Final Blog Assignment

I must stay that I was thrilled to speak with my international contacts during this course in order to find out about issues and trends that they experience in early childhood. Looking back, I couldn’t have picked individuals from two countries that were so opposite of each other-Sweden and Mexico.

Even though these contacts with my international early childhood professionals were very informative, there were some consequences associated with learning more in terms of my professional development. The first consequence was questioning whether we are not on the right track in the United States. For example, it appears that in the country of Sweden, they have early childhood programs that are much stronger and organized than in our country. Maybe we should learn from the Swedes and model some of our early childhood programs after theirs. A second consequence that was experienced was wishing that the United States could somehow get more involved with assisting early childhood professionals in Mexico. It is not like we are worlds away from each other. Mexico is our next door neighbor so to speak. However, it is sad and very frustrating that many Mexican children are deprived of learning opportunities and a healthy growth and development because of a lack of resources and the concern of their government. A final consequence was that I was inspired to learn more about the field of early childhood in other countries around the world. With this knowledge, I can not only appreciate the systems we have in the United States, but also learn how our systems and early childhood professionals can become better at their jobs.

One goal that I have is to conduct more research on the field of early childhood in other countries around the world. It is also a goal of mine to conduct more research in the role that culture and cultural differences play in disabilities.

Thanks everyone for a good class and I look forward to working with all of you in the future.

Mary