Early Childhood Education Programs Essay Example for Free

Early Childhood Education Programs Essay Early childhood education or preschool education is education for children in the early stages of their childhood before they join school. Several researches that have been conducted by neuroscientists, pediatricians and other stakeholders shows that the biggest portion of the brain architecture takes place in the early childhood years. Research studies have also found out that intellectual and emotional development is critical during the first three years of life. Maria Montessori was one of many educationists who believe that the foundation of human development is laid during the childs early years. She declared that: The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six, (Pandor, 2008 para. 3). Many other educationists assert that the quality of education is determined in the first years of a child in school. Early Childhood Education Programs Preschool education or early childhood education is a quality education and it is beneficial to children from all economic and social groups. Development of quality early childhood programs should be emphasized as it can be viewed as a social and economic strategy. Investing in these programs is therefore not only important to the child but also to the development of the state and the country at large. A research conducted by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) in five states of the United States found out that â€Å"quality public preschool programs produce broad gains in childrens learning and development,† (NIEER, 2005 para. 4). According to the same study, state funded programs were found to have significant gains regardless of the child’s ethnic or economic and social background. The effects of the preschool programs were estimated by testing the literacy skills, vocabulary and academic skills of the kindergarteners. A total of 5,071 children in 1, 320 classrooms were tested in either English or Spanish depending on the child’s strongest language. The impacts on mathematics, literacy and language were statistically significant compared to the children without the program. Vocabulary scores were 31 percent higher than gains of children without the program. On mathematical skills which included basic skills such as counting money, simple additions and subtractions, number concepts and telling time, the gains increased to 44 percent. In print awareness the gains were 85 percent greater for children enrolled in state sponsored preschool programs compared to the growth of children who are not enrolled (NIEER, 2005). According to the NIEER study, participants at the age of 20 years were more likely to have cleared high school if they enrolled for the preschool programs. They were less likely to have required remedial education and also less likely to have committed juvenile crimes which warrant arrests. With the unnecessary costs of remedial classes and expenditure for justice systems and in addition to the increased revenues, it was estimated that there was a return of $7 for every dollar that was invested. At 27 years of age, participants had gained a higher level of education and their earnings were higher than those who did not enroll for the early childhood school programs. The number of those who received the social services was significantly low and the numbers of arrests were fewer. These studies were carried out on children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The befits gained can be intertwined in the sense that once this child gains a higher level of education most likely the earnings will be high, consequently economic prospects will be high, improvement on financial decisions, improved health and housing (NIEER, 2008). An opportunity to live in a classroom community, interact and get along with people from various socioeconomic backgrounds can be considered as a social benefit for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Learning how to get along with others will result to improved social skills and emotional competence. These programs set a stage and give a child preparedness to enroll for the formal education. Apart from improving on their communication skills and getting higher scores in school tests, they have lesser behavioral issues once they enroll in the formal learning process. When a child goes through the pre kindergarten learning they succeed in school and become good citizens, earn more, commit less crimes and pay more taxes. â€Å"Every dollar invested in quality early care and education saves taxpayers up to $13. 00 in future costs,† (http://web. mit. edu/workplacecenter/docs/Full%20Report. pdf. n. d pp. 2). The success of the early child leaning relies heavily on the quality of the preschool programs. In an effort to improve the schools and the learning process, most states in United States have established public preschool programs to cater for less privileged and disadvantaged. Most of these programs are established on the principle that early intervention will help the child unleash his full potential. For example the mission for Head Start is â€Å"to ensure that no child in America is trapped in poverty’s grasp,† (United Way of America, 2005 pp. 1). These programs have been criticized and their effectiveness has been questionable. From the findings of NIEER (2005) studies, â€Å"vocabulary gains were three or four times greater than those in the Head Start study,† (para. 9). In spite of this big difference in performance, such aspects such as the class size and the length of day remained the same. This difference was attributed to high educational qualifications and good remuneration for teachers in state funded pre-kindergarten programs compared to Head Start. Almost all state funded programs studied in the five states required teachers to be licensed, have a certification in early childhood education and be a holder of a BA degree. In the case of Head Start the requirements half of the teachers were required to have a two-year Associate’s degree while the rest to have a Child Development Associate (requires only 120 hours of training to acquire CDA credential) or an equivalent (LIFESTYLENIEER, n. d). Abbot, another preschool program in New Jersey was established to serve the highest poverty districts within the state. Substantial resources have been invested in the school and NIEER annual report rated it as one those with highest quality standards nationwide. According to the Abbot preschool program longitudinal effects study by Frede et al (2007), â€Å"the results presented provides clear evidence that by participating in a high-quality program regardless of auspice, children are improving in literacy and math at least until the end of the kindergarten year,† (pp. 35). It therefore remains clear that high standard and accountability are key factors to the success of these programs. Recruitments of qualified and well educated teachers as has been observed in performing preschool programs are instrumental in guaranteeing good quality. These teachers must be adequately compensated to boost their morale and hence increasing productivity. The classes should be manageable. This can only be achieved by having a reasonable child to teacher ratio. Finally there should be strong supervision to ensure that standard and quality of learning is uncompromised. Conclusion All children are entitled to quality education. From the studies conducted a disadvantaged child is likely to gain more from preschool program. If these programs are expanded more disadvantaged children will enroll and they will develop positive peer effects when they enroll for the formal school learning. â€Å"Failing to invest sufficiently in quality early care and education shortchanges taxpayers because the return on investment is greater than many other economic development options,† (http://web. mit. edu/workplacecenter/docs/Full%20Report. pdf. n. d pp. 2). There should be universal large-scale and state wide programs to benefit the minority and the poor. Reference: Early Childhood Education for All, a Wise Investment, retrieved on 20th July 2008 from http://web. mit. edu/workplacecenter/docs/Full%20Report. pdf. Frede E, Jung K, Barnett W. S, Lamy, C. E Figueras, A. (2007): The Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effects Study (Apples). Retrieved on 20th July 2008 from: http://nieer. org/resources/research/APPLES. pdf LIFESTYLENIEER (n. d): Economic Benefits Of Quality Preschool Education for Americas 3- And 4-Year Olds. Retrieved on 20th July 2008 from: http://nieer. org/resources/facts/index. php? FastFactID=6 Martina, A (2008): Column: Early Connections Are Key For Infants To Thrive. Retrieved on 20th July 2008 From: http://detnews. com/apps/pbcs. dll/article? AID=/20080715/OPINION03/807150398/100 National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) (2005):New Study Shows High Quality State Pre-K Programs Improve Language and Math Abilities of Children of All Backgrounds: State Programs with Higher Teacher Qualifications Outperform Head Start , retrieved on 20th July 2008 from http://nieer. org/mediacenter/index. php? PressID=46 Pandor N (2008): A call to focus on firm foundations for learning, Journal of Education, Vol. 8. Issue No. 11, pp 21-27, Retrieved on 20th July 2008 from http://www. anc. org. za/ancdocs/anctoday/2008/text/at11. txt United Way of America (2005): Early Childhood Education, retrieved on 20th July 2008 from http://www. liveunited. org/_cs

