Web Resources

The website that I examined was International Child Resource Institute (ICRI) (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.). The section that seemed relevant to my current professional development was the section on advocacy.  I think that as an educator and especially if you teach young children , you need to be their voice and advocate for them. The website provided some advocacy resources.  Another section I found interesting was the consulting section.  This section spoke about how different consultants who are experts in their fields form a team of consultants.   They help to design, develop. maintain, implement, evaluate and plan different projects within the early childhood field (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.).  This seems like it would lend itself to professional development.  All these people who are experts in their own rights with their own ideas have to work with other experts and come up with a cohesive plan as to how they will tackle a project.  Since all these experts have different strengths and perspectives their projects are probably done with a holistic approach.

I found it surprising that in Chile ICRI along with the National Ministry of Justice and SENAME work with psychologists, social workers and other professionals who deal with abused children to train them in the area of child abuse (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.).  I always assumed that the nature of their job meant that psychologists and social workers were already sensitized and adequately trained on child sexual abuse.

As I viewed the website I noticed that quite a few companies and organizations had utilized ICRI’s  consulting team (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.).  Among some of their past clients was California State Senate (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.).  To me this implies that a politician was seeking the advice of experts in the early childhood field which in turn could mean that that this politician probably wanted to support the early childhood field and he or she was asking how he or she should go about it.

A new insight I gained was the importance of training.  In many of their projects ICRI provides training for the professionl(s) who are in direct contact with the children (International Child Resource Institute, n.d.).  I think I sometimes view training or re-training as a nuisance.  However, even if no new information is added to a training program it never hurts to be reminded of what you should be doing for the children in your care and to be kept on task.

Reference:

International Child Resource Institute. (n.d.

Poverty

Unfortunately no one I contacted got in touch with me and I was unable to access the podcasts and the link provided for this week.  Instead I read about poverty on the UNICEF website at http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/poverty.html.

From the website I learned that millions of children do not experience childhood because of poverty (UNICEF, n.d.).  It leaves them at a disadvantage that affects their “mental, physical, emotional and spiritual development” (p. 1,para. 1). There is a difference between child poverty and poverty in general.  It does not only involve low income and consumption.  Child poverty does not only take  children’s suffering into account but also their disempowerment.”Children experience poverty with their hands, minds and hearts (p.1, para.2).  It’s difficult to measure child poverty because there are many factors that go into it.  For many children who live in poverty many “disadvantages overlap and reinforce one another”(p. 2, para. 3).  One reason children face poverty in some regions is due in part to gender discrimination.  Poverty often leaves children in a vulnerable position in which they are often exploited and are exposed to dangerous situations.  A child’s family is suppose to be his or her safe haven.  The more distance there is between the child and his family increases the risk to the child.  They have to try to protect themselves (UNICEF, n.d.).

I realize that poverty is often a cycle that is hard to break because the factors that cause childhood poverty reinforce each other.  It’s hard to eliminate poverty by only addressing one area.  All the contributing factors need to be addressed and overcome in order for children not to live in poverty. Governments need to implement programs that tackle most if not all the factors that lead to childhood poverty and come up with ways to support families so those families can in turn support their children.  

Reference:

UNICEF. (n.d.). Childhood under threat: The state of the world’s children 2005. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/poverty.html

Web Resource

The organization I selected is International Child Resource (Institute International Child Resource Institute, n.d.).  Its website can be found at http://www.icrichild.org/ourvision/.  The organization has five goals which it focuses on: early childhood care and education, children’s rights, empowerment of women and girls, maternal and child health and grassroots community development.  This organization believes in protecting the rights of all children,  This includes protecting them from abuse and enabling them to live safely and have stable lives.  They believe all children should have the opportunity to have a high quality early childhood care and education.  Early intervention is vital to not only children but communities.  They believe in the empowerment of women and girls as this can have a positive impact on a community.  They believe that in order for women and children to do well they need to have access to healthcare, this will eventually lead to the wellbeing of the entire community.  Lastly, that want all communities to have the resources to get out of poverty but they want those community to also be self-sufficient, able to sustain themselves with their own resources.  They have ongoing projects in different countries all over the world (Institute International Child Resource Institute, n.d.).

One issue that caught my attention was that there seemed to be a cycle of violence against youths in Nepal (International Child Resource Institute, 2014).  Youths were often on the receiving end of violence from their families, schools and communities.  When they grew up they would often become the perpetrators of violence.  This is quite worrying.  Recently, ICRI consultant Melanie Jones, founder of Speak to Children, and volunteer Giulietta Pezzaniti visited ICRI's Nepal office to train 28 Nepalese teachers to address different issues including the one mentioned above (International Child Resource Institute, 2014).

References

International Child Resource Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.icrichild.org/

International Child Resource Institute. (2014). Melanie Jones Impacts ICRI Nepal. Retrieved from http://www.icrichild.org/blog/2014/3/6/melanie

Establishing professional contacts and expanding resources

This week I emailed several professionals, from the early childhood field, who were listed on the Global Alliance and UNICEF website.  However, some of my emails were returned to me because the email addresses were not valid.  Some of my emails went through but I have not heard back from anyone I contacted so I think I may have to do the alternate assignment.

In looking for an early childhood website to study I was trying to find one that resonated with me and easily navigable.  I chose the International Child Resource Institute website.  I like that they have projects in several communities around the world, they go where they are wanted and they use people from the community to help.  They not only help children but also their families. 

Question

Is anyone a part of any of these organizations already? 

