Early Childhood Education Across the Globe

I am excited to learn more about other cultures and their early childhood education programs.  I feel that it’s important to do so in order to develop an appreciation for what I have within this field in my country, as well as to develop an understanding and appreciation for what early childhood educators do in other areas of the world. 

I used a few different methods in order to establish contact with early childhood educators from different countries.  I first went to the websites offered in this week’s resources and emailed fifteen different professionals.  I explained my assignment, why I chose to contact them in particular, and what interests me about their country.  As a teacher, I felt that if I were to be approached by someone from a different country to learn more about my classroom, I would be more prone to respond if they showed that they were already looking into our education system and they had a legitimate reason for choosing me to contact.  I was able to establish communication with a male teacher from Bulgaria through the use of these websites.  I have already begun emailing back and forth and am waiting for his response to my numerous questions about his school, classroom, country, and field. 

To establish a second contact, I asked my colleagues at work if they knew any early childhood educators in other countries.  My request was met with a series of “No’s” and “Sorry.”  After racking my brain for a while, I suddenly remembered that I had a student last year whose family returned to Denmark at the beginning of this school year.  I had a great relationship with this mother and have continued communication with her since they’ve left.  I decided to email her and ask if there was any way for her to put me in touch with my former student’s new teachers.  She has said that they would be more than happy to do so and she will give them my information when they return to school on Monday.  This contact was particularly exciting for me; I will learn more about another culture and be able to learn how one of my former students is re-acclimating to life in Denmark.  I look forward to hearing from them.

When choosing a website to study, I was unable to limit it to only one.  I have signed up for three newsletters; The National Black Child Development Institute, Zero to Three, and Pre-K Now.  I chose The National Black Child Development Institute because I used to work primarily with African American students.  I currently live in a predominantly white community and would like to stay up to date with the needs of the African American community.  I chose Zero to Three because I read many of their articles throughout my coursework in previous classes and would like to receive the newsletter and share it with my co-teachers.  Lastly, I chose Pre-K Now because I teach in a Pre-K classroom.  I want to serve my students to the best of my ability and I feel that by exploring this site and receiving their newsletter, it will be beneficial to developing best teaching practices. 

I chose to focus my studies on the Pre-K Now website.  I feel that this will be most beneficial to my professional development.  While initially exploring the site, I enjoyed the articles and information provided by educators from all over the country, (which were offered in Spanish and English).  There were also stories published by families about how pre-k has truly helped their child and their family.  I look forward to printing some of these out and using them when recruiting new families to join our program at the Nature Center.  There were also links to conversations had by pre-K professionals about their programs and their dedication to provide their students with a positive and developmentally appropriate school experience.  I feel that these will be beneficial when creating my curriculum.  I also enjoyed the resources made available through this site.  I want to stay up to date with what decisions are being made in our government that will affect my classroom now and my future children’s classrooms down the road. 

I am excited to build these bridges throughout my work in this course.  I am also excited to learn more through the research of my colleagues.  I’m curious to know what other countries they will be communicating with and how our educational system compares with those in other parts of the world.  I feel that this will be extremely beneficial to my professional development; it is important to build relationships with other early childhood professionals within our country and otherwise.