INEQUALITY IN SOUTH AFRICA

In South Africa there is a huge divide between the poor and the wealthy.  This divide causes inequalities in the basic human rights for millions of children. Some of these basic human rights include: poverty, homelessness, abuse, neglect, preventable diseases, and unequal access to education. Here are some statistics that show how the basic human rights of children in South Africa are not being met (in 2011):

• Out of 51.7 million people, 15 million are children 14 yrs and younger
• 58% of all children lived below the poverty line 
• 330,000 children of school-going age (out of a total of 11.3 million) were not attending school 
• Among children 15 yrs and younger 450,000 are affected by HIV and of those children eligible to receive antiretroviral therapy, only 67% were accessing this treatment.
• 2.5 million children in South Africa (14%) were reported as living in households where child hunger was present 

According to van Niekerk and Ashley-Cooper (n.d) "For the first time in South Africa’s history, by law every public primary and secondary school must have electricity, water, working toilet facilities, classrooms that are safe, with a maximum of 40 learners, internet, adequate security, and, after these are in place, adequate libraries, laboratories and sports facilities" (p. 2). The government is working to create policies that address these issues of human rights, but there are some large discrepancies between policy and implementation.  

van Niekerk, L-J. & Ashley-Cooper, M. (n.d.). Poverty and inequality threaten children’s rights. 

For further information please watch these short videos that describe the devastating effects of inequality in South Africa.

NAEYC and ADVOCACY

What specific section(s) or information seemed particularly relevant to your current professional development?

I specifically explored the public policy section of the NAEYC website this week (www.naeyc.org).  This area of the website is broken down into different topics and is a useful and necessary resource for any advocacy efforts in the early childhood field.

TAKE ACTION NOW

 In this area you can: 

• Write your local representatives, state senators, and President Obama about current early childhood issues.  This area is very user friendly; simply input your zipcode and you can compose your own emails or letters or sign form letters.
• Support the Strong Start for America's Children Act 
• Compose messages to the public or policy makers through your local newspaper 
• Sign up for NAEYC updates on public policies through email

FEDERAL DEVELOPMENTS

This area provides:

• Updates and Alerts

2014 updates

03/28/14	NAEYC Alert: Funding Vote on Voluntary Home Visiting in Senate on Monday
03/25/14	CCDBG Moves through Congress and New Resources Available
03/11/14	NAEYC Alert: Senate Voting on Child Care
03/05/14	President Releases Funding Request for Fiscal Year 2015 - A Significant Focus on Early Childhood
02/25/14	New Resources: Reports and Webinars
02/07/14	Early Childhood Education in the Spotlight
1/27/14	State of the Union and State Addresses
1/14/14	A Big Funding Win for Early Childhood - But We Need to Get it Passed by January 18!

• Federal Recommendations
• Information on Federal Programs
• Information on Recovery & Reinvestment Act

STATE TRENDS

"NAEYC’s state policy efforts focus on researching and tracking national and state trends and informing NAEYC affiliates, policymakers, collaborating organizations, and other interested parties about NAEYC’s positions on state public policies and their impacts on children birth through eight and their families."

Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/policy/statetrends

EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY RESOURCES

"Effective advocacy requires knowledge about the various legislative and regulatory processes, as well as how to work with the media, and build strong coalitions. The Toolkit provides specific information for advocates on how to work together to promote excellence in early childhood education. NOTE: Most advocates work with or for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations which have legal limits on what they can and cannot do with regard to the separate activities of (1) lobbying and (2) political activities. A legal memo called Do's and Don'ts for 501 (c)(3)'s should be read by everyone who engages in advocacy efforts at any level."

Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/policy/advocacy

GOVERNMENT LINKS

State and federal links allow you to easily and effectively navigate the current policy issues and guide you through your advocacy efforts.

Which ideas/statements/resources, either on the website or in an e-newsletter, did you find controversial or made you think about an issue in new ways?

A public school kindergarten teacher raises the ethical question of whether it is right to give standardized tests to her kindergartners if it causes undue stress on them.  The school is in a low income community and relies on test results to show accountability for students achievement.  The test results provide no individualized information that the teacher can use to drive curriculum.  For this specific teacher the tests undermine her efforts to increase her students' confidence in the classroom. The pen-to-paper tests are not developmentally appropriate for many of her kindergartners and are additionally difficult for her ELL students.  

