Jessica Ball’s article, Improving the reach of early childhood education for First Nations, Inuit and Metis children (2014), delineates the underprovided support the indigenous people have bore at the hand of the Canadian government. The article further explains how this non-existent support, has contributed to the poor conditions the indigenous people are constantly forced to tolerate, as the challenges faced by many Indigenous communities in Canada are well-known and that, in Canada, Indigenous children are less likely to attend ECE programs compared to non-Indigenous children which are a consequence of poor funding and support. However, the article mainly correlates many of the hardships endured by indigenous people due to the lack of quality child care, which may be attainable through proper and substantial funding means and by bringing an awareness to society that there is, in fact, a high demand for government assistance and funding to provide high-quality child care services to indigenous people which will, ultimately, lead to indigenous children’s success in the future.
The relevance of this article to the field of ECE is the responsibilities we have as future educators to support families and children during the first several years of development. Also, the
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This, in turn, allows parents to pursue a career or further and or, complete their education. This means that they are contributing to society by earning more capital and re-investing it back into the economy when they shop. This would lead then, to a higher need for qualified early childhood educators who would need to attain qualifying education to better and further their own careers, as well. Furthermore, with the new qualified early childhood educators, the children would be receiving quality early education, which would open them up for future lifelong
(Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2016). As a Pre-Service Teacher specialising in Early Childhood Education, it is imperative to understand how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities were treated in the past and the impact that this may have on Indigenous families in the
Retrieved December 6, 2013, from http://www.fncfcs.com/sites/default/files/online-journal/vol3num1/Sinclair_pp65.pdf Smith, C. (2013, September 1). A Legacy of Canadian Child Care: Surviving the Sixties Scoop. Briarpatch Magazine, Part 1. Retrieved December 6, 2013, from http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/a-legacy-of-canadian-child-care Steckley, J., & Cummins, B. D. (2008). Full Circle: Canada's First Nations (2nd ed.).
Why am I Poor? First Nations Child Poverty in Ontario. Canada: Best Start Resource Center,
The over-representation of Aboriginal children in the Canadian Child Welfare system is a growing and multifaceted issue rooted in a pervasive history of racism and colonization in Canada. Residential schools were established with the intent to force assimilation of Aboriginal people in Canada into European-Canadian society (Reimer, 2010, p. 22). Many Aboriginal children’s lives have been changed adversely by the development of residential schools, even for those who did not attend them. It is estimated that Aboriginal children “are 6-8 times more likely to be placed in foster care than non-Aboriginal children (Saskatchewan Child Welfare Review Panel, 2010, p. 2).” Reports have also indicated that First Nations registered Indian children make up the largest proportion of Aboriginal children entering child welfare care across Canada (Saskatchewan Child Welfare Review Panel, p. 2). Consequently, this has negatively impacted Aboriginal communities experience of and relationship with child welfare services across the country. It is visible that the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the child welfare system in Canada lies in the impact of the Canadian policy for Indian residential schools, which will be described throughout this paper.
Early childhood education, although constantly evolving, was actually established and practiced as early on as the times of Ancient Greece and Rome. The foundation that early childhood education is based upon is to instill in children the skills needed to succeed later on in life, while making sure young children enjoy their time in schooling. Throughout chapter 3 in the textbook Who Am I in the Lives of Children, the reader is capable of evaluating just how greatly the methods for teaching today’s youth have evolved and changed for the better.
The needs of Aboriginal youth are not being met in mainstream systems. Undoubtedly, with the high dropout rate of “7 out of 10 first nation youth drop out of school” (Donovan, 128), the school system is failing them. Across Canada only “23 percent of the Aboriginal population has their high school diploma” (Donovan, 129). Aboriginal people make up the youngest and fastest growing segment of our population, and yet many still have significantly less education than the general population.
