International Contacts: Part Two

I was able to speak with my contact from Bulgaria this week, but I am still trying to build a solid connection to my contact in Denmark.

When I tried to discuss inequities with my Bulgarian contact this week, at first, he did not believe that there were any.  After further explanation of what inequities are and giving several examples from what we've been studying this week, he believed that there were a few that "I" may consider an "inequity."  His examples were that the majority of teachers, (99.5%), are female while a similar statistic shows that the majority of administrators are male.  He was correct in thinking that I would consider this an inequity.  I feel that it's important, in any country, to have male teachers.  I don't understand why teaching is a field filled predominantly with women.  Children need to build connections with males as well and I feel that with many fathers being the parent that works, and many teachers being female, children are missing this opportunity.

Another inequity in Bulgaria would be the gap between those children who are from a low socioeconomic status to those that are affluent.  It was, formerly, a very large problem in Bulgaria.  However, my contact has informed me that there have been many changes in recent years to offer monetary support to low income families, thus enabling their children to attend public preschools.  Although many families are receiving this support, the Roma children are still suffering.  I have chosen not to really push this topic with my contact, as it seems to be of a sensitive nature.  However, he is currently attending a conference to help the inclusion of Roma students and I look forward to discussing it with him when he returns next week.

Since our conversations are brief and sporadic, I thought it would benefit me to do a little research on my own about the Bulgarian education system.  Since much of my application assignment discussed the need for teachers to possess higher education, I decided to see if Bulgaria experienced the same inequities that we do in our country regarding this issue.  In Bulgaria, according to the statistics I've located, one hundred percent of teachers have gone through training in the early childhood field and the majority of them hold a Bachelor's or Master's degree.  This is greatly different from our early childhood education system, in which some teachers do not hold any degree at all.  I have emailed my contact about this topic and am waiting to hear his thoughts and I will share them with you as soon as I do.

Learning about early childhood education in other countries has been a rewarding experience.  I feel that as an American, I have sometimes had the ethnocentric idea that "America does it best."  It's interesting to truly see our shortcomings and the room we have to go.  It's inspired me to think of ways to advocate for other professionals and make a difference in our field.

References:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001471/147161e.pdf
personal contact with Emil from Bulgaria