Construction Childhood - Annotated Bibliography Example

Heading: EC report focusing on Construction childhood Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date: Introduction Early childhood development is a critical stage in human development as the basics of life are acquired. It is worth noting that early development of a child affects their future and thus the need to take this stage of development seriously since fewer changes can be made at adulthood. There are several spheres of human development studied in psychology, some of the important aspects includes; readiness and transition, wellbeing movement in early childhood, ethics in early childhood, working with families and construction of childhood. All these aspects of early human development provide fundamental facts on how human development happens and possible ways of ensuring that this critical stage of life is successful. Early childhood development differs with different cultures and social settings, some of these cultures and settings actually undermine human progress in general as a result of poor life skills such as communication and interactions. It is therefore the duty of educators, professionals, policy makers and other stakeholders in early child development to consider practical strategies of dealing with inherent childhood issues that may hinder the success of the development process. This analysis has mainly focused on one aspect of child development process which is construction childhood with special reference to the disadvantaged group of aborigines in Australia. The focus of the analysis shades more light on the challenges that the indigenous children face in their early childhood as a result of their shortcomings in economic, social, cultural and general life perspective. In Australia, the aborigines have been sidelined mainly because the mainstream Australians are of western origin and thus align to western cultures that are contrary to the aborigine’s cultures and traditions. The indigenous people generally have lower life expectancy, lower education and are affected by numerous infectious diseases as further elaborated by this analysis. It is thus necessary to create strategies of mitigating the sufferings that the aborigines have undergone for a long time. Annotated bibliography Fleer, M 2004, The Cultural Construction of Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education: Some Indigenous Australian Perspectives, The Australia Educational Researcher, vol. 31, no. 3 pp.51-67. The author primarily narrows down the research to Australian early child construction theories and systems that have been long taken for granted. The author points out the dominance of White western perception of life and way of life as being dominant revelation to children when growing up to adulthood. Aborigines’ of Australia have a unique and conserved life style that is essentially dominated by a more preserved life style from childhood. Integration of these children has therefore been ignored by educators of the mainstream Australian western origin people. The author thus advocates ways of changing early childhood education is Australia for the benefits of the largely ignored group of indigenous people. Dockett, S, Mason, T & Perry, B 2006, Successful transition to school for Australian aboriginal Children: The 2005 International Focus issue of Childhood Education focused on the education of aboriginal and indigenous children, Childhood Education, vol. 82, no. 3 pp.139-146. The authors focus in this journal is on the disadvantaged groups of Aboriginal people of Australia in all spheres of life including their education, health status and even mortality rates. The authors show that as compared to other Australian communities, aborigines are not only disadvantaged but also sidelined by the mainstream Western origin Australian communities. The issues that emerge from the early childhood of these children perpetuate to their adulthood, this affects their schooling and their general lifestyles. As the authors recognise, the previous studies have tried to solve this issue by embracing the aboriginal child’s background and making such children visible in schools. Enhancing their identity through incorporating their teachers in schools and displaying their art is one of the ways of integrating the sideline indigenous people into the mainstream of the Australian community. In summary, the authors state that they write the article with reference to their personal experiences and the continuous studies that are being done to integrate the disadvantaged aboriginal children into the mainstream Australian education system. Hopps, K 2004, Teachers Communication across the Pre-school boundary, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 29, no. 1 pp.8--14. Hopps the author emphasises on the need to develop communication between the preschool teachers to school teachers. The author notes that despite the importance of communication between these crucial stakeholders, there has been a limited connection between them and thus the need to reiterate the importance of communication to these educators. As the author pointed out, the decline of communication was mainly as a result of low regard to teachers of early childhood and also varying perception of both the teachers of preschool and school. By acknowledging that the transition from preschool to school is a shared responsibility, the author suggests that barriers to these communications need to be mitigated for the benefit of children, teachers and even the society as a whole. By consideration of the literature and the statistical findings, the essence of collaboration between the school and the preschool