Sharing Web Resources

National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators

http://www.naecte.org/

I chose this organization because one of their purposes is to provide a forum for consideration of issues and concerns of interest to educators of early childhood teacher educators.  In addition, they facilitate the interchange of information and ideas about research and practice.

On their website, you can view past newsletters.  One that I found of interest was the Summer 2012 issue in which they were requesting applications for the study tours that go to New Zealand.  It is a joint venture between the state of Washington and New Zealand to observe their early childhood professional development work because of their exemplary early childhood educational system.

Although, there was no specific information about economists, neuroscientists, and politicians on their website, in the Winter 2012 newsletter I read about regional updates on programs and how funding was being received to facilitate these programs.

 

The website addresses issues and trends in the early childhood field by allowing doctoral candidates to present their dissertations at their annual conferences and by having a link on the website to books written by various members.  Some of the book topics are emerging literacy, bilingual classrooms, cultural fluency, and global migration and education.

Reference:

http://www.naecte.org/

Getting to Know Your International Contacts 

All of my attempts at emails were returned.  The addresses were no longer current. 

Therefore, I listened to another podcast on the World Forum Foundation Radio.  I listened to Delfena Mitchell, the Director of the Liberty Children’s Home in Belize City, speak about her program which houses up to 40 children, mostly between birth and 5 years of age (World Forum Foundation Radio).  She spoke of how these children have either been physically and sexually abused or have witnessed the abuse of a loved one.  Ms. Mitchell described the children as “broken down”.  She said that they had to give them time to heal before they could attend nearby schools.  She fondly spoke of a boy, in her care, who made tremendous progress at his own pace under her care and guidance. 

http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php

 

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre

 One of the most telling statements on their website is, “As one of the most powerless groups in society, children often bear the physical and emotional costs of poverty” (website).   This organization is a collaborative research and policy program which involves Save the Children, the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) and partners with in China, India, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia to contribute to the reduction of global poverty.

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php

 

Insights and Information about Issues of Poverty in India

 

On the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s website, I chose to learn more about India because I have had family members live there for a short period of time.  I learned that India is the home of the majority of the poor people of South Asia (website).  As of 2000, 260.2 million people were living in poverty; however, great efforts have been made to alleviate poverty in this country through increased economic growth, liberalization of the economy, targeted programs, and land and tenancy reforms.  Unfortunately, the numbers in poverty remain high.  Even more alarming and disturbing is that one-half of all children (about 62 million) under the age of five are malnourished and 34 percent of newborns are significantly underweight.  

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo

 

 

Sharing Web Resources

 

I have chosen the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators.  The link to their website is:  http://www.naecte.org/

 

As posted on their website, below are their purpose statements:

• To promote the professional growth of our membership
• To discuss educational issues specific to our membership
• To advocate for improvements in early childhood teacher education
• Provide a forum for consideration of issues and concerns of interest to educators of early childhood teacher educators
• Provide a communication network for early childhood teacher educators
• Facilitate the interchange of information and ideas about research and practice
• Use, as vehicles, the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, conferences, resolutions, position papers, and other publications
• Cooperate with other national and international organizations concerned with the study and education of young children (NAECTE website) 

They have annual conferences.  This year’s fall conference will be on November 7, 2012 in Atlanta, GA (NAECTE website).  The theme of this conference is 21^st Century Early Childhood Teacher Education:  Research, Reform, and Resilience (NAECTE website).

On their website, I read a keynote address, given by Frances O’Connell Rust, at the 2009 conference in Charlotte, NC that I found interesting and relevant given our discussions on changing demographics and diversity.  The keynote address was titled, Shaping new models for early childhood teacher education programs (Rust, 2009).  Rust addressed inadequate preparation of future teachers in the areas of students with disabilities, diverse cultural backgrounds, and limited English proficiencies (Rust, 2009).  Further along in the keynote address, Rust offers thoughts on developing new models of early childhood teacher education (Rust, 2009).  It made for a very interesting read.  I highly recommend it.

Rust, Frances O’Connell. (2009, June).  Shaping new models for early childhood teacher

            Education.  Speech presented at NAECTE 2009 Conference Charlotte, NC.

            Retrieved from http://www.naecte.org/

 

NAECTE website http://www.naecte.org/

Establishing Professional Contacts 

By email, I have attempted to establish two early childhood contacts outside the United States.  One is in Singapore and the other is in Kosovo.  Unfortunately, both attempts have been unsuccessful. 

On the World Foundation Radio, I listened to a podcast of a conversation with Meridas Eka Yora.  He has established 3 schools for children orphaned in the tsunami that hit Indonesia in 2004.  One of the more striking things that he said was, “We have to be fathers and mothers to these children before being their teachers.”  This reminded me of a staff meeting in which the Director of a private school told the us, “Our number one goal is to return them (the students) in as good or better condition than how we got them in the morning.” For many of our students, we must be their fathers and mothers before being their teachers. In addition, Mr. Yora spoke of using a holistic approach and that the students were each other’s family now.  He also addressed the issue that some children cannot accept what happened to them during the tsunami; losing their biological family and home. 

http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/

 

Expanding Resources:  National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE)

I have selected this early childhood organization because I support their purpose statements and believe that this organization will be beneficial to me as I further my career.  In the 2012 winter newsletter, it was stated that this is the only professional organization designed exclusively for early childhood professionals in 4 year programs (NAECTE, 2012).  They promote professional growth, discuss educational issues, advocate for improvements in early childhood teacher education, provide a forum for consideration of issues and concerns of interest to educators of early childhood teacher educators, provide a communication network for early childhood teacher educators, and facilitate the interchange of information and ideas about research and practice (NAETE, 2012).  I look forward to looking back over past newsletters to learn more about the educational issues that have been addressed at past conferences.

 

NAECTE. (2012, Winter). Retrieved from

            http://www.naecte.org/docs/Winter%202012%20eLetter.pdf

 

NAECTE. (2012, Summer). Retrieved from

            http://www.naecte.org/docs/Summer%202012%20eLetter.pdf