International Contacts Part 3-Alternative Assignment

The focus for course work this week was redefining our professional goals.  It is important for Early Childhood educators to be professional and be committed to the field.  Young children depend on us to have the knowledge, commitment, and the passion to continue to learn so that we can teach them the best way possible.  This week I did not receive any correspondence from my International contacts therefore I visited two websites. 

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/

I visited the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s webpage.  UNESCO is an advocate for early childhood programs that attends to the development of health, nutrition, security, and learning of the whole child.  UNESCO works with partner nations to ensure that all young children reach their fullest potential in all developmental areas. 

                Some of the insights that I learned while on this site are the three most important skills a child should learn.  This information came from an interview with UNESCO Bangkok Director, Gwang-Jo Kim.  Mr. Kim stated that children should learn about culture, values and respect, and history.  These things will tell a child a lot about their family and why they do the things that they do. 

                Another insight was in order for a person to get a job teaching at the Bamboo School in Buriram, Thailand; the children must approve them to teach.  This school is in one of the poorest areas of Thailand but allows the students to choose who teaches them.  This process requires that teachers prove that they can teach and hiring is not just based on education.  I found this interesting because I feel that it’s a fact that just because you have the credentials doesn’t mean that you are a good teacher.  A person could just know the letter of the law and not know how to implement it.  Since our topic for the week deals with professionalism-this article was very interesting.  This school views professionalism via your ability not your education.  This information came from an article title What teachers can do to build student’s morale.

www.NAEYC.ORG

I also visited the NAEYC website and searched the page for professional development.  The website defined professional development as “a continuum of learning and support activities designed to prepare individuals for work with and on behalf of young children and their families, as well as ongoing experiences to enhance this work. 

NAEYC offers a variety of training opportunities on their website.  You can earn CEUs after you complete each program.  Some programs are online, intensive training of trainers, training DVDs or attendance at a conference.  Since we are an online community of learners, I will focus my attention to the online courses available for our professional development.  The online courses are available 24/7 and are affordable.  The organization will give a group rate for 25 and over participants so an entire center can take advantage of the training courses.  For those that are interested in having their program receive accreditation there is an online option that can assist you in training for preparation of accreditation. 

If you are interested in any training, you should contact Professional Development Solutions at training@naeyc.org.