Sharing UK Early Education Web Resources

       The website of British Association for Early Childhood Education (http://www.early-education.org.uk) is very resourceful and enlightening.  I enjoy surfing the website as it has a wealth of information about early education. 

       One of the sections of this website captured my attention that relevant to my professional development is the issue of Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), non-statutory guidance that supports all those working in early childhood education settings in UK to implement the statutory requirements of the EYFS Framework.  This comprehensive framework sets the standards for learning, development and care of children from birth to 5.  What interesting to me is a recent independent review done to EYFS framework elicited responds from the government to reform early learning in UK.  Through the review, it is found that the current education is overly bureaucratic and repetitive.  Here, I listed some of the reformations made that resonate me:

       ·      A new focus on three prime areas of learning in the EYFS, so children are ready and be able to learn at school.  These areas are:  personal, social and emotional development, physical development and communication and language

       ·      A slimmed down EYFS, cutting the number of learning goals from 69 to 17. 

       ·      Assessment at age five will remain but instead of the current complicated scale point assessment children will be judged against 17 learning goals.

       ·      A new check for every two-year-old in pre-school settings to pick up early any problems in a child’s development or special educational needs.

       In response to the changes made, UK Children Minister Sarah Teather remarked:

       “We know experiences in these first years have the biggest impact on how a child’s brain develops. It’s when children grasp the fundamental skills needed to do well at school and develop as happy, confident individuals. That’s why today I am setting out a much slimmer, easier to understand early years curriculum”.

       Hence, change is necessary as professionals reflect and review the current programs and practices for early childhood in order to help children reach their full potential.  So, the field of early childhood has been and continues to be characterized, transformed and renewed through change.  This is the insight I gained from exploring the website, aligns with what I have learned in the course study.

About Childhood Poverty in China

           

            According to website of the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, China has 4.2 million children live in absolute poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions.  Nevertheless, both the absolute numbers and proportion of children living in poverty have dropped over the 1990s.  China's transition from a centrally planned economy to a market oriented economy has helped decrease chronic poverty and disadvantage, but also created new forms of vulnerability and poverty.  Inequality, apparently, is the main form of vulnerability.    Liberalization, resulted by open market economy, has led to massive migration, as over 120 million people have moved to the cities since 1990, in search of better opportunities.  This liberalization though helped to reduce poverty, but its byproducts -- the marketization and monetization of public service delivery -- have resulted the rise of inequality.  For instance, one research in Beijing, China's richest city, found that 75% of poor families could not afford all children's education costs such as tuition fees and stationery costs, while 50% of poor families in Shanghai had no medical insurance because they could not afford it.  

            Some insights gained from studying this poverty issue.  Poverty issue is a wicked problem to tackle.  It is not like math problem where we can apply formulas to solve.  To address poverty issue, it requires the collective and coherent efforts of all parties.  It needs to be treated holistically, rather than in a piecemeal.  Last but not least, poverty seemed not be able to be eliminated.  Another form of poverty emerges when it is eliminated or reduced.

Reference

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre:  http://www.childhoodpoverty.org

Sharing Web Resources

            The international website that I selected:  The British Association for Early Childhood Education (http://www.early-education.org.uk).

            
            The organization’s focus is to effect change and respond rapidly to the changes in the early childhood education policy and practice landscape through consultation, campaigning and dialogue with policy makers as well as practically through projects, publications and resources, training and professional development and information and advice.

            Currently, the website of the organization launches Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), new non-statutory guidance produced by Early Education with support from the Department for Education that supports all those working in early childhood education settings to implement the statutory requirements of the EYFS Framework 2012. 

            The organization believes that children are born ready, able and eager to learn. They actively reach out to interact with other people, and in the world around them. It is regarded that development is not an automatic process, however. It depends on each unique child having opportunities to interact in positive relationships and enabling environments.  

            The four themes of the EYFS underpin all the guidance:

            A Unique Child (1) + Positive Relationships (2)  + Enabling Environments (3) 

            = Learning & Development (4)

             This document - Development Matters - shows how these themes, and the principles that inform them, work together for children in the EYFS.  Development Matters is available for free download from the Early Education website.

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

1.  Establishing Professional Contacts

     I have made two professional contacts in the region of Asia.  They are:

     a.  Dr. Lily Wong, founder and director of Advent-Links / SAUC, Singapore.

         I have obtained her  CV with her recent photo:

         After her Master and Doctoral degrees in Counseling/Educational Psychology at Andrews University Michigan USA, Dr Wong pursued post-doctoral studies and research in complex instruction at Stanford University and infant and toddler education at Syracuse University in USA.

        She holds professional credentials and membership of various boards and institutes in early Childhood education in the USA, Singapore and Hong Kong. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, Asian-American Psychological Association and other

Academic Areas Currently, she serves as Vice-President of the World Organization for Early Childhood Education and is the international representative for Singapore in the World Forum Foundation.

       At present, Dr Wong is the Founder and Executive Director of Advent-Links SAUC, a centre for children and family studies. Very specialized institutions that promote quality education that makes a difference in the lives of young children...  It is an institutional commitment and mission to provide and conduct quality education programs and research in children and families and teachers that pass through the school portals do make a difference in the lives of children they educate and care.

      b.  Ms. Blesilda Rios, Center for Early Childhood Care & Development

          She is also a global alliance of NAEYC.  The contact with her is in the process.  Hopefully I can receive a prompt and positive support from her.

2.  Expanding Resources

     I chose The British Association for Early Childhood Education website (http://www.early-education.org.uk) to expand my resources.  Why this website?  The reason is that my home base is in Malaysia, a country that has been used to the British systems.  Many values and practices in British are aligned with the local contexts and environments in my country.