Alternative

The podcast that I listened to was about TJ Skalski is Principal of The Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School, the first Indigenous charter school in Canada. There are only 13 charter schools in Alberta .  Originally from the Blood Reserve and raised in southern Alberta, she eventually left to complete her education, including a Masters of Education degree.

Surrounded by Mother Nature, recently moved from Wabamun into the former Saint John’s School of Alberta located 35 minutes southwest of Stony Plain, AB on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River near Genessee. 

TJ Skalski talks of her life and describes the differences between her and the children she services.  She says the reason she is not like to families she services is because of a strong work ethic of her mother and her strong grandparents.  The children she services are damaged, scared, wounded, hungry, depressed and not feeling of any worth.   Through the vision and mission of the school, which is to re-invest in children and creating a community where culture and language is a priority and is revitalized.  Culture and language is absolutely essential to the survival and progress of the people.   TJ Skalski believes in building dreams and hope in the children.  She believes in inspiring children to want to do something with their life.  She shows the children there is more beyond the walls of what they see.  The work she is doing is very similar to our Head Start program here in the United States.  Her program takes into account the whole child, inclusive of a child’s culture and language and provides service to the family.  In addition this school is addressing inequities of culture and poverty for these children and families.

Reference:

World Forum Foundation Radio. Includes links to podcasts of conversations with early childhood professionals. http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php

As part of its Global Children’s Initiative, Harvard University Center is launching its first major programmatic effort outside the United States.  The center is going to use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families in Brazil.

The Center working with the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of São Paulo, and Insper. This collaboration represents an opportunity for the Center to work with Brazilian scholars, policymakers, and civil society leaders to adapt the Center’s programmatic model for the local context in order to bring about more effective policies and programs that will, ultimately, foster a more prosperous, sustainable, and equitable society.

Together, these organizations will engage in the following activities:

•Building a scientific agenda and community of scholars around early childhood development;

•Fusing and translating scientific knowledge for application to social policy.

•Strengthening leadership around early childhood development through an executive leadership course for policymakers;

•Adapting the Center’s existing print and multimedia resources for a Brazilian audience.

 This collaboration is a great effort toward equity and excellence for the Brazilian people. 

Reference:

Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/