International Contacts-Part 3

This week I chose to research UNESCO's "Early Childhood and Care and Education" webpage.  There was an interesting article by Jo-Kim of Bangkok about his opinion the the three important things that a child should learn.  “Firstly, they need to learn about culture – culture is a kind of glue, it keeps us together. It’s like tea with sugar – it creates flavor and the color we need. Secondly, values and respect. Do we respect our parents and elders enough? Are the gaps here increasing? We need to keep in mind that education comes from home – our families are the first “teachers” in our lives. They are crucial to us so respect and values are important. Thirdly, history – we should know our past so we can improve our future" (Jo-Kim, 2013).  Most of the opinions on the educators from Bangkok were similar.  They believe that character and respect are very important to being a good human being.  Basic educational skills and communication skills for working are also needed, but the child must understand their history so that they know where they fit in in the world.  I actually agree with them.  Every person should know their culture and understand who they really are and they need to know how to cope in the world in which they live .  Education is important, but it is also important to be a good person.  All of this ties into the battle that we are currently facing with our preschools.  Some think that education is everything, and forget that the child also needs to learn how to cope in the world.  It is primarily up to the parents to teach children that aspect of life, but it helps when teacher reinforce those rules from home.

Some of my professional goals are to open a preschool and hire quality teachers to work for me.  I believe that there has to be a balance of education, play time, and teaching children how to be good people who treats everyone with respect.  I volunteer at my church in the children's ministry and although we teach them about stories in the Bible, we also teach them things like sharing, apologizing when they have hurt someone or their feelings, and placing them in time out if needed.  They are learning how to get along with others which is important during the younger years as well as how to sit and listen, raise hands to speak, and so forth.  I think about every moment as if I were in my future classroom and handle each situation accordingly.