Reflecting on International Communication and Learning in the ECF

When I originally read the assignment to reach out to international contacts within the field of early childhood studies, I was really excited and a little nervous. I was excited to finally make some contact with a professional in Butan, but save that one interaction, I was unsuccessful. Still, my experience was far from fruitless. In my investigations of several different websites, radio programs, and podcasts, I learned many things, including, but not limited to the following three inspiring insights:

• The importance of prioritizing the different aspects of child development in the right order. For example, prioritizing cognitive learning early on and lowering the importance of social and emotional learning, which are the foundation of further success in academics, as well as in the broader context of life, is a mistake.
• Through my research into the educational sytem in Finland, I realized that often times the path to educational excellence doesn't come by aiming towards academci excellence and racing to ge there as quickly as possible. Instead, putting an emphasis on equity and accessibility, giving children the space to be children, to play and develop their social and emotional selves, organically leads to academic excellence. Similarly, cooperation, rather than competition, needs to be prized. Educators, policy makers, and researchers need to feel their is motivation to work together. 
• Gender is an aspect of the equity conversation that doesn't come up very often in the conversation about education in the United States. While I know that we have gender equality in education that is massively greater here than in many parts of Africa or the Middle East, for example, I also know that there are subtle ways that boys are encouraged to excel in science and mathmatics that girls are not. I am interested to research this further and learn more about it.

One thing does seem clear in all of that I have researched, however, and that is that, while there is a lot of international communication about education going on, there is little place for students of education to step into that conversation. All that I have learned about Finland makes me beyond excited to connect with educators there and learn more, but I have been able to find an inroad to connect with them. If universities could foster partnerships in other countries, where a respected faculty member in, "Country A" could make contact with educators Country A who are willing to talk to international students in "Country B", while faculty in "Country B" could reciprocate, this would be a wonderful tool for learning and furthering education globally in the spirit of cooperation.

Thanks again for reading my thoughts this week and for the last eight weeks. Best of luck to you all!

-Lauren