My blogspot address is: http://kidgreen-donna.blogspot.com
This week I communicated with Ali from New Zealand. I asked Ali to share some information with me about issues related to excellence and equity relating to education both in the early childhood field and across the grades. Below is a brief description of what she shared:
New Zealand has 8 universities with a half-million students attending these schools. The total population of New Zealand is only 4 million. Of the 700 top universities in the world, all 8 of the universities in New Zealand are ranked in the top 500. Auckland and Otago are in the 200 top universities in the world.
New Zealand is the top in the world for education based on access to education, quality of education and human capital.
Young children in New Zealand are not required to attend any type of formal early childhood services. However, most attend either a Playcentres-lead by parents and caregivers. These are licensed centers that offer education through play.
The Correspondence School- Offers learning programs for children 3-5 who live too far away from early childhood learning services.
Maori Language and culture programmes- Centers that offer young children and their parents the chance to build their understanding and knowledge of Maori language and culture.
These programs are free of charge, but many have waiting lists. People from all ethnic and economical societies participate in these programs. There appears to be little inequality amongst the programs or quality of education.
My blog address is :http://kidgreen-donna.blogspot.com
My classmates blogs, I commented on this week are:
Julie Villers
http://julievillers.blogspot.com
Julie- It really helps when you have the side-by-side comparisons of the
two educators from two different countries. It is encouraging to read
about all the resources offered to these children, especially in France.
As an educator, what bothers me the most about their answers, is the
fact that there are so many free resources available to all children,
yet many parents for whatever reason choose not to use them. Is it lack
of motivation, lack of transportation, lack of education????? All of
these and others? These are issues that even in the U.S. need to be
addressed more. In our area we offer "Kids Closet". These are brand new
clothes, shoes for any child who receives free or reduced meals. This
year, free after school bus transportation is provided and the number of
children taking advantage of this incredible program has risen greatly.
Donna
Reem Husseini
http://sharewhatwelearn.blogspot.com
Reem- It made me angry to hear that teachers needed to "lower their
expectations" for the public students. What kind of ignorant
administrators would allow this kind of behavior? Most humans will step
it up to the plate when given the confidence that they can and will
succeed. It sounds to me like the public school system is setting these
children up to "Fail" from the very beginning. Have they ever thought
about the positive results that would follow if they "raised their
expectations for all students". Surprisingly most would not only step it
up, but many would surpass those expectations.
Donna
WOW!!! I never knew the population size of new Zealand was that small. I really like how they incorporate the Maori language and culture in early childhood programs and the fact that most of the programs are run by parents.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing "playcentres and correspondence schools." Those both sound very interesting and innovative. I think it is excellent that the country has taken its' citizens into account and has answered to their needs. Thank you for sharing!
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