Unfortunately, I couldn't get in contact with anyone internationally. I really don't know what I didn't do correctly. I am kind of disappointed that it has been so long and I have not had success. So, again, I had to do the alternative assignment. I looked at the website http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/. One thing that I can come away with is that there are many organizations working to improve success for all of our young children.
1) One way UNESCO, defines quality, is that ealry childhood care and education programs should emphasize the child's holistic development and extend beyond assisting the child's transition to formal schooling. It just seems that everyone understands what is necessary to have success but the actual implementation of that type of system is more complicated than it seems.
2) UNESCO has education regions. They include Africa, the Arab states, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America and Latin America and the Carribbean. I just wondered how this is done logistically. Issues in America will be vastly different than issues in the Arab states. I wonder how religion and gender equity plays a role and what is actually being done about it. If we are to educate all of our children then girls must be a part of that process. I wonder how difficult this actually can be in some places.
3) With that in mind, I looked at the agencies' priorities and they included Africa, gender equality, education for all, sustainable development, ethics, cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue, and knowledge societies. I found it very interesting that it included gender equality. It is such an important issue because girls do not normally complete much education in certain areas. They are used for domestic help or early marriage. I couldn't really get a clear picture of how this is dealt with but I found it very interesting. I will have to take more time and explore. Maybe that information I can find it in the news portion of the website.
I too was wondering how gender played a role. I looked at the Arab sites to try and assess this but did not gather much inforamtion about the topic. With the level of education that was being discussed though it seems like the organization is doing pretty well in boosting the awareness of quality education and how even in these other countries this type of education can be obtained.
ReplyDeleteJohan,
ReplyDeleteYou discovered some things from this site that I did not. I appreciate your interest in gender equality. You brought an awareness of that issue to many of us.
I did not get a response from my international contacts either. It looks like some of our classmates had luck using Facebook. I have gained so much information from exploring the alternate assignment sites. I realize that networking with professionals is a necessary component, but I probably learned more than I would have had I only been in contact with one or 2 people.
I had not considered facebook as a means to secure an international contact perhaps that would have produced better results for me as well. Johan, your discovery into the webpage has me curious as to what early childhood education looks like for young girls in these countries where gender equality doesn't exist. I look forward to learning more from you in future classes. Are you still coming to the North Carolina area? Please stay in contact.
ReplyDelete