International Contacts- Final post

Wanda Martin, works for the department of defense dependent school (Dodds) in Germany

What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work? “The German programs have better resources than what is offered in the American programs.  Funds are available for field trips, materials, etc to assist in the education of the children.  The American parents who are allowed to put their children in the German Early Childhood Programs love it.  They say their children get much more out of the program than if they were in an American program.  The American parents have to pay for the extracurricular activities as they do not pay into the German taxes.” (W. Martin, personal communications, 2012, May 25)

What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?

According to her friends, German educators must complete intense education preparation programs and continue education in order to teach in German schools.

What are some of your professional goals?

She wants to continue working abroad with Dodds. She is able to live with the wages she receive because Dodds pays her rent and utilities for living overseas. The downside is that positions for teaching pre-K classes are scarce and few educators leave their posts. She continues to put an inter-district application in hopes one day she will be able to teach pre-k again.

What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?

To return to the pre-K classroom. Complete MS program.

Deepa Joseph, Educator working in United Arab Emirates

What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work? The ECE is developing in UAE. Before professionals in ECE were not given much recognition. In fact, in their work permit paperwork their official title was ‘Nanny’. There were no minimum qualifications or education requirements to work as a preschool teacher. Now things are improving. The education ministry has realized “ECE is equally an important field and therefore teachers have to have at least minimum teacher training to work as a preschool teacher” (D. Joseph, personal communication, 2012, June 11).  They are also standardizing the curriculum to cater to the developmental needs of the children.

What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?

Due to the recent improvements the ministry of education is offering trainings for educators that do not meet basic education qualifications.

What are some of your professional goals, hopes, dreams and challenges?

Deepa sees her future working for private companies creating curriculums that are developmentally appropriate. Even though she loves working with children in the classroom, she hopes one day to work behind a desk to improve the quality standards of ECE in UAE. She wants to apply the knowledge she is receiving from Walden; at this moment her biggest challenge is to finish this intense MS program.           

Franchesca Ventura, Pre-K Teacher from El Salvador

I have not been able to reach Franchesca, but based on previous emails I will answer as many questions as possible.

What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work? There is a movement towards child-centered curriculum, competency standards, and assessment based on observations of children development. However, there are limitation based on financial resources, poverty of the population and quality of the educational materials used, like books.

What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?

Many professionals in the ECE field from El Salvador are still unable to understand developmentally appropriate practices. Perhaps due to limited funds for training and professional development support (my personal assumption).

What are some of your professional goals?

She views herself as a highly professional EC educator who implements the latest evidence based information provided by researchers from her country. She wants to be part of the latest education reforms in El Salvador and implement DAP, child-appropriate assessments and curriculum.


Addendum:
Franchesca replied back... Her hopes, dreams and career goal include completing her education in psychology, her initial field of studies; she wants to continue her professional development in early childhood and improve her practice based on current information of child development; lastly, she wants to learn to speak and write English to be able to communicate globally with others in the field.