Research from around the world

One website that highlights the early childhood field around the world is Early Childhood Development Virtual University Sub-Saharan Africa (http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php). The topics discussed on the website reflect many of the same issues that face early childhood educators in the United States. The issues that concern this part of Africa include nutrition and care of young children, education for orphans and vulnerable children, and childcare for working families. They discuss issues on early childhood education too. There are reports on the assessment of quality childhood services, status of early childhood care in Ghana, culturally and developmentally appropriate learning practices, and how to promote early childhood programs.

Perhaps the most interesting initiative I ran across was involving fathers in early childhood programs. The mission of the project was to improve the quality of parental care and enhancing a father’s participation in the care of the child in Nigeria. The survey completed for the program discovered that there were cultural and norms in the society that impacted the beliefs of the fathers in the society. Some of the recommendations from the study included:

•         Encourage the development of projects that focus on fathers’ involvement initiatives in the community, and work with parents to maintain and implement projects
•         Changing society views so that the fathers play an larger role in child rearing
•          Build male-friendly environments that encourage the involvement of men in the program
•          Develop information and communication materials reflecting responsible fatherhood and reinforce positive images that make parenting the responsibility of both women and men

 Some noteworthy information that was included on this site was how extensive the reports were. The website provided initial country reports on how each country in the region identified the current status of children, families, and women issues. They followed through with the initial reports by providing reports on the ripple effects of programs initiated through the early childhood development imitative and identified the major project that are present in the area. It was also nice to see the people actually involved in the project and who has accountability for the actions in the country.