Daily Supports

I have numerous supports within my daily environment.  These include: God, my family, friends, co-workers and technology (via my phone).  God is the one constant in my life who is with me at all times, He is my biggest support.   Since I am living in a foreign country and my phone is constantly with me I am able to keep in touch with my friends and family and see what is happening in the world around me.  Additionally I am able to translate things into English when necessary.  I have a friend from college who also works in Japan.  She is like a sister and has been a great help to me, especially in the beginning when I just came.  She gave me lots of useful advice, helped me to identify things in the supermarket, helped me to navigate the transportation system and often cooked for me.  We continue to hangout and do a lot of things together. I am more settled now but I know I can go to her for help if I need it.  My co-workers are also a big support in and out of the work place.  At work they help me come with different strategies and resources for teaching my students.  Out of the office we often celebrate each other birthdays together and do different activities together.  Most of us are foreigners, so we end up doing most things together.  Without these supports I would be very lonely and probably depressed.  I would have no one to help me and I would be alone in a foreign country where I do not speak the native language.  Life would be extremely difficult for me.

One challenge I can think of is getting lost.  My family would not necessarily be able to help me but my friend and co-workers who live here could via technology.  God would keep me calm and keep me from freaking out about being lost in a foreign country.    If I realize that I am lost I could use the GPS on my phone to show me my present location and help me get to a familiar location.  I could also call my friend or other co-workers who would be able to talk me through getting back home or at least getting somewhere where one of them could pick up. They also have more knowledge about the transportation system, so they could tell me which bus or train I should take.  These supports help me feel like I have people I can rely on and a family away from home.  Without these supports I would probably be afraid to try new things and explore new places.  I would probably just stick to what I know and not bother to venture outside my comfort zone.    

My Connections to Play

Quotes about what play meant to me in my childhood

“Life is more fun if you play games.” 
― Roald Dahl, My Uncle Oswald

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything, than when we are at play.” 
― Charles E. Schaefer

Essential play items during my childhood

                              

I remember that I loved to play when I was younger.  I used to stay at my mom’s friend’s house after school, my mother would pick me up hours later after she was done with work.  Her friend had two sons, one was one year older than me and the other was two years younger than me.  A soon as I got to their house I would quickly finish my homework and we would all play for the rest of the evening.  We often played soccer, football and cricket but sometimes we would play hide and seek or just make up games on our own.  Play gave me a sense of freedom, it was exhilarating and helped me to be more vocal.

I think play today is much different than it was years ago when I was younger.  I used to play outdoors much more than I see children nowadays doing.  Most of my play involved popular sports from my country like football (soccer) and cricket.  I also played a lot with other children at school and within my community.  It seems that nowadays many children play a lot of videogames and computer games by themselves or with their friends, they also watch a lot of television and do not seem to play outside as often as I did.

I think play was important especially since I was the only child for my mother.  At home I mostly played by myself but I had friends within my community who I would play with sometimes.  At school play helped me to come out of my shell and interact with other children.  It also helped me to step outside of my comfort zone.  Play helped me to enjoy every minute of my childhood. I always enjoyed the age I was and enjoyed learning more complex games as I grew older. As I grew into adulthood play helped me to relax, de-stress and get to know other people.

Relationships

Relationships are important to me because they help to give my life meaning, warmth, joy and purpose.  Most of my experiences in life revolve around different relationships.  I have a positive relationship with God, my mother, Flo, Kristin and Apple.  My relationship with God is the most important relationship.  I am often strengthened and encouraged by this relationship. God already knows all my weaknesses and failings and still loves me so it is easy to go to Him and tell Him what I am going through. I maintain it through prayer  and through reading His word in the Bible. My relationship with my mother has strengthened over the years.  I trust her to give me good, sound advice and I respect and look up to her.  Factors that contributed to this were my mother was very open with me and she was also open to feedback from me. 

Flo is a very good friend who I met in college.  She is older than me so she passed on the knowledge she knew and helped to make my time in college more fun and comfortable.  She is like an older sister to me.  Factors that contributed to our relationship were that I would go to her room everyday so I got to know her quite well.  Secondly, she was very helpful and genuinely cared about me.  Lastly, we would bond over t.v. shows and talk about a lot of different things.

I have known Kristin for a little over a year but our friendship has grown, our relationship is an easy going one.  I feel like I can share anything with her and I will not be judged.  Factors that contributed to our relationship are: we work at the same place and live in the same apartment complex.  We also have similar personalities and shared interests.  Apple has been one of my best friends since high school.  We have kept in touch over the years and have even visited each other across states and countries.  Factors that contributed to our relationship are that we have a shared past and interests.  We know little things about each other that not many people know and we have seen each other grow and change.

Challenges to developing and maintaining a relationship include:

Distance, it gets increasingly difficult to stay in touch the further you are from each other.

Knowing each other’s limits. You have to know that sometimes you need to give the other person space just to be by themselves.

Since it is a relationship it cannot be all about you.  You need to consider the other persons feelings and stance on different matters.  If one person is always the “taker” in the relationship that can be draining on the other party.

Compromise. To make a relationship work you often have to meet the other person half-way and that usually involves compromise.

A special characteristic of the relationship with my mother is that we consult each other before we make any important decisions, in much the same manner as partners.  We also share similar views on many things and our personalities complement each other.

My experience with relationships will impact my work as an early childhood professional.  It will help me know what to do in order to establish trust with the parents.  It will help me to not only gather information from parents but also to give them meaningful feedback about their children, as relationships should be reciprocal.  It will help me to communicate well with parents, communication is key to any relationship.  It will help to remind me that just as I have friends who respond to the same thing in different ways this will happen with parents too.  I need to be flexible and may need to come up with different ways to communicate with different parents. Lastly, with most relationships you get out as much as you put in.