If this teacher refuses to administer the tests she risks losing her job.  Therefore, NAEYC recommends proceeding with "ethical finesse (finding a way to meet the needs of everyone involved without having to make a difficult decision)" (Feeney & Freeman, 2014).  She is advised to move forward with advocating for changing the requirement while still following her administrators current instructions.  This will not help her current students, but it could potential make things better for her future students.  

In 2003 NAEYC teamed up with the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) to create a joint position statement called "Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation."  This is one source that could be used as back up for this teacher.  The position states:

Make ethical, appropriate, valid, and reliable assessment a central part of all early childhood programs.To assess young children’s strengths, progress, and needs, use assessment methods that are developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically responsive, tied to children’s daily activities, supported by professional development, inclusive of families, and connected to specific, beneficial purposes: (1) making sound decisions about teaching and learning, (2) identifying significant concerns that may require focused intervention for individual children, and (3) helping programs improve their educational and developmental interventions. 
(NAEYC & NAECS/SDE 2003, 2) 

References
Feeney, S., & Freeman, N. K. (2014, March). Standardized testing in kindergarten [Electronic version]. Young Children, 69(1), 84-87.

What information does the website or the e-newsletter contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientists, or politicians support the early childhood field?

I learned about the Strong Start for America's Children Act that was written in 2013 by, Senator Tom Harkin, Representative George Miller and Representative Richard Hanna in order to promote more quality early childhood opportunities.

The Strong Start for America’s Children legislation recognizes the importance of starting high-quality early childhood education from birth. It has three parts:

• Provides grants to states to accelerate their work, expanding access and improving quality for prekindergarten programs;
• Provides grants to create Early Head Start-child care partnerships to raise the quality of child care and expand access for infants and toddlers in programs meeting Early Head Start standards; and
• Calls for expanded voluntary support for families through home visiting that promotes positive parent-child interaction, healthy child development and family self-sufficiency.

NAEYC is particularly pleased to see the emphasis on:

• Using high-quality, research-based and developmentally appropriate standards and assessments in all settings and avoiding inappropriate use of testing;  
• Building on existing state systems of prekindergarten and using high-quality child care, Head Start and schools to deliver preschool programs; 
• Ensuring that programs engage families and support children’s comprehensive needs;
• Attracting and retaining teachers by helping them to gain the specialized knowledge required and earn degrees in early childhood education, including improved compensation;  
• Improving  and expanding access to infant and toddler care through Early Head Start/child care partnerships;  and
• Strengthening families by providing access to voluntary home visiting in the critical infant and toddler years.

Reference

Heckman, Ph.D., J. (2013). Our national budget = our national priorities. In NAEYC. Retrieved March 29, 2014, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/2013_Budget_StrongStart.pdf

What other new insights about issues and trends in the early childhood field did you gain from exploring the website or e-newsletter?

In case you missed this rally, like I did, watch this recording of the event.  This is an amazing video about the importance of quality early childhood programs for infants and toddlers.  Because I love working with preschoolers I sometimes forget about those very precious first years of infants and toddlers.  Speakers and performers include:

• US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius
• US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan
• Actress and Save the Children Artist Ambassador, Jennifer Gardner
• Chair of the Board of America's Promise Alliance, Alma Powell
• Singer and Song writer, Laurie Berkner 

THOUGHTS ON POVERTY

A South African Connection

I would like to introduce you to Michaela Ashley-Cooper.  She is a Programme Manager at the Centre for Early Childhood Development (http://www.cecd.org.za/), based in Cape Town, where she works on Research and Advocacy. Michaela completed her Master’s Degree in Research in Psychology at the University of Cape Town, looking particularly at the neuropsychological effects of childhood trauma on adolescents. Her current research focus is on ECD programmes which produce a significant change in children’s lives.

Thoughts on poverty:
When I asked Michaela to share her thoughts on poverty in her country and in her professional life she gave me a published article that she co-authored with Eric Atmore.  The following is a summary of this article.

"Early Childhood Development as a Strategy to Eradicate Poverty and Reduce Inequality"

South Africa suffers greatly from poverty, affecting millions in both rural and urban communities.  In this article Ashley-Cooper & Atmore make the argument that investing in Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs is one key strategy for reducing poverty and inequality in South Africa and around the world (2013).  ECD programs contribute directly to the economy in the short term and the long term because of the small business opportunities for owners of the centers, education opportunities for staff, and higher academic achievement for the participating children.  The article talks about the impact that the Centre for Early Childhood Development, where Michaela works, is having in South Africa.  According to the article, one of the projects of the CECD is to help ECD programs meet quality standards that are set by the Department of Social Development in order to receive subsidies that help pay to run the program.

