Week 7: Getting to know international ECE Contacts Part 3-Quality and Excellence

My international contact Petra from the Czech Republic has been vital in my understanding of issues and trends in the Early Childhood Field throughout this class, and I am positive that she will be a good resource to me throughout my graduate studies journey with Walden. By exchanging thoughts, views, and her own goals as an ECE professional, my passion for the work we do with children and families has been validated.
Petra shared with me that all of her friends in colleagues engaged in similar work shares our passion for providing quality services to children and families, as well as makes their experiences contribute to the quality of work they perform. Like me, Petra discusses the challenges associated with being the most effective professional one can be versus the many responsibilities and standards they must live up to.  Early childhood professionals perform at their best when this balance is achieved and they tend to remain in the field for long periods. In Czech, Petra shared that the profession of teaching seems to be a bit more well respected than in America, based on what she reads in the media as well as the general tone of some of my questions and inquiries about the field from her perspective. I have to agree, while Petra reports that Czech does have strict and conservative standards teachers must meet in their curriculum, it seems as though that her country both compensates their educators fairly, as well as provides both tangible and intangible tools they need to provide high-quality education to their students. Examples of these are the priority placed on on-going training and education as evidenced by tuition reimbursements, and grants, classroom supply allowances, as well as various testing tools utilized by subject and student.

Petra writes that she hopes to be a music teacher until the end of her career decades and decades from now. She writes that she hopes that her students remember her every time they hear music. Petra’s dreams include that her idea of providing high-quality education on the subject of music, remains a priority in her culture.

In my own community, the issue of certain subjects continuing to be taught in school is up for serious debate. It is discouraging that many PE, Art, and Music educational programs are “being looked at for cuts” due to dwindling budgets. One of my close friends is an Art teacher for a local middle school and he was telling me recently that last academic year, he was transferred twice due to schools loosing funding for their art classes. He is seriously concerned about the security of his job, and his passion for working with kids. He considers himself to strive for excellence in his perseverance and his ability to show his students the power of advocacy and their voices. In talking to him, he thinks that providing quality education to children and support for families is vital for a successful community and society.

Lastly, I do not believe that anyone enters this field looking to make millions, I do think that why we chose to become involved, stay involved, and give it our all deserves not only high respect, but also, fair compensation and recognition. If we do not continue to work toward this equality, then we all will face the major challenge of making our livelihoods sustainable in this field. I hope that I can make a field and a profession that I am so dedicated to and (and talented at) last so that I may sustain a career which is so rewarding...and so necessary.