive research in policy making, agricultural statistics and developmental consistencies and researches how such demographics can be altered to promote successful growth in areas of Growth, Poverty and Inequality.  

Although economic growth has been witnessed in Africa, poverty is still at an all time high. The number of families, children and women without food, clothing or shelter is still at an alarming rate. The ODI focuses on eliminating these demographical statistics through the changing of inaccurate policies and the shifting of Africa's most influential power holders. "Poor statistics and poor data make for both poor policy interventions and poor developmental outcomes. But the paucity of accurate statistics in Africa is not merely a technical problem; it has a massive impact on the welfare of our citizens." (Development Initiatives, 2013).