From completing this course and having to explore and learn
about various international early childhood organizations I learned more about
the efforts being done across the world in order to ensure children everywhere
have the opportunity to learn in an enriching, ever developing learning
environment. I also enjoyed reading
fellow classmates blog post on other international early childhood
organizations and learning of their work within the field. Having to pick only three things that left a
lasting impression on me I would have to pick the speech form the President of
Ireland during the 10th anniversary of the World Forum, the War or
Peace and Peas experiment, and learning of the 6 goals of education from the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization website. All of these items open not just my eyes but
my mind to international early childhood.
Dr. McAleese, the President of Ireland stated this while
speaking at the World Forum 10th Anniversary convention in
Belfast, “We only get one go around with
our children so we are the engravers of their lives have to know and be taught
how to engrave. But good news is on the
horizon and that is the compassion of a person and to change and grow. Give the benefit of your experience and to
have this global resource of good practice, best practice to learn what things
don’t work, things that work, to share with one another.” (Hogan, 2012) This is
the most powerful statement I have heard to date from a speaker when talking
about early learning and the roles we as educators must take.
The War or Peace and Peas experiment is where a group of
boys and girls were taken, talked to about what war was and what peace
was. The children were then asked to
draw pictures of what they thought represented war and what represented
peace. Children were able to recreate
images of war items but when it came to peace, the children drew pictures of a
slice of bread or pizza. It was clear to
see that there was a breakdown in communication when it came to peace and
thought of pieces. This then lead to the
forming of the Peace Project. “The
‘PEACE’ project to help kids understand war: why it happens; why it is bad;
what is peace; how war can be converted to peace; how peace is a solution so
that fights do not happen; noisy and peaceful; and many more such ideas.”
(Popat-Vats, 2013) By the end of this
project, children were able to know the difference of what peace is and not be
confused it with pieces.
I wish to thank all of my classmates along with the
professor for all sharing your thoughts and words of enlightenment throughout
of this course. I look forward to
interacting with each and every one of you again in my future classes. I our paths do not cross again I wish you the
best in your work within the early childhood field.
References
Hogan, T.
(2012). World Forum Foundation
Video. World Forum Foundation. Retreived from www.worldforumfoundation.org.
Popat-Vats, S. (2013). War and Peace or War and Peas! World Forum Foundation. Retrieved from http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/news/war-and-peace-or-war-and-peas/
UNESCO. (). Education-Early Childhood. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization. Retreived from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/
Quandra,
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed your comments to my blog. I also want to say thank you for helping me in my own personal growth with your blog with issues and trends that are part of the early childhood field. I really liked Dr. McAleese's speech. In my personal growth, I will always give the benefit of experience with what works and what doesn't work. Great share.
I enjoy reading your post because there are much information in it. About Dr. McAleese' speech and that is so true we should teach like it is our last day teaching young children. Because I am the children second teacher (parents are the first teachers)away from their home. We should all do our best in putting knowledge into these young children.
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