teachers will not only foster a sustainable transition process but also enhance a sense of belonging to a particular setting for the children undergoing the transition process irrespective of their backgrounds. Margetts, K 2007, Preparing children for school--benefits and privileges, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 32, no 2, pp. 43-51. The author discusses the importance of collaboration between teachers, families and children in the efforts of preparing children to school environment. The transition is usually challenging and thus requiring a combined effort of these stakeholders in order to ensure a successful transition to the school level. Collaborative relationships are usually of essence as the schools needs to enhance an open communication platform that will see a successful integration process. The author shows that children demonstrated different adjustments relative to a given cohort of the population segment. The author also urges the need to take her findings and the findings of the research process and thereafter translate them into public good for profit maximization to be possible. This will help in integrating children who are less privileged with respect to socio-cultural setting. The statistical findings regarding demographic such as age, gender and economic status showed a distinct and repetitive trend that should be corrected in order to ensure equal participation of the children involved. Notable, children with poor English and economic background were noted as having low attendance to school activities that fostered the integration process. The highlights of the author is therefore aimed at reiterating the need to enhance a collaborative strategy that will see all the children especially from the less privileged backgrounds to be get involved in the process. Investigation of Construction of Childhood The chosen issue for analysis in this case is construction childhood practise from an early age which is normally between the preschool and school period. The rationale for this choice is because of the paramount importance that this issue has on the educator’s professional and the society as a whole. Narrowing down to the Australian aborigines reveals how important construction childhood has on the child’s transition and the extinct of segregation that the indigenous people of Australia have had over the years. Many educators and researchers have highlighted different aspects of the evident economic, educational and general life segregation of these less privileged people in Australia. In light of my professional as a child educator, mitigating the traditional problem of segregation can only be successful if started from the lowest level possible. If the problem is solved in the early age of the child as highlighted by Hopps (2004), the problem will be eliminated and inequity in the current society will extinct. As further stated by Dockett & Perry (2006), the relevance of construction childhood cannot be ignored if the segregation that has seen the indigenous people of Australia sidelined is to be stopped. As Dockett & Perry (2006) points out on the need to integrate aborigine teachers to help in the integration of these less privileged children into the society. A collaborative approach to address the transition process from preschool to school is necessary (Margetts 2007). This issue also has links to other aspect of early childhood development that ought to be considered in order to ensure that the strategies formulated to mitigate the negative effects of segregation and unsuccessful integration of children to adulthood are dealt with from the lowest level. Readiness and transition, wellbeing movement in early childhood, ethics in early childhood, and working with families together with the chosen construction of childhood play a combined and critical role in ensuring that the early childhood experience is made successful (Bernard van Leer Foundation 2007). Readiness and transition links to construction childhood in the sense that educators at this level ought to be ready by preparing the children for the transition process according to the culture in question as described in construction childhood. On the hand, ethics upholds wellbeing movement in early childhood which again supports the aims of construction childhood. As stated by Margetts (2007) an all inclusive approach to the transition process will involve the family and the society in the process of child transition from preschool to school level. The support of the family is critical at this stage and thus this aspect supports the construction of childhood. Challenges and benefits of the childhood construction implementation As an educator, construction childhood is critical in the sense that because of the questions it raises with regard to the care and the general quality of education in childhood. If the transition from preschool to school is not successful, all the stakeholders including families, educators, professionals in the field and even policy makers will be affected. There are a number of challenges that are facing educators regarding this issue of successful transition of the less privileged people especially the aborigines of Australia. As Australian Bureau of Statistics 1997 to 2002 reveals, the Australian aborigines have higher infant mortality rates, lower life expectancy rates of up to 15 to 20 years lower than non-indigenous people (Dockett & Perry 2006). The quality of life of the aborigines is therefore compromised by these findings and hence imposing a major challenge to the transition of these less privileged children in the same condition as the non-indigenous people who experience less social and life