Getting to Know International Contacts

Getting to Know International Contacts

I visited UNESCO’s website to explore their mission and goals on education international early childhood education. Since its creation in 1945, UNESCO’s mission has been to contribute to the building of peace, poverty eradication, lasting development and intercultural dialogue, with education as one of its principal activities to achieve this aim. The Organization is committed to a holistic and humanistic vision of quality education worldwide, the realization of everyone’s right to education, and the belief that education plays a fundamental role in human, social and economic development. The educational objectives are to support the achievement of Education for All (EFA); to provide global and regional leadership in education; to strengthen education systems worldwide from early childhood to the adult years; to respond to contemporary global challenges through education.

As the only United Nations agency with a mandate to cover all aspects of education, UNESCO’s work encompasses educational development from pre-school through to higher education, including technical and vocational education and training, non-formal education and literacy. The Organization focuses on increasing equity and access, improving quality, and ensuring that education develops knowledge and skills in areas such as sustainable development, HIV and AIDS, human rights and gender equality. UNESCO works with governments and a wide range of partners to make education systems more effective through policy change. It coordinates the Education for All movement, tracks education trends and raises the profile of educational needs on global development agendas.

Teachers, their training, recruitment, retention, status and working conditions are among UNESCO’s top priorities. “Teachers are the single most influential and powerful force for equity, access and quality in education”, says Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO. The main challenge faced by the teaching profession is both one of numbers and quality. In other words, the world needs more and better teachers. The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. UNESCO works to address this challenge in addition to advocating for teachers and defending their rights.

One of UNESCO’s main responsibilities is to advocate for the right of every girl and boy, young and adult woman and man, to quality education throughout life – regardless of the setting (formal, non-formal or informal). The Organization also coordinates an international movement in support of Education for All (EFA) and is responsible for monitoring the achievement of internationally agreed goals pertaining to education. The UNESCO also helps countries develop legal frameworks as well as mobilizes global partners on issues relating to the right to education.

UNESCO coordinates the international efforts to reach the six EFA goals, working closely with governments, development agencies, civil society, academics and the private sector. As EFA lead agency, UNESCO focuses its activities on five key areas: policy dialogue, monitoring, advocacy, mobilization of funding, and capacity development.

 UNESCO has developed with assistance from an independent team, the annual Education for All Global Monitoring Report monitors global progress towards the six Educations for All goals. Each year the report presents evidence to inform policy makers on a specific topic issue such as reaching marginalized populations, conflict, skills for youth, or teaching and learning. The GMR draws on data from a variety of sources including the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the leading source for international education statistics. In addition to monitoring the state of education, UNESCO also functions as a “think tank” to guide global debates on the future of education. It does so by analyzing emerging development trends and their implications for education systems and for learning. It also reviews research on education policy and suggests strategic orientations for education policy development.

UNESCO is an organization that believes early childhood education and the importance of quality teachers to ensure the success of children. They advocate for better resources and experiences for children and training for teachers. My professional goals as an early childhood educator are focused on the same path. We have to advocate, educated and empower teachers and parents so children will have an opportunity for a quality education. This means we may need to be the voice in the community on a local state and federal level.

www.unesco.org

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NBCDI: Early Care and Education

The National Black Child Development Institute has been at the forefront of involving leaders, policymakers, professionals and parents about critical issues that directly impact Black children and their families. Their focus is to provide culturally relevant resources that address the unique strengthens and needs of black children that include early childhood education, child welfare, and accessible childcare and family engagement. They advocate for the children and families with the support of their Affiliate network in communities around the world.

Since its inception, NBCDI has been dedicated to supporting the development of a high-quality, accessible, affordable and aligned system of early care and education for children birth through age eight. Each of these years is critical to the socio-emotional and educational success of students, particularly students of color, because they provide the foundation for all subsequent learning and development.

In their program and policy work, NBCDI supports federal, state and local efforts to provide increasing numbers of low-income children with access to quality early education and care; efforts to create a strong and supported early childhood workforce; and efforts to promote developmentally and culturally-appropriate standards, curriculum, instruction and assessment that are aligned within and across the early childhood to early grades continuum.

To ensure every child especially black children have the opportunity to receive a quality education beginning in early childhood the advocate for the following:

·         To increase and equitably distribute quality across the birth through eight continuum.

·         Supporting specific efforts to recruit, professionally prepare compensate and retain a well-qualified workforce  and tom include family and center-based child care as well as public and charter schools

·         Supporting the development and revision of QRIS (Quality Rating and Improvement Systems) that focus on all these systems.

·         Encourage states, districts and schools to embed professional development opportunities that support a deeper understanding of families’ race and culture, and explicitly teach teachers from all backgrounds how to develop and strengthen relationships with parents in the community.  

The NBCDI understands ensure a quality education for black children begins with families being aware of resources, having accessibility to the resources and being able to afford it. The organization is an advocate for families in all three of these areas so every child has start in early childhood education.

Please visit the website to learn more about this organization: http://www.nbcdi.org/


 

Sharing Resources: Global Children Initiative

Sharing Resources: Global Children Initiative

 The Center on the Developing Child has launched the Global Children’s Initiative as the centerpiece of its global child health and development to build an integrated international approach to child survival, health, development beginning in the earl years of their life.

 

Their commitment to global work represents both an acknowledgement of moral responsibility to meet the needs of all children and a critical investment in the roots of economic productivity, positive health outcomes, and strong civil society in all nations, from the poorest to the most affluent. One essential, cross-cutting aspect of the Center’s approach is its commitment to work collaboratively across disciplines and institutions, drawing together the best and most creative expertise available to achieve the Initiative’s goals.

 The Global Children’s Initiative seeks to advance the Center's core mission globally by implementing a compelling research, public engagement and leadership development agenda in child health and development that is grounded in science and engages researchers, public leaders, practitioners, and students from a wide range of institutions around the world. Specifically, the global program will focus on three strategic areas:

·         reframing the discourse around child health and development in the global policy arena by educating high-level decision-makers about the underlying science of learning, behavior, and health, beginning in the earliest years of life;
·         supporting innovative, multi-disciplinary research and demonstration projects to expand global understanding of how healthy development happens, how it can be derailed, and how to get it back on track; and
·         building leadership capacity in child development research and policy—focused on both individuals and institutions—in low- and middle-income countries to increase the number and influence of diverse voices and perspectives that are contributing to the growing global movement on behalf of young children.

Guided by these strategic objectives, the Global Children’s Initiative has begun to build a portfolio of activities in three domains:

·         early childhood development
·         child mental health
·         children in crisis and conflict situations

Each of these domains is being guided by a designated faculty working group that will facilitate continuing cross-disciplinary collaboration; design and implement new projects; and engage additional faculty, students, and collaborators beyond the Harvard community resulting in positive outcomes for children round the world.

(http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/)