Child Abuse and the Importance of Belonging Discussed in David Pelzers

A Child Called "It" explores the traumatic story of child abuse and how the choices made by one person affects another’s sense of belonging. The story is only from one point of view as it’s a biography, written by the man who experienced trauma at such a tender age. David Pelzer, as a child, dealt with rejection daily and not only from his mother but classmates, teachers and ultimately his biggest enemy, himself. A Child Called "It", as the title denotes depreciation and an impersonal relationship between the audience and the text, begins the biography with a dark and solemn theme as there is no definition for ‘it’ therefore titling a book ‘a child called it’ gives the audience the idea that the child doesn’t exist, or as it tells further in the story, a child who is treated like he doesn’t exist. The author contrasts his mother in different contexts from when his ‘mom’ was a good, caring mum to when his ‘mother’ changed into the abusive stage. Mom and Mother are used throughout the text to show the audience the different emotions he had carried for her. Mom is more personal and informal but suggests a close relationship between the two as it is used in the chapters that he is reminiscing about when his mom was a normal, caring mom. Mother is used in the chapters he was abused in and suggests a more distant relationship due to the formal language structure. When ‘Mom’ was used, the emotions carried out towards her by David Pelzer were none other than belonging to her. When a child is told something so often they start to believe it. In this case, David Pelzer was ordered to say over and over again â€Å"I’m a bad boy, I’m a bad boy...† which psychologically brainwashed him to believe that he was. That every time he was physicall... ...ejected, surrounding him as he says ‘I had readymade excuses mother made for me’. The ending doesn’t end on a ‘happily ever after’ note but rather a dull and gloomy tone as it is set throughout the text. Sarcasm, contrast and similes are the main language features presented in the book to evoke disgust, torment and shock throughout the audience showing them either how she saw the abusive behaviours inflicted upon him or the brainwashed ‘excuses’ he learnt from his mother. Not belonging is the struggle in this text that didn’t get resolved by the ending making it a dark, gloomy tone and the language features used also evokes a dark feeling within the reader. A Child Called "It" truly explores the meaning of struggling with belonging due to other peoples actions rather than their own and provides appropriate use of imagery to emphasise the meaning of the biography.

