Education
in Australia
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| Children learning in Australia |
As I looked through the links on the Early Childhood
Australia website, I was impressed with all of the resources available to
caregivers and citizens alike. I
especially enjoyed reading some of the articles for parents and caregivers in Everyday Learning and Every Child Magazine. Media releases are also
available through Every Child news. Value
is placed on parental views and its relation to early childhood education. The
website is very easy to navigate. I was
also captivated by all of the information that is available from the actual
webpage.
The issues that are faced in Australia are
similar in many ways to the issues faced in the United States. They are looking at quality care and what
that might look like. They have
developed a movement to help communities in their awareness of early childhood
education called Hands Up for Quality. They are trying to develop a quality rating
system, just as many states are trying to develop in the United States
now. Funding is an issue there as
well. Play is an important part of
learning in Australia.
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| Aboriginals in Australia |
Another issue that brings concern is the education of the
aboriginals. They are beginning to
realize that different strategies may need to be used in order to best meet
their needs. Educators and
administrators must begin to respect and understand the differences in their
culture and incorporate their culture into the classrooms. Many of the aboriginals meet poverty
guidelines so additional resources must be obtained to improve their living
conditions.
I was surprised and impressed by the work that is being
conducted in Australia. I was surprised
because when I think about Australia, I think of the outback and their pioneer
type spirit. I know that there are
culturally aware sections of the country, such as Sydney, but largely I think
of Australia as being wide open spaces with most people living in the country
on large farms or plantations. It must
be a challenge to try and educate all young children when some of the
population is spread over large areas of land.
I applaud their efforts to improve early childhood
education in Australia. Because we face
many of the same issues, perhaps we can learn from each other.
References
Early Childhood
Australia. (2012). Every Child Magazine. Retrieved from
www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/
Early Childhood
Australia. (2012). Every Child news. Retrieved
from
www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/
Early Childhood
Australia. (2012). Everyday Learning
Series. Retrieved from
www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/
Carol,
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent post about early childhood education and research in Australia. The pictures are beautiful and accents your post. Furthermore, I enjoyed reading about how the country has similar issues as the United States. This opens the opportunity for countries to share resources and information to solve similar problems.
Carol,
ReplyDeleteIndeed Australia has walked much of our own journey with early childhood. The neat thing is that they are about 10 years ahead of us so we can catch a glimpse of where we may find ourselves. Unfortunately, without proper funding, we will have difficulty sustaining a system-wide quality initiative. And with each state creating their own, a comprehensive national effort is difficult.
In follow-up to our discussion on obesity, I found that the US outranks all other countries in obesity rates/over weight citizens. Check out the graphics on the Nation Master website at http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity
It would be great to have a rating scale for every childhood programs to follow around the world. It would live open possibilities for our children, parents and community when choosing quality and ensuring our children are getting what they deserve so that they can be successful overall. As Tammra mentioned, it would take funding, because you would have to ensure we have monitors and training in place so this was possible and each classroom and program was equipped with all that the need to succeed.
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