International Early Childhood Systems

This week I listened to Meridas Eka Yora speak about the devastation that was caused after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. The tsunami killed 250,000 people, and left 500,00 homeless. After this horrible event, Yora opened up three boarding schools for children that were orphaned in Aceh, Indonesia. Listening to him speak about what these children went through really opened my eyes to how strong these children must become. They relive the trauma everyday, with some so affected that they still believe they will find their family members some day. Something that he talked about that really hit home is how the teachers first must be fathers and mothers to the children, and educators second. When the schools first opened, they hired many psychologists but soon found out that the teachers were the best psychologists for the children. I feel that educators everywhere play this role, whether their students have survived something horrible or not. Hopefully, we create an environment where our students feel safe and loved and can talk to us about anything that may be bothering them or that they may be feeling. Not only are we educators but; nurses, therapists, parents, friends, and providers as well.

In exploring Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website, I gained these three valuable insights:

-As part of its Global Children’s Initiative, the Center is launching Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, its first major programmatic effort outside the United States. In collaboration with local experts, this project aims to use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families in Brazil. This project represents a unique opportunity for the Center to work with Brazilian scholars, policymakers, and civil society leaders to adapt the Center’s programmatic model for the local context in order to catalyze more effective policies and programs that will, ultimately, foster a more prosperous, sustainable, and equitable society (Harvard University, 2013)

- While a large number of studies have investigated the impact of early childhood experiences on children’s developmental, health, and educational outcomes in developed countries, relatively little evidence is available on early childhood development in sub-Saharan Africa. To address this knowledge gap, the Zambian Ministry of Education, the Examination Council of Zambia, UNICEF, the University of Zambia, and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University launched the Zambian Early Childhood Development Project (ZECDP) in 2009, a collaborative effort to measure the effects of an ongoing anti-malaria initiative on children’s development in Zambia. In order to measure the full impact of the anti-malaria campaign on Zambia’s human capital development, the ZECDP created a new comprehensive instrument for assessing children’s physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout their schooling careers—the first assessment tool of its kind in Zambia. Completed in May 2010, the Zambian Child Assessment Test (ZamCAT) combines existing child development measures with newly developed items in order to provide a broad assessment of children of preschool age in the Zambian context (Harvard University, 2013).

-    Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), “A Good Start,” is a collaborative project in Santiago, Chile, to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. The idea is to improve the quality of educational offerings for four-to-six-year-olds, particularly in the area of language development. This project is also designed to intervene in critical health areas that improve school attendance as well as socioemotional development, and it seeks to involve the children's families in their education (Harvard University, 2013).

References

Harvard University. (2013). Applying the Science of Early Childhood in Brazil. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University. Retrieved April 6, 2013, from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/applying_the_science_of_early_childhood_in_brazi/

Harvard University. (2013). Un Buen Comienzo. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University. Retrieved April 6, 2013, from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/ubc/

Harvard University. (2013). Zambian Early Childhood Development Project. Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University. Retrieved April 6, 2013, from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/activities/global_initiative/zambian_project/

Yora, M. (2013, April 6). Episode 6: Meridas Eka Yora [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/