Global Child Initiatives

Since I have not heard from my contacts this week, I chose to learn more about Harvard University’s Global Children’s Initiative, a program launched by the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard. The main goal of the program is to engage individuals from multiple disciplines and institutions such as researchers, public leaders, practitioners and students at the global level to address issues affecting children using knowledge of child health and child development grounded in science. They seek to create public awareness and understanding about child development in an effort to influence policy and support the well-being of children throughout the world. They focus on three main objectives in support of their overall goal:

·  Educating high level decision makers about the underlying science of learning, behavior,and health, beginning in the earliest years of life

·    Supporting projects that create understanding of how healthy development happens, how it can be derailed, and how to get it back on track

·      Building leadership capacity in child development research and policy to increase the number and influence of diverse voices and perspectives that are contributing to the growing global movement on behalf of young children.

I found the center’s commitment to the well-being of children throughout the world and their initiatives to be of great interest. Prior to researching website, I had not been aware of work being done at the global level to influence global public policy. I think these kinds of initiatives are crucial in bringing about more attention to the needs of children throughout the world in an effort to bring about much needed change. One program I read about that was of great interest was about an Early Childhood Development course conducted for Brazilian policymakers last year.  The program brought together 50 Brazilian politicians, policymakers, public managers and civil-society leaders together to discuss how they can use knowledge about the science of child development to drive policy and practice. 

I gained several insights from reading about this program. Firstly, I realized that there is a disconnect between the available research and the awareness level of stakeholders. Although there is a vast amount of research available on child development, there is a need to create more opportunities to communicate what we know to all stakeholders. If policymakers are uninformed how can we expect them to make decisions that adequately address the needs of children? Secondly, I learned that simply passing on the knowledge is not enough. Policymakers need to figure out put their new found knowledge in to practice. In the words of Course Director Mary Young “We need to translate (that) knowledge into practice to close the gap between what we know and what we do.” Another insight I gained was about the challenge of ‘putting all sectors’ on the same page, which seems to be the case in Brazil and I am sure stands true for other countries as well. In other words, although the sectors addressing the needs of children; education, health and social services might  have a common goal, the best interests of the children, the practical challenges of coordinating the work among the sectors may exist. 

Another program I read about was a Child Development Project that was conducted in Zambia. An assessment tool taking into account existing child development measures with additional measures to take into the Zambian context was used to assess children across all domains of development. One of the goals of the project was to use the data collected to better understand child development in the Zambian context in order to identify interventions that will improve outcomes for children in the area. One main insight I gained from reading about this project is the importance of taking context into account in assessment.  Researchers took into account factors that particularly affect Zambian children and modified the tools used accordingly. In doing so, researchers were able to identify specific interventions that will be effective in addressing needs of children in that region. 

            There are many issues affecting children throughout the world today. Change is needed so that all children in every part of the world will have an equal chance at reaching their fullest potential. Although we are far from reaching this goal, by bringing all stakeholders together to create a common understanding and common goal, we can work to bring about change one step at a time. 

References:

Harvard University: Global Children’s Initiative

Retrieved from: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

More information from Save the Children: Children in the US

‘Save the Children’ has many programs that promote the well-being of children throughout the world. Their programs focus on addressing issues specific to individual regions and communities. As an early childhood professional, I think it is important for me to not only have an understanding of the issues that are affecting children throughout the world but more importantly issues here at home in the United States. The section ‘US Programs’ on the Save the Children website highlights growing poverty as the main issue affecting children in the US today. Their programs seek to address the issues that result from poverty. They focus mainly on improving children’s health, increasing literacy, increasing school readiness and influencing policy. Each section provides statistics on the effects of poverty and what is being done to address it. With poverty growing in many communities at an alarming rate, as an early childhood professional, I think it is essential for me to have an understanding of how poverty is affecting children and families within my own community and how best to support them. In addition, this knowledge will help me advocate for and support local programs that strive to address these issues. 

 While reading about their US programs, I realized that the issues they seek to address are consequences of poverty. One area they address is improving the health of children in poverty – particularly tackling the issue of childhood obesity. As the website itself pointed out a question in my mind has been ‘How can a child in poverty be obese?’ It is not a question I had given much thought to but still wondered about it. The website put me in my place. They pointed out that it is result of parents having to make a choice between having no food at all and feeding their children cheap unhealthy food. According to the website, more than 23 million children in the US are obese and 59% of children living in areas that are supported by Save the Children have no access to fresh healthy food and in some areas it is as high as 98%. I realized that while many of us take access to healthy food for granted and our knowledge about healthy food choices and the importance of being active as common sense, it may not be so many children and families. I read of a child in Kentucky who was used to snacking on candy that realized how much she likes cucumber when she ate if for the first time through the Save the Children Healthy Choices Program!