Ashley-Cooper, M., & Atmore, E. (2013, July). Early Childhood Development as a Strategy to Eradicate Poverty and Reduce Inequality [Electronic version]. The Thinker, 53, 8-11.  Retrieved from http://www.cecd.org.za/images/phocadownload/the_thinker_july_article.pdf

A Canadian Connection

I would like to introduce you to Sandra Jackson.  Sandy is an Early Childhood Education (ECE) teacher in Ontario, Canada.  She is lead teacher at a local child development center.  She has a BA in Fine Arts and completed her ECE degree, which is a standard two year certification, after many years of running in home day cares.  She has worn many hats including director, manager, and site coordinator, as well as teacher and mom (and now grandma).  She has many years of experience in ECE and I look forward to her insights throughout this course.

MY THOUGHTS ON POVERTY

One thing I have realized this week is that poverty is not a singular issue.  There are so many issues under this big umbrella that we call poverty.  These are a few that I have discovered:

• low academic achievement
• stereotypes about the poor
• income inequality or the income gap between the wealthiest and the poorest
• stagnant middle class growth with raising cost of living
• malnutrition/hunger (food insecurity)
• consequential costs to the country's economy- "in lost productivity in the labor force and spending on health care and the criminal justice system" (http://www.nccp.org/pages/pdf/page_131.pdf)

  With more than 16 million children living in families with incomes below the Federal Poverty Line, it is even more important for us to advocate for quality early childhood programs and child rights (www.nccp.org).  Quality programs can give children the stability, nutrition, and developmental support that their families are not able to give.  It is imperative that we give children the necessary foundation for a productive life.  Without this support in the beginning of life children living in poverty are more likely to have chronic health and mental health problems, need remedial services, have low academic achievement, rely on social services, and do time in jail.  All of which can maintain the cycle of poverty.  Getting the government to invest should be an easier task considering the cost of these consequences have on tax dollars later on.  Investing in quality EC programs has a high financial return "yielding more than $8 for every $1 invested" while also breaking the cycle of poverty that occurs in low income families (Clothier & Poppe, n.d.).

Cauthen N. K., & Fass, S. (2009). 10 important questions about child poverty and family economic hardship. Retrieved from National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) website:http://www.nccp.org/pages/pdf/page_131.pdf

Clothier, S., & Poppe, J. (n.d.). New research: Early education as economic investment. In National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved March 19, 2014, from www.google.com.

National Center for Children in Poverty.  (n.d.)  Topics. Retrieved from http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html

NAEYC

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a national organization that advocates for the rights of young children.  It promotes the education and training of professionals in the field.  It is a leader in the development for high standards in quality for early childhood programs and helps to accredit programs that achieve those high quality standards.  In our field if a program is NAEYC accredited it means that they are a program that offers quality, age appropriate, child-centered, and family friendly curriculum by highly qualified EC educators.  Way up and above the state licensing standards in most states.  These are just a few of the reasons why I support this organization.

Being a member allows you to connect with members in your region and even more specifically to your interests in the field.  It is an invaluable resource connecting you to the archives of the journal Young Children.  I am excited to finally be a member and I look forward the using this resource to help me grow in the EC field.

Here are some of the benefits that encouraged me to become a member of NAEYC:

• Membership in your local NAEYC affiliate 
• The print publication package of your choice: five issues of Young Children or five issues of Teaching Young Children.
• Five digital issues of award-winning Young Children, NEXT for Young Children, and Tesoros y Colores (the Spanish version of Teaching Young Children) packed with the latest developments in early childhood education, practice, and research.
• Reduced registration fees for NAEYC-sponsored conferences and training opportunities, including the world's largest early education conference.
• Access to the Members Only area of our website, which features exclusive digital benefits and content.
• for complete benefits click on the following link: https://www.naeyc.org/membership/benefits

I am already thoroughly enjoying access to the archives of Young Children.  I did a keyword search for changing demographics and found an entire issue devoted to this topic with specific articles, suggestions, and ideas on language diversity.  I also like that the articles ranged from preschoolers to primary age students. The online issue reads just like the actual journal.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"One important consideration was the pressure for children to value English over their own languages and cultures exerted in politics and in the media, especially when the academic curriculum focused on English only."

