Since I have not received a response form any international contacts, I chose to explore the UNESCO website to compare how the information compares with my new professional goals.
After reviewing my three professional goals, in the context of my early childhood studies since enrolling in Walden University’s Masters of Early Childhood Studies program, my goals are more detailed now. At first I stated that I wanted to teach adults in the early childhood field, become a well known early child children’s book author, and become more involved in the political arena by advocating for improvements in the early childhood field. However my goals now are more refined. I know now that I specifically want to educate parents living in poverty about the importance of fostering healthy development in their children’s lives. My desire is to be instrumental in breaking the cycle of poverty by providing this population with the tools and resources to empower them in changing their lives. The other two goals, have not changed, however I now have new insight on how these two goals can be instrumental as well in breaking the cycle of poverty. As a parenting educator, I can promote literacy by teaching parents how to read and or tell a story to their child, how to ask open ended questions to promote cognitive and language development. Also in the area of advocacy, I now understand the importance of committing becoming a life long learner in the early childhood field. Doing so will enable me to be more persuasive when advocating for the early childhood field.
Three Insights I have gained from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) website similar to my revised professional goals
Like my revised professional goals, I discovered that the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) state that their goal is to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care. Early childhood policies are no longer restricted to academics but designed to address social development, gender equality and poverty.
Similar to my professional goal of closing the quality of early care and educational inequity gap, UNESCO posted on their website that the Dakar Framework for Action reaffirmed the importance of early child care and education for all children by placing the issue first among six main goals. Although government assistance for the poor is not sustained, the goal remains.
Another similarity between this organization and my personal goals were the views on parental involvement. The UNESCO website had several videos about the subject of parental education. One in particular titled “Working Together for Early Childhood" is an advocacy video produced by the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood. Divya Lata, Senior Program manager - Open Society Foundation stated that families play a central role in providing nurturing and stimulating environments for their children and becoming empowered to access resources for good nutrition and health care services to prevent illnesses.
Retrieved from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/
I also found the parental involvment portion interesting. It is not often that parents are involved in their child's education, which I think is sad. I think that it is so important as parents that we know what is going on in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteIt is also a goal of my own to advocate for those affected by poverty. I once was the director at a charter school for under privileged teenage mothers and their children, I must say that working with such a unique and diverse population was very rewarding. It has been great learning of the different organizations and resources that are available from this Masters program. UNESCO will definitely become a commonly used resource for myself in regards to helping those families and their young children affected by poverty and other life challenges.
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