Equity and Excellence

Part 1-World Forum Podcast

This week, I listened to World Forum Foundation Radio podcast Episode 9: Barbara Jones.  In this podcast, Ms. Jones describes her journey from college graduate to the owner of her own Montessori program.  She shares how her disillusionment with the public school system led to her discovery of the Montessori method.  She found that what she had learned in college was different from what she found in the public school system and so set out to search for something different.  After taking a job at a small Montessori program in southern California, she went to London to become certified in the Montessori method.  She then moved to the Maine where she worked for a private school for several years.  During this time, she had discovered an old school building that she thought would make a good location for her own program.  After several years of waiting, she was finally able to purchase the building and started Pine Grove Child Development Center which celebrated its 25^th anniversary.  Ms. Jones describes the beautiful original floors and large windows that overlook a large park preserve in which the school is located. 

This information in this podcast can be viewed from the perspective of equity and excellence.  Teacher education and experience and access are two factors addressed in several of the resources for this week.  When visiting the Pine Grove website, I discovered that all teachers at this school have a 4 year degree and are required to attend 40 hours of professional development training each year (The Pinegrove Center, n.d.a).  I also found that tuition for a full day (8:30-3:00) ranges from $1,227 to $1,316/month (The Pinegrove Center, n.d.b).  There are additional fees for before and after care.  Despite the fact that there are partial scholarships available, it is likely that this high quality program would be out of the reach of poor or even middle class families. 

I did try to make contact with Ms. Jones by email, but did not get a response from her. 

Part 2- Harvard Center for the Developing Child

According to the Center for the Developing Child, the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child is a multi-disciplinary, multi-university collaboration with the purpose of providing science and research information about early childhood and early brain development for the purpose of informing public decision-making.  The Council uses an evidence based approach to build consensus that “recognizes the complementary responsibilities of family, community, workplace, and government to promote the well-being of all young children” (Center for the Developing Child, 2012a, para 1)  Goals and strategies include

• ·      Bringing credible and accurate knowledge to bear on public decision-making that affects children’s learning, behavior, and health.
• ·      Rethinking the challenge of knowledge translation in order to strengthen its impact on the lives of children.
• ·      Building broad-based and informed leadership to represent the interests of young children in the public and private sectors.
• ·      Promoting a new national dialogue focused on rethinking the meaning of both shared responsibility for children and strategic investment in their future. (Center for the Developing Child, 2012a, para 3-6)

I learned that the Center for the Developing Child includes the Global Children’s Initiative that focuses on three domains: early childhood development; mental health; and children in crisis and conflict situations.  The Global Children’s Initiative is currently working on programs in several different countries.  From the information found on the Harvard Center for the Developing Child website about early learning systems around the world I learned that:

1.  There are significant gaps in the understanding of child mental health concerns and available services. Current efforts in this area include

• Assessing the state of child mental health services in Shanghai, China;
• Developing and evaluating family-based strategies to prevent mental health problems in children affected by HIV/AIDS in Rwanda; and
• Addressing child maltreatment and mental health outcomes in three Caribbean nations (Barbados, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname). (Center for the Developing Child, 2012b, para 5)

2.  Teacher training and education is a common issue.  Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), “A Good Start,” is a project in Santiago, Chile, with the intent to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. This project also includes a focus on health, school attendance, social-emotional development and family involvement in their child’s education.

3.  Successful efforts to address early childhood issues should be multidisciplinary in nature and include an awareness of the culture and context of the community.  Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, is an effort to use the science of child health and development to influence policies for and investment in young children and families in Brazil. This project includes strategies such as finding ways to “effectively communicate the science of child development in the Brazilian cultural context”, offering a course to inform policy makers about early childhood development and translating and adapting current resources for a Brazilian audience.  Like the project in Brazil, the efforts to address child mental health include an awareness of the need to “develop evidence-based approaches in policy and service delivery that are responsive to diverse cultural contexts” (Center for the Developing Child, 2012c, para 3)

Part 3- Reflection on Equity and Excellence

The information from the Center for the Developing Child and the World Forum Foundation Radio podcast illustrates several issues related to equity and excellence.  The Global Children’s Initiative is currently working address issues around the world much like those explored this week found in the United States. Teacher education, child mental health and the use of research and science to inform policy decisions related to early childhood education are common themes.  The World Forum Foundation podcast highlights the issues of teacher qualifications as it relates to program quality.  It also highlights the inequity of access. 

Reference

Center for the Developing Child. (2012a). About the council.  Retrieved March 29, 2012 from http://developingchild.harvard.edu

Center for the Developing Child. (2012b). Global children’s initiatives:  Activities.  Retrieved March 29, 2012 from http://developingchild.harvard.edu

Center for the Developing Child. (2012c). Applying the science of early childhood in Brazil.  Retrieved March 29, 2012 from http://developingchild.harvard.edu

Episode 9: Barbara Jones. [Audio podcast]. (2012). Retrieved March 30, 2012 from http://worldforumfoundation.org

The Pine Grove Center. (n.d.a). Faculty.  Retrieved March 30, 2012 from www.pinegrovecenter.com

The Pine Grove Center. (n.d.b). Tuition.  Retrieved March 30, 2012 from www.pinegrovecenter.com