Coming to the end

Our course is coming to an end and I would like to thank everyone who commented on my blog and took time to read my posts.  I have learned so much from everyone and look forward to meeting up with you again in future courses.  This course has shown me how in depth the early childhood field is an what a difference we as professionals can make in adovacating for children and families.  Next week we begin another course in this journey and I eagerly look forward to continuing this path.  I wish everyone the best!

Ethical Responsibilities

As an early childhood educator I am obligated to abide by a code of ethics.  The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 2005) has an entire list of principles and ideals that educators and caregivers are responsible for abiding by.  The three that resonate with me the most are:

• I1.1 - To be familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay informed through continuing education and training.
• I1.3 - To recognize and respect the unique qualities, abilities, and potential of each child.
• I1.9 - To advocate for and ensure that all children, including those with special needs have access to support services they need to be successful.

These ideals resonate with me because they represent a commitment to advocating and promoting high-quality care and education for all children.  The first ideal resonates with me because I am a firm believer that learning is a life long process and no matter what profession you are in you should continue professional development and remain current are issues, research, and strategies.  The second  ideal resonates with me because I believe each child is special and has special unique talents and strengths which we as educators, caregivers, and parents should support.  The last one resonates with me because now more than ever we need to continue advocating for high-quality programs for all children.

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Code of Ethics (2009) also resonated with me with their ideals and principles including:

• Shall demonstrate our respect and concern for children, families, colleagues, and others with whom we work, honoring their beliefs, values, customs, languages, and cultures.
• Shall advocate for equal access to high-quality services and supports for all children and families to enhance their quality of life.

Respecting and honoring different cultures, beliefs, languages, traditions, values, and customs demonstrates to our children, families, and colleagues that we value them.  Everyone wants to be acknowledged and valued.

This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to attend an Early Childhood Education Conference in Evansville, Indiana.  I also had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Lillian Katz speak.  She spoke about creating experiences for children of all ages that are "mindful versus mindless" and that engage children in intellectual thinking.  She talked about the difference of "knowing" versus "understanding" stating that we all "know that airplanes can fly" but we don't all "understand how they fly."  Dr. Katz also spoke of the importance of social-emotional development in the early years.  She was very inspirational and I truly enjoyed listening to her keynote address.

References

NAEYC. (2005, April). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

 The Division for Early Childhood. (2000, August). Code of ethics. Retrieved May 26, 2010, fromhttp://www.dec-sped.org/

COURSE RESOURCES

Course Resources

The following is a list of this week’s (Week 5) resources for my EDUC6005-1 Course Foundations:  Early Childhood Studies.  I have broken the resources up into: video/Podcasts, Position Statements / Influential Practices, Global support for children’s rights and well being, Early Childhood Organizations, and Early Childhood Journals. 

The resources I have added are marked by a different bullet (the diamond shaped bullet), I have also put the new resources in red type. 

I chose the Early Childhood News website because this is a recently found resource that I have found very interesting with the latest news on early childhood issues, classroom ideas, and teacher resources.  I

n the Early Childhood Organizations Section I have added two organizations which I have studied recently, Parent’s As Teachers (PAT) and The Brazelton Instiute.  The PAT organization I find very interesting because it focuses on home visiting and educating the family as well as the child.  The Brazelton Institute continues Dr. T. Berry Brazelton’s work on child development and observation.  Both of these last two organizations utilize the latest neuroscience for brain development which I also find very interesting.  The PAT Organization incorporates current brain research and development within their curriculum and the Brazelton Institute continues their research into brain development, provides information for parents, offers materials available for ordering, and provides links to current research projects.

Videos / Podcasts:

·       Video Program: “The Resources for Early Childhood”
Five early childhood professionals discuss their preferred and trusted resources.

v Early Childhood News:  Teacher Resources

 http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/teacher_resources/ecnradio.aspx

Position Statements and Influential Practices

• NAEYC. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/dap
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on child abuse prevention. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ChildAbuseStand.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on school readiness. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/Readiness.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009). Where we stand on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/diversity.pdf
• NAEYC. (2003). Early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: Building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/pscape.pdf
• NAEYC. (2009, April). Early childhood inclusion: A summary. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_ECSummary_A.pdf
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2010). Infant-toddler policy agenda. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller
• FPG Child Development Institute. (2006, September). Evidence-based practice empowers early childhood professionals and families. (FPG Snapshot, No. 33). Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~images/pdfs/snapshots/snap33.pdf
  
  Note: The following article can be found in the Walden University Library databases.
• Turnbull, A., Zuna, N., Hong, J. Y., Hu, X., Kyzar, K., Obremski, S., et al.  (2010). Knowledge-to-action guides. Teaching Exceptional Children, 42(3), 42–53.
  Use the Academic Search Complete database, and search using the article's title. 

Global Support for Children’s Rights and Well-Being

• Article: UNICEF (n.d.). Fact sheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf
   
• Websites:
• World Forum Foundation
  http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/about.php
  This link connects you to the mission statement of this organization. Make sure to watch the video on this webpage 
• World Organization for Early Childhood Education
  http://www.omep.org.gu.se/English/about_OMEP/
  Read about OMEP’s mission.  
• Association for Childhood Education International
  http://acei.org/about/
  Click on “Mission/Vision” and “Guiding Principles and Beliefs” and read these statements.

Selected Early Childhood Organizations

• National Association for the Education of Young Children
  http://www.naeyc.org/
• The Division for Early Childhood
  http://www.dec-sped.org/
• Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
  http://www.zerotothree.org/
• WESTED
  http://www.wested.org/cs/we/print/docs/we/home.htm
• Harvard Education Letter
  http://www.hepg.org/hel/topic/85
• FPG Child Development Institute
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm
• Administration for Children and Families Headstart’s National Research Conference
  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hsrc/
• HighScope
  http://www.highscope.org/ 
• Children’s Defense Fund
  http://www.childrensdefense.org/
• Center for Child Care Workforce
  http://www.ccw.org/
• Council for Exceptional Children
  http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
• Institute for Women’s Policy Research
  http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm
• National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education
  http://www.ncrece.org/wordpress/
• National Child Care Association
  http://www.nccanet.org/
• National Institute for Early Education Research
  http://nieer.org/
• Pre[K]Now
  http://www.preknow.org/
• Voices for America’s Children
  http://www.voices.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=22807
• The Erikson Institute
  http://www.erikson.edu/

v Parent’s As Teachers Organization (PAT)

http://www.parentsasteachers.org/

v The Brazelton Institute

http://www.brazelton-institute.com/index.html

Selected Professional Journals Available in the Walden Library

Tip: Use the A-to-Z e-journal list to search for specific journal titles. (Go to “How Do I...?”, select “Tips for Specific Formats and Resources,” and then “e-journals” to find this search interface.) 

• YC Young Children
• Childhood
• Journal of Child & Family Studies
• Child Study Journal
• Multicultural Education
• Early Childhood Education Journal
• Journal of Early Childhood Research
• International Journal of Early Childhood
• Early Childhood Research Quarterly
• Developmental Psychology
• Social Studies
• Maternal & Child Health Journal
• International Journal of Early Years Education