Teachers and theorists have played a huge role through out history. There are those that have dedicated their lives to learning and investing in tools and strategies to help children succeed and grow with their development. There are those that have created schools, programs and set standards for teachers that are even used in todays school systems. This gives teachers the opportunity to adapt to any personality and give that child the best care and education they deserve. With that being said, there is a lot of weight that can be on a teachers shoulders but people may often overlook these very important people. The pay may not be the best in this particular field, but that is not the reason they do what they do. This specific group loves children and love what they do. The reward for them is seeing that child succeed no matter how young or small they may be. These amazing folks are sometimes even labeled heroes for the impact they can really do in a young persons life. They are changing peoples lives with the investment they make everyday. With teachers investing in children's lives in the beginning with programs like Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten, America will have and has seen brilliant and successful people.
While walking through the front gates of County elementary school, you see children of all ages playing while they wait for the school bell to ring. Walking to the classroom that I will be observing you see students with their parent’s line up waiting to get signed in. The students are to be signed in by a parent or guardian for safety precautions, and shows that the child was signed into school. As a visitor, I am to sign myself in, this shows I was in the classroom, at what time was I there, and reason for visiting the classroom.
Demonstrate a strong understanding of current Australian early childhood education and care reform agenda in Australia since 2007. The Australian ECE and care reform agenda was initiated, in 2007, due to a concern for the wellbeing and increasingly poor outcomes for children in several key areas. Evidence confirmed the importance and impact of a child’s health, well-being, development and learning in the early years, therefore the need for an NQF and NQS was initiated. The impact of social change over recent decades has shown families struggling to function and aid in their child’s development.
Curriculum is the organized framework that explains the content that children are to learn, the processes through which children achieve the identified curricular goals, what teachers do to help children achieve these goals and the context in which teaching and learning occur. The best curriculum for early childhood teacher is developmentally appropriate curriculum that allows teachers to set-up an effective learning environment for children.
One of the major political factors that have been influential is the increasing concerns of Aboriginal children and the type of treatment they were getting by the provincial child welfare authorities during the 1960’s (Sinha, Trocme, Fallon, MacLaurin, & Fast, 2006). This led many Aboriginals to become activists, which led to changes occurring in the First Nations child welfare. According to the MCYS (2013), when the act came out in 1985, the Ontario government recognized that Aboriginal people have the right to provide their own child and family services that ties in with their culture, heritage and traditions of the extended family. Traditionally, Aboriginal children were cared for not only by their families, but also their community through their cultural practices (Sinha & Kozlowski, 2013). Many Aboriginal families now face a disconnect from traditional child rearing practices and neglect is the primary reason why these children are removed (McCaslin & Boyer, 2009).
Early childhood education plays a key role in a child’s academic development because he or she learns soft skills, job skills, and develop positive traits. Preschool is not like kindergarten, but instead a stepping-stone that prepares young students for the years of schooling they will have later in life. As more schools began to open families wanted to be able to verify that programs would benefit and protect their children. In response, the National Association for the Education of Young Children was made to help families find the best care for their children, by providing the early childhood educators with training and ensuring the quality of children’s daily experiences. (“NAEYC”5).
Entering my kindergarten teaching experience in the last quarter of school year I had to quickly become familiar with kindergarten content standards and the school’s curriculum. To do this I observed my mentor teachers instructional time with the children and gained as much information as I could about the children’s educational standing by developing a professional relationship with the my mentor teacher and the children. I learned that the majority of my kindergarten children had not previously attended preschool and that this was their first year of school. I found that interacting with the children in social activities provided me with great insight to their literacy, math, science, and social studies development. In reviewing the children’s class projects, school displays, and an array of their work sample along with my mentor teachers year-long assessments I was able to recognize challenging, emerging and advanced content areas of the children’s core curriculum. These emerging and challenging content areas is what I centered my curriculum planning around. “Information about each child’s learning and development is used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. This may lead to changes in schedule, curriculum and teaching strategies, room set up, resources, and so on.” (Bredekamp and Copple, p. 249)
There are many documented theories about early childhood development, contemporary research still concurs with some of these theories. It suggests, however, that we should be thinking more holistically, taking into consideration; respect for diversity, the wider community and equity, play based curriculums, intentional teaching and ongoing reflective practices when planning for optimal educational experiences for children (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009). I acknowledge that ongoing professional learning and reflective practices are a key element of the Early Years Learning Framework (DEEWR, 2009). I accredit working and collaborating with other teachers, families and local communities collectively contribute