-Maria Paula Ghiso

I have had one experience with a child in my class that had a different home language.  When he came to preschool he seemed to already know a lot of English and his father was proficient in English.  Mom did not speak much English, but in their culture I was to speak to the father anyway.  I look back with such regret on that situation.  He was a good student and easy to have in the classroom.  It was easy to ignore the dual language of that family.  The statement above is making me rethink that situation.  I contributed to the pressure for that child and his family to value English over their own language.  I did nothing to embrace his culture and include it in the classroom.  In a classroom almost entirely made up of African American children, think of the lessons they could have learned from a boy from Somalia.  To realize that the color of your skin does not tell your whole cultural story.  

With demographics changing at the rate that they are we must start looking at diverse languages and cultures as assets to the classroom.  We must use families and people in the community as volunteers to share pieces of their cultures.  We must bring home languages into the classroom and encourage them at home.  In doing so every child in the class benefits.  We are helping to create global citizens.  Children who understand that people speak different languages move away from ego-centrism a lot quicker.  They are able to look outside themselves and grasp a large picture of the world and the many different people in it.

References and Resources

Ghiso, M. P. (2013, March). Every language is special: Promoting dual language learning in multicultural primary schools [Electronic version]. Young Children, 68(1), 22-26.

Magruder, E. S., Hayslip, W. W., Espinosa, L. M., & Matera, C. (2013, March). Many languages, one teacher: Supporting language and literacy development for preschool dual language learners [Electronic version]. Young Children, 68(1), 8-15.

NAEYC: https://www.naeyc.org

REACHING OUT

PART ONE: ESTABLISHING CONTACT PERSON OUTSIDE US

It was such an exciting prospect at the beginning of the week to reach out to early childhood educators around the world!  The first thought I had was making contact with Finland!  I am obsessed with the education system in Finland! 

STEP 1:  Google Finland Teacher Colleges
STEP 2:  Email Faculty in the Education Dept.
STEP 3:  Still waiting

• I'm wondering if language might be a barrier.  I don't know how common English speakers are in Finland.

STEP 4:  I did a search on Facebook for early childhood sites in Finland

• no response :(
• However, I did find more articles on this sight that renewed my interest/obsession with the way Finland views early childhood ed and education in general!  If you would also like to become obsessed please click on the following links:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/early-educations-top-model-finland/article1183419/

http://notjustcute.com/2010/11/05/finlands-finest-why-we-need-to-take-note-of-finlands-approach-to-early-education/


Accepting defeat I resorted to my backup plan:

STEP 1:  Email 5-6 different countries of interest from:

The Global Alliance of NAEYC has e-mail addresses for early childhood professionals worldwide:  http://www.naeyc.org/resources/partnership/globalalliance

• Several emails were no longer working and did not send
• I heard back from one person from South Africa and I am really excited to correspond with her over the course.

STEP 2:  I emailed my contact in Ontario, Canada and we began corresponding about the changes that are occuring in Ontario with early childhood programs.  I am looking forward to sharing this information with all of you as well.

Claremont, Cape Town, Western Cape 7708, South Africa

PART TWO:  RESEARCHING RESOURCES

The National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/

Throughout my career I have always valued NAEYC.  In 2010 the center I worked for was going through the accreditation process with NAEYC and I saw first hand the rigorous requirements to receive the stamp of approval from NAEYC.  I enjoy the articles published through NAEYC.  I am using this assignment as a good excuse to become a member as well.    

National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators
http://www.naecte.org/

I took the opportunity to explore this site as well.  I am considering joining this group, but would like to explore some of the newsletters first.

MY SUPPORTS

“God meets and always has met every human need.” 

–Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

SPIRITUALITY

My number one support in life is Christian Science.  My understanding of God and my relationship to Him has helped me through challenges in life that seemed hopeless and bleak.  My daily prayer and study of the bible protects me from daily and life challenges.  I start every day grateful for the day that God has given me, knowing that I will walk with Him and express only the qualities of God.  In Christian Science we have 7 synonyms of God that help us to understand our Mother/Father/God.  God is Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth, and Love.  Without the support of Christian Science I would not have the tools to turn negative situations around.  The constant seeking of Truth keeps me living to my highest sense of right and I expect only good to be in my life because God is good and I am His reflection.

PEOPLE

As I have discussed before relationships are a huge support for me.  The people in my life give me emotional support.  I have different people for different moods and needs.  There is someone for every need: spiritual guidance and support, a hug, to gripe, and/or problem solving.  I need the support of others in my day.  I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I need people that want to listen and let me vent.  I am not a very stressful person because I am able to let things out and not bottle it up.

