1.brain development
2.quality standards
3.inclusion
4.parent engagement
5.compensation of early childhood professionals
This list is just a few of the many issues being discussed and researched. There is a huge parent engagement toolkit that has been put out as a resource to begin letting parents know how important their role is in the beginning of their child's life. There was a survey online in order to give feedback on the toolkit.
What surprised me the most was how advanced Australia is in terms of their early childhood initiatives. They are celebrating 75 years of The Australian Association of Pre-School Child Development’. They are so much more advanced in their research and work with early childhood care and education than here in the United States. About a year ago, National early learning standards were developed and implemented in the child care centers. The terminology of early childhood education came about in the past decade in the United States and is just beginning to be acknowledged by our National government in the past few years.
Australia's newest initiative is the Respect, Connect, Enact reconciliation plan. This plan calls "
For Early Childhood Australia, Reconciliation between
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the
broader Australian community is about transformation—
transformation that moves us from ignorance and racism
to respect, from inequity and prejudice to justice, and
from inaction and fear to hope. It is in this transformation,
both personal and organisational, that the promise of a
strong future for every Australian child is realised. Within Australia, there are cultural issues that need to be addressed in order to advance the well-being of all children. I was extremely impressed with this website and the work of the Australian government and organizations in improving the lives of young children.
I was also impressed with this site. It provided a lot of good information for early care and education. This site truly showed that the organizations in Australia want what is best for children and to make them life long learners.
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed this website. I would like to learn more about the parent engagement toolkit. Preparing parents for what to come is essential in building the parent-teacher relationship. It is extremely important that parents know how important their role is in the beginning of their child's life. After all they are their child's first teacher.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Mary Jo. I had not looked closely at this website but it sounds very interesting. The information on parent engagement sounds like it is worth taking a look at.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. I believe the idea of informing parents of how important it is for them to participate in their children's education early on is one that should be used all over the world. Parents have to know that they are needed in the process of education. I believe it helps the children when they know the parents are in their corner.
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