home

This wikispace will be used for groups to read portions of this week's additional required reading. You may click on the title here to access the the document. Each group will read their portion of the document and highlight the major ideas of their assigned portion. Each group will add a page to the wikispace. You will use the wiki to describe your highlights of your groups assigned section of the document and then be sure to describe your opinion of how this reflects the early childhood programming, policy, and developmental beliefs of the region.

Groups Are:

1. Regional Scenario: group members...(Jellisa)

significant economic, political and legal advances that nonetheless were slow to impact social indicators. The region has gotten a lot better since then and gives people reason to hope.
2. EECE in the Latin American Region: group members... (Michelle)

This section highlighted how care and education for young children began in Latin America at various times during the nineteenth century. The 3 main focuses of education at this time were protection of families, children's health and their education. The article states that during the nineteenth century, this period saw the creation of the first establishments for young children, and saw the beginnings of professional training for teachers specialized in pre-primary education. Policies and legal frameworks in most countries in the region clearly reflect an understanding of the importance of the educational component during early childhood and the assumption that learning begins at birth, recognizing the preventive and compensatory effect of difficulties in learning and development and of educational and social disadvantages. The article then highlights how preschool or early childhood education takes in the period of care and education of children under the age of six occurring outside of the family environment. This includes wide ranging types of care and education addressing the needs of children from their first weeks of life through to their entry into primary school. Only in the cases of Honduras and Ecuador do laws establish the school age starting at 3 and 4 years of age. Early childhood educational services and programmes in countries of the region can be subdivided into two key types of service: formal and non conventional. Formal programs includes the traditional service models in primary schools. This form of service is provided by teachers and other qualified staff, and activities are managed according to nationally established frameworks, regulations, and curriculum. The type of service provided generally covers areas related to basic needs, such as nutrition, health, and physical care, as well as educational functions. The second type of program offered is called non- conventional and on school based prgrams. These programs take place in settings not based on the school, and show a higher level of flexibility in their organization and functioning, often including community and family development. These programs tend to be more varied, and are not necessarily based on general curriculum guidelines, often being managed by promoters or volunteers, community agents, mothers and fathers.

3. Access and Equity: group members...(Brooke)

This section of Access and Equity showed many different ways that children may be struggling in schools. The last decade has seen a significant rise in the population participating in preschool education in the region. Between 2000 and 2008, almost three million children entered this education level, with an annual rate of increase of approximately 2%. There is abundant evidence to indicate that children who repeat a grade during the first years of their education are more likely to abandon schooling early, and that while repetition carries a high emotional and economic cost, it has no significant effects on learning outcomes. It is so important to let children know how much education can make a significant difference on their futures. Don’t let one child be brought down because they may have to retake an education level, but they need to be helped throughout the year in hopes that they won’t have to retake levels of education. children with the least access to conditions that would enable them to fully develop their capacities and wellbeing are precisely those with the least opportunity to participate in meaningful and relevant educational experiences early in their lives. These children are at a greater disadvantage when they make the transition into primary education.

4. Inclusion in Early Care and Education: group members...(Rebecca) National Education laws incorporate the rights of all children to a free and compulsory education. All children in this region are given the right to an education regardless of gender or ability. Not all areas in the region require early childhood as part of the compulsory schooling, but a few do. Latin american countries are working towards an educational program that promotes "a model of development in which cultural and linguistic diversity are considered a basic resource for the education of all children" The article states that there is not enough data to determine the status of programs for children with special educational needs. "The education laws of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay also recognise the need for qualified teachers skilled in attending to students with special educational needs." This strikes me as a problem for the region, if they cannot identify the problem early, it will be hard to help the child later in his or her life. I feel that more research should be done in the area of children with learning disabilities in Central and South America.

5. Dimensions of Quality: group members...(Marla) Using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale surveys were taken on Grenada 2005, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica in 2007 and Montserrat and Turks and Caicos Islands in 2009. All the countries except St. Kitts and Nevis scored poorly on the rating scale. Most countries scored inadequately in indoor space and furnishings; support for language and reasoning; children’s activities; programme structure and provisions for parents and staff. St. Kitts and Nevis have been able to sustain a better learning environment due to supports from the government. Some of the support included management of centers, stable salaries for teacher and public centers, in service training, mandating licenses, curriculum, standards, equipment and materials. A ECD minimum service standards was made. The indicators of quality are small group size, low teacher/child ratios, higher staff qualifications, and appropriate curriculum and materials.