PRACTICAL

I would say the most obvious practical daily support I use is organization.  Everything has a place.  I do not often lose things because of this.  If my home or work space is not clean and organized I feel frazzled and unfocused.  Waking up to a messy house leaves me feeling chaotic and disorganized for the entire day.  Organization is equated to peace of mind for me.  I feel calmer and happier with organized spaces.

HANDLING CHALLENGES

Regardless of any challenge that occurred (physical, medical, mental, grief), I am confident that my supports would get me through it.  All of the supports that I mentioned before would be there for me to adjust to changes and to help build me up to a better place.  I have a husband that would move heaven and earth to help me and friends and family that would drop everything to be by my side in times of dire need.  I have seen this in practice.  A few years ago one of my best friends, out of our group of four, was suffering a great loss.  One of those friends paid to fly me to the friend in grief because she thought she needed me most, at that time.  My supports are selfless and I never feel alone!

MY CONNECTIONS TO PLAY

AS A CHILD PLAY MEANT:

Play as a child allowed me to research the world around me and who I wanted to be. 

As a child play allowed me to try out occupations, mimic my older sister and mother, and make sense of the experiences.  Play taught me to be creative and independent at times, but also taught me how to cooperate and work with others.

Even as an adult when I go to conferences, I would rather play with manipulatives then be told how to use them in the classroom.  I would rather sing new songs then be given the lyrics.  I am always 10x more likely to actually use new strategies when I have had a chance to try them out.

PLAY THAT INSPIRED ME:

The #1 thing I remember doing as a child is playing school.  I played with my sister and I played by myself with my stuffed animals.  This was my favorite thing to do.  I would take home old textbooks that they would give away at the end of the year to play with.

Roller skating was a part of life!  It got me all around the neighborhood and later all around town!

My best friend had a crawl space under her steps.  We would decorate it and make up club rules for our secret clubhouse.  No one else ever joined, but we sure had fun spending hours creating it!

Playing with Barbie was a huge part of my childhood.  Although we never used it as dramatic play, my sister and I would spend hours setting up and creating Barbie’s house.  We used zip-lock bags for water beds and wash cloths for blankets.  It was a very creative outlet!

THE ROLE OF PLAY AND ITS IMPORTANCE:

I think the best way that people supported my play was giving me the space and time to do it.  I lived in such a different world when I was a kid from my kids now.  When I was a child children did not have game systems and so many screens to play with.  We did have TV, but it was pretty limited to after school and Saturday morning cartoons.  The rest of the time you played inside and out. All the parents in the neighborhood looked after all the kids.  There were eyes on us, but not watching everything we did.  We had so much freedom to explore and work things out.  Many times I came home mad at neighbor kids because the game didn't go my way.  The next day I was out and playing again.  When I was in 5^th grade I was organizing my own plans and then roller skating across town to my friend’s house to play.  My 5^th grade son struggles to make plans of his own and wouldn't know the way to his friend’s house.  We were educated about the dangers of strangers and the world and then allowed to go out and explore it.

Our children are seriously missing some important life skills because they do not have these interactions anymore.  When I spent a week outside making a fort with friends on the side of the garage I was learning to have a great work ethic.  When I would argue and fuss about rules of a game I was learning to cooperate, negotiate, and compromise with others.  When I would fall down and get hurt, but get back up I learned determination and persistence.  When I was outside I learned to how to be safe and aware of my surroundings.  I was aware when a white van circled the block a couple times and we all decided to go in and tell our parents.  The independence taught me how to problem solve as well, which I see children in this generation unable to do.  Children complain, tattle, and require their parents’ involvement before even trying to solve their own problems.  Thomas (2013), explains some of the effects of losing free play that we once had as children, “obesity; high stress levels; rapidly increasing diagnosis of ADHD, depression, and emotional fragility; social incompetence; excessive dependence on adults, and the loss of a relationship with nature.”

In a changing world it is difficult to convince parents to provide more free play time for their children.  So it is even more important that we work to keep free play in early childhood programs!  The children need it more than they ever needed it before!  It is not only a natural way to learn, but it is necessary!

REFERENCES

   Thompson, Ph.D., M. (2013). The Impact of the Loss of Free, Undirected       Play in Childhood (And What Camps Can Do About It). In American Camp   Association. Retrieved February 1, 2014,              from http://www.campparents.org/newsletter/0905/article2