This week, I listened to two podcasts but for some reason I
was having technical difficulties and only heard 5 minutes of each
podcast. In both podcasts by BJ and
Susan Lyons (world forum), both educators were somewhat unsatisfied with their education or
education in general and were searching for alternative ways of thinking through
education. BJ happened across a
Montessori job position in California and it influenced her for training and
schooling purposes. After schooling, she bought an old school house in Maine
and opened her own Montessori school.
Susan Lyons visited Reggio Emilia’s 100 Languages of Children exhibit
and decided to bring this way of thinking back to California and started the
exhibit as well as professional development for educators.
These podcasts have inspired me! I feel like in my
undergraduate work, we only touched on each of the different theorists like
Montessori and Reggio. Since starting
teaching, professional development, and Masters Courses, I have been more and
more intrigued by the Reggio way of thinking and have incorporated some of what
I know into my classroom. The podcasts
have made me want to further my research in Reggio and to visit some classrooms
that use it. I know my district also has
a renowned Montessori program and since I am new to the district, I would also
like to explore that program as well. I
have been formerly trained in both Creative Curriculum and High Scope.
I also explored the Harvard website http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/
and learned: that the project started work in the United States and is now
applying their work and concepts globally in Brazil, Zambia, and Chile to name
a few. They are also doing Mental Health
work in China, Rwanda, and the Caribbean.
The objectives of the program include Early Childhood Development, Child
Mental Health, and Children in Crisis and Conflict Situations.
The work in Brazil for Early Childhood Programs intrigued me. This project wants to guide stronger policies
and investment into young children in Brazil. The Global Children’s Initiative through Harvard is striving
for equity and excellence in all nations and is planting the seeds for such
things through their 3 objectives. Harvard
has several Fellowships and learning opportunities for students to be part of
the initiative.
Do you all feel that the United States still needs work in early childhood mental health, early childhood development, and children in crisis before we can extend it globally?
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