6. Comprehensive Intersectoral Policies: group members...(Martha) In the past few decades there has been an increase in the importance of building comprehensive public policies throughout the region to meet the needs of young children and their families. Countries in the region are testing different types of programs are “intersectoral (among government sectors) and interinstitutional (incorporating not only national policy sectors but also families, communities, sub-national and municipal governments and civil society actors) to comprehensively attend to children’s needs and ensure respect for all of their rights.” Intersectoral boards are established through collaboration between members from organizations like schools, health centers, community organizations and community centers, development agencies, clubs and churches, among other local bodies.

In the various programs and countries mentioned in the report there is an underlining importance within the local level in guaranteeing the rights of children and civil society’s role in planning and coordinating actions in these areas. Several of the countries in the region have achieved a “degree of collaboration between government and civil society, which work together as partners equally responsible for achieving the comprehensiveness of all measures adopted to uphold the human rights of young children.” The government provides training and technical assistance to members of the boards for the purpose of developing and strengthening interinstitutional practices.

The collaboration between government services and community members ensures there is support for the children in all sectors of the community. Children are cared for by members within their direct community through training and funding provided by the government. This collaboration of intersectoral and interinstitutional policies ensures there is a comprehensive and holistic care plan for children in the country.

7. Financing: group members...(Kaela) 8. National Plans and Programmes: group member (Emily) This section talked about how major efforts have been in place to position early childhood on the public agendas of countries of this region, especially for the last two 5-year periods. Slowly it has become clear that a policy is not a national coverage plan and that countries must start to make progress to establish a complete plan of action for the welfare and benefit of young children that involve all members of society. Both the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000 and the Early Childhood Care Education Conference in 2001 helped most of the countries in South and Central America design education plans with purposes of addressing the challenge of comprehensiveness established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Some of these plans are incorporated into development plans and/or poverty eradication plans and cover all age groups, while others targeted children and adolescents specifically. In most countries, EFA plans will last until 2015 and most Plans of Action for Childhood will end in 2010 or 2011. Almost all the plans were formulated with significant input from social stakeholders and had consultation from governmental and non-governmental actors, and sometimes they even included children and their families. I think that it is really great that they value the opinion of children and their families, because after all, they are the ones that these policies and programmes are in place for.

9. National EECE Progress Monitoring and Evaluation: group members...(Cayce)

Systems for evaluating and monitoring information on public policies, action plans, and implementation of initiatives are all in place. However, regarding information on early childhood, “ significant gaps exist in data collected in almost all countries, with a high level of variability in terms of accuracy, accessibility, coherence, and comprehensiveness.” Still, the analysis of the National Demographics and Health Survey in Colombia improved understanding and monitoring of early childhood socialization and development. In 2010, Chile conducted a National Early Childhood Survey in order to develop baseline data on early childhood in all socioeconomic sectors. The lack of information on early childhood in some countries has been addressed by the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, which “provided data for the supervision of national and international development objectives and commitments and for comparisons among countries.” A major complication in gathering data on early childhood in Latin America is different countries have different definitions of indicator systems. Some countries are developing early childhood action plans. Peru and Colombia establish their own monitoring systems based on specific goals; Colombia has created a national ten-year plan for early childhood. For accountability purposes, all countries in Latin America are required to make reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding the access of children and adolescents to their rights; the Committee replies with suggestions and recommendations that must be followed until the country’s next report. It is challenging to compare data from one country to the next because of the variations in information collected. The UNESCO Regional Education Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago recently developed the Regional Early Childhood Education Indicators Project, which created “ a regional systematization of national definitions of early childhood and indicators” in order develop comparable indicators from country to country. It is difficult to form policies and programs for a country or region when little is known about whom they would serve. The process of gathering data is complicated by the varying definition of indicator systems from country to country. Still, I believe Latin America is taking steps in the right direction as its countries realize the importance of early childhood and form programs and plans to ensure the quality of children’s lives.