In the US Programs, Policy section of the website, Save the Children points that politicians and policymakers are not doing nearly enough to address the issue of poverty currently affecting 16 million children in the US today. They point out that while building a strong America and strengthening the economy are at the center of discussion, children in poverty are being left out of the conversation. A report commissioned by former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Sen. Casey (D-PA) and produced by Save the Children and First Focus (a bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to making children and families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions), titled ‘America's Report Card 2012: Children in the U.S.’ gave the US a ‘C minus’ on child well-being. According to the report, many politicians like to be seen as being supportive of prioritizing children but fail to act on it. The report came out last October right before the November elections and the report included a plea for the American people to choose candidates who would support investing in children, hold elected officials accountable for commitments to help children succeed; and engage with other local leaders to improve the lives of children in their own communities.

The Save the Children website gave me an understanding of the gravity of the issue of poverty here at home in the United States. I was aware that poverty was an issue but not to the depth outlined by them. It was disheartening to read about the consequences of poverty for children and families and the rate at which they are affected and as a result how communities and the country as a whole are affected. The future of our country; our children is at stake. Isn’t it time that politicians and policymakers took action?

America's Report Card 2012: Children in the U.S (This report provides a holistic picture of unmet needs in five areas of a child's life: economic security, early childhood education, K-12 education, permanence and stability, and health and safety)

Retrieved from: http://www.firstfocus.net/library/reports/americas-report-card-2012-children-in-the-us

Poverty in the Philippines

Earlier this week, I wrote to my contacts both in the Philippines and in South Korea asking them about their experiences and thoughts on poverty in their part of the world. I was happy to hear back from Fran, my contact in the Philippines.  Fran currently works as a preschool teacher in a private catholic school in a more affluent village in the Philippines. Although she doesn’t have first-hand experience working with children and families from low-income/poor communities in the Philippines, she was able to give me some insights into the experiences of children throughout her country in general.

The Philippines is an archipelago, a collection of over 7000 islands. According to Fran, this makes establishing public schools in distant locations rather difficult. Since schools are few, children from far away towns often have to walk long distances just to attend classes.  Some need to walk miles, swim across rivers or climb up/down a mountain to go to school.  Resources such as textbooks and school supplies are also scarce in schools that are far from cities.In addition, there is a continuous shortage of teachers and each year the government struggles to find enough teachers in order to meet the educational needs of the students. According to Fran, the government just recently passed a ‘K+12’ bill to offer Kindergarten through the public schools. Several schools were able to offer it last year but had limited resources. A school Principal that Fran had spoken to had said that they were not able to offer Kindergarten at their school last year due to the lack of a qualified teacher. The principal hoped that the Department of Education would be able find a suitable teacher for their Kindergartners this year. Aside from these issues, many students from poorer families don’t get the opportunity to finish their education.  Since they are poor and need to earn a decent income to make sure that their families get to eat at least twice a day, parents would sometimes ask their children to "work" instead of go to school since going to school would incur expenses for the family. 

Recognizing the plight of children throughout the country and the barriers they face in getting access to education, according to Fran, the Philippines government has programs in place that aim to make education free and accessible.  Each year, more schools are being built and more teachers are being employed.  The private sector has also stepped in to support public schools nationwide by partnering with them in building more classrooms, improving facilities or by giving dole-outs in the form of school supplies, furniture etc.  According to Fran, the outreach program at her school is currently working with a community in Manila, supporting the education of the children there by providing catechesis or religious lessons. 
Fran hopes that these measures will eventually lead to a day when all children in the Philippines will have equal access to education.
           

Hearing from Fran about the many hardships children in the Philippines have to face due to poverty was very eye-opening. Having to swim across rivers or climb a mountain each day to attend school is unimaginable to me. Choosing to work instead of going to school just so the family can eat shouldn’t be a choice a young child has to make. Reading about poverty here in the United States and the state of things in the Philippines and thinking about my own experiences in Sri Lanka, I have come to realize that poverty manifests itself in so many forms throughout the world. Although the causes of poverty, the challenges children and families face as a result of poverty and the approaches to eliminating poverty many differ across regions, the effects of poverty on children remain the same. While reducing/eliminating poverty continues to be a challenge faced by populations throughout the world, we educators have an incredible responsibility in supporting children affected in any way we can in our classrooms and most of all advocating for children and making our governments aware of policy change, funding and programs needed to support families to transition out of poverty. On the topic of funding I realize that many developing countries depend on funding and resources from countries like the US to support their community development efforts and in their fight against poverty. While I don’t doubt that funds sent abroad is much needed and have a positive impact on those communities, I wonder about families and communities right here in the US who needs those funds just as much in their own struggles with poverty.

