Final Blog Assg-Issue and Trends in Education

      These eight weeks have really flown by!!  I've been so busy with work and all the busyness that comes with summer, time management has really come into play.  I've enjoyed reading everyone's blog posts and I hope that you have enjoyed reading mine.  Thank you for all of the great feedback and perhaps we will have more classes together in the future!!
     There are many positives that I found with making the connection to Maria, who lives in Sweden.  I feel lucky that I was able to do this because I know that a lot of people struggled.  The first positive I found through learning about the early childhood community internationally was how it made Sweden seem like less foreign of a place and I was able to get a really good look at their early childhood programs.  To me, the US always seems like a place that feels what we do is always right and it is always the best; rather it is our education system, our healthcare systems, etc.; that we don't take the time to look at other countries and learn about what they are doing.  By looking at the early childhood program in Sweden, or any other country for that matter, we can learn what works for them and, if it is something that we do not already do, we can introduce it into our early childhood programs.   Who knows, the methods or practices that other countries may be doing could bring great success to our own programs.  Sometimes we get stuck in our own ways and the way things have always been done, that it is nice to take time out to look at how other countries fund their early childhood programs, what curriculums they teach and what kind of discipline methods they use to perhaps enhance our own programs.
    The second thing that I enjoyed about conversing with Maria is that she brought up new ideas or things that I either had not thought of or had never heard of.   For example, she talked about Save the Children and the Reggio Emilia philosophy.  I have heard of both, but have never really looked into either or thought much about them.  When she mentioned them, it made me curious and I wanted to learn more.  It goes back to my first point, but when you are learning and discussing topics with someone who has different experiences than you do, there is a lot that you can learn from each other.
    The last thing that I enjoyed about learning about the international community and talking with Maria is just the basic networking skills that come from it.  On a personal level, my boyfriend and I really enjoy traveling and have been fortunate to take vacations to Europe the past couple years and now we have another contact to gain information from or to even potentially meet someday.  Maria also has a group of friends who are teachers and I am sure that they have friends who are teachers, perhaps from other countries, and now the relationship has started and I could network with other educators from around the world, using Maria as my contact person.
     The one goal that I would make for the Early Childhood Field is to make establishing contacts internationally begin at an early time in a teacher's educational path.  During my time at undergrad, which was at a university that is known for their teaching program, we never discussed international education programs and never reached out to anyone working overseas.  I think it is a great learning opportunity, especially for younger undergrads who could then maintain contact with foreign individuals or continue to network as they begin their careers.  Establishing contact with international educators is a great way to get outside of your own bubble and it would be beneficial to everyone.
   Once again, thank you for reading my blogs and good luck with your future courses!!!