How Important Is Postgraduate Education Education Essay

First, Jie Liu believes that it is critical for every graduate student selling instruction supplier to understand the three features of a graduate student selling pupil which are motivations, outlooks and readiness. Liu divided the factors that may possibly actuate pupils to take postgraduate selling instruction into intrinsic, extrinsic and calling related. In a research executed by Liu where questionnaires were distributed to marketing pupils of four different British universities, the consequence depicted that what motivated pupils for marketing graduate student surveies were intrinsic and calling related factors. This means that pupils chose the postgraduate selling plan at their ain will so that it could assist them construct a calling and supply them with greater chances. This is the ground why there are legion international pupils in the United Kingdom as several pupils from developing states such as India and China believe that analyzing abroad can assist them achieve suited occupations. â€Å" It is promoting to happen that far more of the Chinese pupils, who have invested so much in footings of household fundss and attempt to travel to the UK to analyze, were optimistic instead than pessimistic about their calling chances † ( Counsell 2011:71 ) . In respects to outlooks, Liu states that all pupils expected that they would be provided with theoretical every bit good as practical cognition on the topic. Graduate student pupils have high outlooks that the programme will learn them a batch which will be of significance in their hereafter. Furthermore, Liu identifies the feature of readiness to be indispensable. Postgraduate pupils need to be prepared, holding an apprehension of the class and a series of accomplishments to assist them get by with their graduate student instruction. Liu so distinguished place and international pupils in respects to preparedness after transporting out a farther analysis. The consequences showed that international pupi ls were less prepared than place pupils. There are assorted grounds as to why an international pupil could be less prepared such as different larning techniques, trouble in understanding the linguistic communication, civilization daze and non being able to accommodate to the British environment. Therefore, Liu seeks to supply cognition about graduate student selling instruction in the United Kingdom by mensurating the motivations, outlooks and readiness of graduate student selling pupils. Second, the article written by Liu has its ain strengths and failings. The extreme advantage of the article is that it focuses on a peculiar field which is postgraduate selling instruction. This could help other selling research workers and leaders with their survey as there are limited researches stressing on graduate student selling programme. In add-on, Liu succeeds in making an understanding about motivations, outlooks and readiness of graduate student selling pupils which would back up graduate student selling suppliers to plan their programme consequently. With these assets, the article does keep out defects every bit good. The research prepared by Liu where questionnaires were given out to marketing pupils of four British universities did lend accurate replies but there were restrictions. As stated in the article, the research was made utilizing the questionnaires returned by 90 five pupils which is comparatively a little figure for a research made for graduate student selling instruction and the four British universities surveyed were all set in a peculiar geographical country in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, Liu references that a individual quantitative method is used in informations aggregation and that there is no qualitative attack practised in the research. Even so, Liu points out differences between place and international pupils which could be imprecise as with such a little study it is non plausible to carry through a clear and broad image. â€Å" Provision of higher instruction for international pupils has become an of import beginning of income for Western universities and these pupils have attracted research attending † ( Huang 2008:1003 ) . Therefore, even with an copiousness of facts, the article seems uncomplete and lacks preciseness. Third, Liu decidedly recognises the turning importance of graduate student selling instruction and wants postgraduate selling pupils every bit good as the graduate student selling suppliers in the United Kingdom to profit from the programme. Since international pupils constitute bulk of the programme, Liu believes that these international pupils should have maximal advantage. Marketing instruction suppliers should be able to assist, back up, and understand international pupils so as to better the experience for pupils which would back up United Kingdom to keep onto its prima place in the instruction market globally. â€Å" At a clip when higher instruction establishments are developing schemes to spread out the Numberss of graduate student pupils, placing the academic and societal demands of full-time graduate student pupils is of paramount importance † ( Humphrey and McCarthy, 1999:371 ) . To reason, Liu mentions that international pupils come all the manner to the United Kingdom, paying a monolithic sum of fee, therefore, there money should be valued and they should be provided with a theoretical and practical cognition experience. This would present an advantage to the pupils and the instruction suppliers in the United Kingdom.

The Benefits Of Experiential Learning - 1507 Words

i. Using relevant literature discuss the benefits of experiential learning When I first started this module, I believed that my CV was satisfactory and that my interview ability was of a very high standard, however from my lessons I understood ii. Reflection on ACCA workshop My first impressions on the ACCA work shop, were that they were there to, try to recruit students into the ACCA program over organisations such as the ICAEW, however true this maybe, the ACCA workshop was actually a very helpful experience. The learning outcomes from the work shop to maximise our strengths aiding us on our route to long term success. With this in mind we were shown about a tool called Johari’s window, this tool is supposed to improve self-awareness in regards to our strengths and weaknesses. We were told to separate into pairs as our strengths and weaknesses may not always be apparent to us. I thought this to be a great idea however for myself, nobody in the room knew me well enough, so I decided to take this concept home to ask people who knew me well to get a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. Before I thought I was very self-aware of my strengths and weaknesses. However there was a lot I learned about myself from my inquisition. My strengths, I am genuinely quite aware of, however I didn t realise how apparent it was to my friends how forward thinking I was, mainly strategically and how personable I am, with being open, relatable and understandingShow MoreRelatedBenefits Of Experiential Learning For College Graduates1387 Words   |  6 PagesHelyer and Lee suggest higher education institutes are forming new ideas to â€Å"assist unemployed graduates with the benefits of experiential learning† (349). 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