Sharing Web Resources

The organization that caught my attention and chose to explore is Save the Children, an international organization. To give a brief history about the organization, in 1919, the Save the Children Fund was founded in England by Eglantyne Jebb, an Oxford-educated teacher and sociologist to aid children in war-ravaged central Europe. “We cannot leave defenseless children anywhere exposed to ruin — moral or physical,” she said. “We cannot run the risk that they should weep, starve, despair and die, with never a hand stretched out to help them.” Following her vision, Save the Children USA was established in 1923. 

The mission of the organization is to ‘inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in in the lives of children in the United States and around the world’. Their philosophy is based the concepts of self-help and self-reliance — the belief that development is a process by which people take charge of their own lives. They help children and families help themselves by providing families and communities with the tools they need to break the cycle of poverty. Presently, the organization works in more than 50 countries working in the areas of child protection, child survival, education, emergency response, health and nutrition, HIV and AIDS. 

            Although I have subscribed to their newsletter I have not received as yet. However, while browsing through the website, I noted their work in the area of education. The website describes education as ‘the road that children follow to reach their full potential’. Save the Children recognizes that there are many children throughout the world who don’t have access to quality education for various reasons; poverty, conflict, disasters etc. and therefore implements education programs to support children’s learning at home and at school. Their current programs focus on increasing education for girls in parts of the world where access is limited, teaching children basic math skills needed for daily life through the Numeracy Boost program, addressing the emotional well-being of children affected by disease, conflict, natural disaster through the HEART program- Healing and education through the arts and literacy programs to increase reading skills in rural America. With children like Pakistani schoolgirl Malala at the forefront advocating for education for all children including children affected by war and conflict, Save the Children is calling on world leaders to criminalize attacks against education and increase humanitarian funding for education. Their report ‘Attacks on Education: The impact of conflict and grave violations on children’s future’ address the hidden crisis in countries affected by conflict. 

Listening to Malala whose only crime was her desire to learn, address the UN was very moving and eye opening. It shows the struggles that children throughout the world of varying ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds continue to face in gaining their rightful access to any education and why the work of organizations such as Save the Children is so crucial for bringing about needed change.

Save the Children:  

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

Save the Children Report – Attacks on Education:

http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/ATTACKS_ON_EDUCATION_FINAL.PDF

Malala Yousafzai's address to the UN:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtprX8i2k-Q

Establishing contacts and expanding resources

            Over the past several months, I have come to realize the value of professional contacts and resources and how they can support me in my development as an early childhood professional. Having worked in the EC field in both Sri Lanka and the United States, I also know that there are vast differences in the state of the field of EC across countries, the issues at hand and how those issues are addressed. For these reasons contacting professionals from other parts of the world to learn more about their work and the state of early childhood where they live sounded very exciting. 

                I mentioned my assignment to one of my co-workers who is from the Philippines. She was kind enough to share two of her contacts with me. I was able to get in touch with them this past week and both of them agreed to serve as a resource for me throughout this course. My first contact Fran, is currently a preschool teacher in the Philippines. My second contact Prof. Carol, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Early Childhood Education, Woosong University in South Korea. She also mentioned that she had recently worked with a student who was also working on their masters at Walden. What a small world! I am very excited to correspond with them over the next several weeks and thereafter to find out more about their work and their views on issues affecting the field of early childhood.

                While I was browsing through the blog resources this week to select a website to study, I came across the website for Save the Children an organization I was somewhat familiar with. Many years ago while in high school, I had been in touch with the Save the Children, Sri Lanka office to learn more about their work on Child Abuse Prevention in Sri Lanka and their work on supporting children of abuse. The work of organizations such as Save the Children is crucial especially in developing countries such as Sri Lanka in addressing the many issues involving children and families that they continue to struggle with. Currently, Save the Children works in 120 countries throughout the world in the areas of education, health, child protection, disaster relief and more. On a personal level, having witnessed the impact of poverty, war and violence on children and families while growing up in Sri Lanka, I greatly value the work of organizations such as Save the Children. In the coming weeks, I hope to learn more about their work and gain a deeper understanding of issues that affect children and families throughout the world and how they are being addressed.