problems. The other major challenge affecting the transition of children from preschool to school is the limited communication between the teachers of the preschool and the school level (Hopps 2004). The communication breakdown according to Hopps (2004, p.4) is because of the beliefs and attitudes of the school teachers who regard the lower school teachers lowly and thus hindering a smooth transition process. Hopps (2004) points out on the importance of school and preschool teachers’ collaboration in ensuring a successful transition from preschool to school level in the construction stages of a child to adulthood. In summary, the prevailing culture, economic status and the general life quality of Australian aborigines contributes to their unsuccessful transition in the construction level. The benefit of encouraging the aborigines to be integrated and successfully undergo the transition process is to ensure a balanced economic development between the non-indigenous and the indigenous groups of people living in Australia. Construction of childhood is critical not only in addressing the problems of the less privileged but also in ensuring a sustainable transition process that is fostered by constant communication between the preschool teachers, school teachers, families and the society as a whole (King & Boardman 2006). Strategies for understanding Construction of Childhood In order to ensure a more successful transition childhood as an aim of construction childhood, there are a number of changes that I will propose in the course of the integration process. The initial change that ought to be made is the need to increase aborigine’s teachers and other co-workers in schools throughout Australia. The introduction of these indigenous people will be critical in the integration of their own children into the curriculum of Australia. As children will always feel welcomed and a sense of belonging when they have people to identify with, this will be a critical move in ensuring the success of the implementation (Porter 2003). The other strategy that will be critical in ensuring a successful transition of all the Australian children from preschool to school is by sensitizing the teaching fraternity on the importance of constant communication between teachers of different levels. Constant communication will ensure that the child is carried to the next stage with the assistance of the predecessor teacher. In order for the strategy to be successful, I will propose an introduction of the need to incorporate the aborigines to the society and the essence of teachers’ collaboration in ensuring a successful transition from childhood to adulthood to the curriculum of all graduates and non-graduates teachers in Australia. Conclusion This report has focused on the need to encourage successful transition of a child from preschool to school level. Since at this level, a child is sensitive to the transition process, it is necessary that proper guidance is offered to the child for the process to be successful. In essence the focus of this paper has been on the less privileged children of Australia. These children face a number of challenges as a result of their backgrounds. As evident, indigenous people face a number of economic, social and general quality of life challenges that affects their children as they undergo the Australian curriculum. The challenges that face the progress of successful transition from childhood to adulthood are not only limited to the social and economical disadvantages that the aborigines’ face but also the faint communication between the preschool teachers and the school teachers. This has been a major hindrance to the successful integration of children from preschool to school. Children need guidance at this stage as the social changes that are taking place can easily have a negative impact on their lives. As discussed, there are several advantages of an all inclusive approach that will see both the indigenous and the non-indigenous children undergo equivalent transition. One of the benefits that will result is the increase of social interaction, economic status of the less privileged. The proposed strategies that will see that this is achieved is maintaining constant communication between teachers of different levels and ensuring that the needs of the aborigines are addressed at the lowest level. References Bernard van Leer Foundation 2007, Issue Area Framework Summary, Successful Transitions: The Continuum From Home School Viewed 7 January 2011 http://www.bernardvanleer.org/files/frameworks/transitions.pdf   Dockett, S, Mason, T & Perry, B 2006, Successful transition to school for Australian aboriginal Children: The 2005 International Focus issue of Childhood Education focused on the education of aboriginal and indigenous children, Childhood Education, vol. 82, no. 3 pp.139-146. Fleer, M 2004, The Cultural Construction of Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education: Some Indigenous Australian Perspectives, The Australia Educational Researcher, vol. 31, no. 3 pp.51-67. Hopps, K 2004, Teachers Communication across the Pre-school boundary, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 29, no. 1 pp.8--14. King, P & Boardman, M 2006, What personal/social skills are important for young children commencing kindergarten? Exploring teachers' and parents' insights, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, vol.31, no 3, pp. 15-22. Margetts, K 2007, Preparing children for school--benefits and privileges, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 32, no 2, pp. 43-51. Porter, L 2003, 'Valuing Children', Australian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 28, no. 4 pp.7--19. Read More