Getting to Know Your International Contacts

I listened to a podcast provided by Irma Allen.  Irma is Chairperson of the Swaziland Environment Authority (the equivalent of the EPA in the United States), and a member of the World Forum Nature Action Collaborative for Children.  She is passionate about early childhood.  One of the challenges she faces is the ability to train teachers and community members with regards to early childhood.  Her focus is on the nature dimension of early childhood.  There are no classrooms and that nature is the classroom.  They take opportunities throughout the day to teach children what is happening in their environment.  In her conversation, she mentioned a person who once attended their early childhood center and he shared that this program helped him appreciate his country and his environment more. 

The website provided by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organizations gives information regarding education systems and how to strengthen them.  The section discussing early childhood has three of the main areas to focus on with trying to improve education programs.  The first category is access.  It is believed that learning begins at birth showing the importance of early childhood education.  The second category is quality.  It insures quality programs by providing trainings, materials, and curriculum that focuses on all children holistically.  The final category is investment.  This is an extremely important issue as many countries are struggling to provide the fund to create quality programs.  Providing quality programs to children and families is part of my professional goals and along with ensuring the needs of all children are met.  The information provided by the website goes along with my professional goals by addressing this issue in a much larger scale.