On my first week of my Issues and Trends course, I was encouraged to get in contact with a few professionals on different continents. This really intrigued me and yet gave me pause as I instantly thought; If I didn’t know how to communicate with them in their language, how would I receive valuable information I may need and understand myself? I decided to contact individuals from my own background first; Germany, Lithuania, and Poland, I decided to also look into Canada and Mexico, in case I would need to know the countries language, I figured those were close to the “safe bet” approach. Continuingly looking at the list provided, I grew interested in the African culture and since I am a large yoga fan, and with the relaxed nature of Buddhism, the countries of Nepal and Mongolia had an appeal as well. I felt I should get a somewhat well rounded idea of how education is around the world so I thought I’d try to contact as many individuals as I could.
As for the added websites to immerse myself in, I instantly went back to my rather huge interest in the ZERO TO THREE website, it’s a great resource and I figured it was beneficial to continue to check in with their articles. I joined their newsletter, as well as newsletters by the National Institute for Early Education Research, and the Children’s Defense Fund. The Division for Early Childhood website was another one of my interests because they had a “Special Interest” of Early Intervention, from where I want to grow my knowledge and eventually work within that part of the field. I feel like I know very little about the subject I want to specialize in so I try to immerse myself in it no matter where I find possible information.
I’m finding that this new form of blog assignment may be both intricate and overwhelming for me, however I look forward to discovering new information that I may find and educate myself through new forms of resources. I also look forward in possibly finding any information out on a personal level well. This already seems like a very interesting journey around the world without leaving the comforts of my family and home.
I too chose to contact numerous different places. I thought for sure I would hear back from most of them if not all, but to my surprise I have only heard from one. Have you had any luck?
ReplyDeleteComment Posted by Robin Lemire
ReplyDeleteI also tried to contact numerous places. I did a mix of those that are more familiar (England, Canada, Germany for example) and also ones that I know very little about their culture (Madagascar, Cambodia). I am still waiting to hear back from my numerous inquiries but I know this is going to be very interesting. I love to learn about other cultures and share this information with the children in my child care. I think we all have fun with traveling the world without leaving home.
Robin
Jaime,
ReplyDeleteMy initial impulse was also to contact countries which were culturally significant. My background is German and Irish. I think everyone has an inner desire to learn more about their heritage.
Mary L.
I do not know much about my culture and exactly what nationalities i am so i did not have any preference as to what nations to attempt contacting first as far as similarities go. I did however also struggle with the thought of facing many language related obstacles.
ReplyDelete