Global perspectives and childhood.

It is my great honor to be elected to the Association for Childhood Education International's (ACEI) Executive Board and to serve as President from 2007-09. Although ACEI has a long history, beginning with its inception in 1892 as the International Kindergarten Union, members have more recently made a commitment to value the international perspectives in our goals and actions. Since then, ACEI has adopted as its mission to "promote and support in the global community the optimal education and development of children, from birth through early adolescence, and to influence the professional growth of educators and the efforts of those who are committed to the needs of children in a changing society."

ACEI is a true international organization; according to the Membership Director, Marilyn Gardner, ACEI had members in 52 countries as of December 31, 2006. After reading that in the Membership Director's report, I started thinking about how we can utilize ACEI's rich resources and the global perspectives of our members to enrich children's education and empower our teachers.

In 2005, Thomas Friedman, 2002 Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times Foreign Affairs columnist, wrote the best-selling book The World Is Flat. He indicated that globalization has entered a new phase. Friedman uses the word "flat" to describe how the competitive playing fields are leveled. As educators, we work with our most valuable resource, our children, who will face this competitive world soon enough. What knowledge and skills do we, as educators, need to teach children from birth through adolescence in order to prepare them to face the ever-evolving world?

One of the "flatnesses" that our children are experiencing is the widespread, global access to information and resources. In the past, only rich countries with resources could provide the most current information, knowledge, and experiences to their students. Today, information is readily available online. Children across the world can work on joint projects regardless of physical, geographical location. They are learning in a classroom without walls. Do most early childhood educators have the knowledge to work with our technologically savvy kids?

Each country has its own public policies and methods of implementation concerning education. ACEI's annual conferences and award-winning journals provide us with the opportunities to share and learn from each other. We need to "think globally, act locally." Ten years ago, I was a Fulbright Scholar visiting Brazil; as a part of my project, I visited a university-lab preschool program that served as the practicum site for early childhood students. Quality infant and toddler care was one of the focus topics we discussed. After I toured the university's child care center and its infant and toddler program, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality program they had implemented. The director asked me to provide suggestions for improvement and I had nothing to say; the site was remarkable. Every single topic we taught to students in an infant and toddler class was being ideally implemented. From feeding and sleeping to playing and diaper changing, they followed the health and safety rules perfectly.

They even had an infant playground, a toddler playground, and a preschool playground. I was very impressed with the quality of the program they were operating. The director told me that she had visited the United States and toured a couple of infant and toddler programs in the early 1990s. They believed in the importance of having a quality infant and toddler program and worked through a joint effort with the city government. Although they faced some challenges on funding, they managed to renovate the existing facility and added the infant and toddler program. Here, we have a true example of "think globally and act locally." I believe that when there is a will, there is a way. If we keep working on the important issues, a positive outcome will eventually result.

Many policy changes are occurring around the world that we can learn from. In Taiwan, the government has formed a task force to come up with recommendations about the merger of early care and early education. In Taiwan, the qualifications and required training for child care providers are different from that for preschool teachers. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Interior have to work together to establish guidelines on teacher qualification and training. The merger is proposed for 2008. I believe we can learn a great deal from this whole process, since many countries are reforming the early childhood system.

The 7th World Forum, a gathering to discuss global issues and concerns with early childhood leaders around the globe, was held in May. ACEI is one of the 18 organizations listed as World Forum Alliance Members. By the time of publication, over 700 early childhood administrators, educators, public officials, and advocates from more than 70 countries will have met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to discuss and exchange ideas about the education and quality of care for young children in diverse settings. Diane Whitehead and I will have presented The Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century to World Forum participants. The creation of the Global Guidelines is a good example of a joint effort among early childhood educators across different organizations (ACEI and OMEP-USNC) to better serve the world's children. It is our intention to share the Global Guidelines with early childhood educators around the world; the Global Guidelines will be used as a benchmark to assess quality program around the world.

A part of the ACEI's mission is to support the professional growth of educators to work with children in a changing society. ACEI's World Conference will be held in Moscow from June 18-21, 2008. The theme for the World Conference is Changing of the Guard: Innovations in Russian Education. Education for Children in the World Without Borders. This is a great opportunity for ACEI members and other early childhood leaders around the world to share ideas and exchange strategies to educate our children "in the world without borders."

I believe most ACEI members exhibit an interest in global issues. ACEI has a long tradition and history of valuing global perspectives and is able to provide the platform to encourage the sharing and exchange of global perspective among members. At the 2007 ACEI Annual Conference, many good ideas and suggestions originated from committees' work or members' input. Most committees' recommendations and action plans tie into ACEI's mission. Let us work together jointly to provide professional growth opportunities for our teachers and a commitment to a high quality of education for our children.

--Karen Liu, President

Karen Liu, ACEI President