Research Around the World
I researched the Early Childhood Development Virtual University Sub-Saharan Africa portal using the link http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php
One research topic presented in Nigeria is "Assessment of the Caring Practices in Two Motherless Babies' Homes" and "Delivery of a Nutrition Training Program to the Staff of These Homes to Improve Nutrition of Children in Their Care." Children's orphanages represent a defenseless group of children that must have better care for healthy development. Training of high quality teachers for this project will support and encourage appropriate practices while discouraging inappropriate ones. Unless significant efforts are made to control these conditions, they will continue to be major challenges both in Nigeria and internationally (Akomas, 2004, p. 2).
Another research project presented in Malawi is "A Community-driven Rural Early Childhood Development (ECD) Project, with Emphasis on Culturally and Developmentally Appropriate Exploratory Learning Concepts." The project was designed to address the children's needs from a holistic perspective. It provides experiential learning pedagogy as well as a meeting place for the children's psychosocial and cognitive requirements (Day, 2004, p. 3).
One interesting fact that I read was about the extreme poverty level in Malawi. The families in the villages would not be expected to pay any fees for their children attending the early childhood facility. They would need to be involved with the learning by contributing firewood, maize, clay, or homemade toys. This project was expected to be branching out to other villages. Not only will the children benefit from this project, parents will benefit as well. I am sure these families who live in poverty are grateful for the early education their children will receive that they would willingly become involved with the facility. In the United States, getting families involved in their child's education is sometimes very difficult.
The ECDVU held its first Early Childhood Higher Education Symposium in 2013 and feels that leadership in this field cannot be met within the current traditional academic framework. This website provides many links with projects about improvements made in the field of early childhood among the poorer areas in Africa. The virtual university is addressing issues that are global; poverty, the training of high quality early childhood educators, offering appropriate learning experiences, food insecurity, and language barriers, but maybe not as intense as what is happening in Africa.
Akomas, O.E.U. (2004). Assessment of the caring practices in two motherless babies' homes in Abia State, Nigeria and the development and delivery of a nutrition training program to the staff of these homes to improve nutrition of children in their care. Retrieved from, http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php
Day, C. (2004). A community-driven rural early childhood development (ecd) project, with emphasis on culturally and developmentally appropriate exploratory learning concepts. Retrieved from, http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/major_reports.php
Jill, I really enjoyed your post. I have zero knowledge of the early childcare system in Africa and after reading your post I want to learn more. I think it is wonderful that families can contribute items like homemade toys, firewood, and clay and they don't have to worry about struggling to pay for their children to go to school. These families are still contributing to their children going to school and that is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting on the extreme poverty in Malawi, even through the worst of circumstances children are still being educated.
ReplyDeleteJill,
ReplyDeleteYou did some great research on this Sub-Saharan Africa site. It's so sad about the extreme cases of poverty in Africa. That is one reason I didn't select that website. It makes me sad to think about those children. But, who am I fooling? We have extreme poverty here in the United States. It is something that is inexcusable, and especially when there is such a disparagement between the wealthy and the poor. But, as we read this week, there are so many extraneous variables that go into the issue of poverty.
Jill,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I looked at that site as well but I still learned a lot by reading your post. It is truly sad how the poverty affects children. Education is important and should be a priority. If you have some time check out this page: http://www.kakenyasdream.org/. Kakenya is a woman who went to my undergrad school. She is from Kenya and has since gone back to found a school for girls. It is really inspiring.
Thanks,
Danielle