The Early Childhood Development
Virtual University (ECDVU) is an innovative and multifaceted approach to
addressing ECD capacity building and leadership development in Africa. It is
supported by international, regional and local organizations. The purpose of ECDVU
is to improve the quality of life for children and their families in Africa. It
also focuses on the importance of leadership and local engagement in support of
diversity and social equity in the early years. The program seeks to accomplish
this through working, on a sustained basis, with ECD leaders from across the
continent.
Some research topics
are:
addiction
cultural and contextual
diversity
child development
early learning initiatives
innovation in practices
professional development
higher education and scholarly productivity
It was interesting and noteworthy
reading about “Generative
curriculum" that encompasses the following characteristics:
·
learner-focused approach - drawing as much as
possible on the learner's experiences in their personal and professional lives;
·
ecological approach - placing individuals,
programs and policies into an interactive and dynamic context and seeking to
plan activities and interventions to maximize resonating impact throughout the
larger ecology;
·
capacity building approach - aiming to
strategically strengthen the capacities of participants to effectively fulfill
their mandates in their professional position to be accountable to their
constituents and the broader ECD community.
·
co-constructive approach - encouraging each
learner to draw upon provided curriculum material as well as their own
in-country experience and data to derive their own perspectives
·
multicultural approach - considering ideas,
research, and goals pertaining to child care and development from different
cultural sources.
·
cohort driven approach - encouraging
collaboration, reciprocal learning among peers, and consolidation of networks
within and between learners representing each participating country
It is great to see
so much effort and collaboration among countries in place to help children and
families across poor nations to have a better quality of life.
Thanks Audrey for sharing. I'm impressed with the how productive and proactive this organization is within the ECE sector. I chose to explore the European website which is still a work in progress.
ReplyDeleteGreat information! All of these approaches seem to touch on a different area of development, and demonstrate an understanding that all children learn differently. Clearly this organization is working hard to help their children be successful!
ReplyDeleteHello Audrey,
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning the types of current research going on at the ECDVU! I chose the same website but focused on two older researches. It is interesting to see that early childhood issues are similar in Africa and in the U.S. Obviously, child development is the same everywhere but one may have expected issues to differ a little more. With the exception of addiction, it is remarkable that big topics such as malnutrition and the effects of war on young children are not on the list. I enjoyed reading highlights of the article you read as they attest of the need to nurture each child’s specific culture with the goal of developing confident and self-driven learners.