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Creating Infrastructure
b>SECTION 5 OUTLINE
PUTTING THE PIECES IN PLACE:
Creating the Infrastructure
This Section will provide you with some understanding of the elements that have to be addressed in order to implement the chosen approach effectively. Specifically this Section addresses what will be offered to the beneficiary group, how it will be offered (where and when) and who will offer the services (in terms of organization and staffing).
Contents: What Will Be Offered?
What will the beneficiaries receive through the project? A quality ECCD project combines goods, services, a curriculum, activities, and a delivery system for the project.
The Need for a Curriculum
·LIBRARY LINK: Kagitçbasi, Bekman, and Goksel. 1995. A Multipurpose Model of Non-formal Education: The Mother-Child Education Programme.
Choosing/Developing a Curriculum
·ECCD BRIEF LINK: Preschool Child-Initiated Learning Found to Help Prevent Later Problems.
·ECCD BRIEF LINK: A Sample Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Programs.
• The curriculum should be appropriate to the child’s level of development.
·LIBRARY LINK: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 1995. Educating Young Children, Chapter One, The Active Learning Approach.
• A curriculum should provide the child/adults with culturally relevant skills and behaviors that allow them to function effectively in their current context, as well as the skills required to adapt successfully when the context changes and/or to make changes in the context.
·SIDE TRIP LINK: C. Arnold. 1998. Early Childhood: Building Our Understanding and Moving Towards the Best of Both Worlds.
• Within the curriculum there should be an emphasis on learning how to learn rather than only learning facts.
The Curriculum Development Process
ADOPTING A CURRICULUM
MODIFYING AN EXISTING CURRICULUM
DEVELOPING YOUR OWN CURRICULUM
DEVELOPING A PROJECT-SPECIFIC CURRICULUM
WITH THE COMMUNITY
·SITE VISIT LINK: Traditional Child Rearing Practices Among Different Ethnic Groups in Houphan Province, Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
·SITE VISIT LINK: Early Childhood and Family Development Project. Final Report of Two Year Pilot Phase-Lao PDR. Somporn Phanjaruniti, 1996.
Conclusions About Curriculum
·ECCD BRIEF LINK: Advantages and Disadvantages of Curriculum Development Options.
How Will the Services Be Delivered?
This question refers to the logistics of delivering the services. It is necessary to have a place to deliver the service, appropriate equipment and materials need to be secured, and decisions have to be made about the schedule and timing of services.
The Place: Facilities and Their Surroundings
·LIBRARY LINK: High/Scope Foundation. 1998. Program Quality Assessment–Manual.
·LIBRARY LINK: M. Woodhead. 1996. In Search of the Rainbow: Pathways to Quality in Large-scale Programmes for Young Disadvantaged Children.
Equipment and Materials
·ECCD BRIEF LINK: Home Made Toys and Learning Materials.
Schedule and Timing of Services
POINT OF ENTRY
FREQUENCY
DURATION
Who Will Provide the Services, Institutionally and Individually?
There are two levels at which the “who” question needs to be answered: at the level of the institution–what is the institution able to contribute and how is that institution positioned (locally, nationally and sometimes internationally)?; and who are the personnel that will play a role in the project? These levels are considered separately in the discussion that follows.
The Choice of Institutions/Organizations
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR IN TERMS OF AN INSTITUTIONAL BASE?
What Types of Organizations Can Provide What Is Required?
NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs)
·ECCD BRIEF LINK: The Conditions and Characteristics That Permit NGOs to Implement Programs Effectively.
GOVERNMENT
PRIVATE SECTOR
BASED IN THE COMMUNITY
Collaboration
·SITE VISIT LINK: Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in India.
·SITE VISIT LINK: Nourish and Nurture: World Food Programme Assistance for Early Childhood Education in India’s Integrated Child Development Services.
·SITE VISIT LINK: A Multipurpose Model of Non-formal Education.
·SITE VISIT LINK: Peru—A Nonformal Programme of ”Initial Education” (PRONOEI).
·SITE VISIT LINK: Going to Scale: The Peruvian Experience. Gaby Fujimoto and Yvonne Villaneuva.
·MEDIA LINK: Video presentation, “New Paths for Puno” go to video in CD-ROM, "Early Childhood Counts" Programming Resources for Early Chilhdood Care and Development
·SITE VISIT LINK: About the Family Education and Community Development Program of Community of Learners Foundation.
How Do All the Institutional Pieces Fit Together?
Staffing and Support
People are crucial to the success of an ECCD program. Recognizing that the people who work in ECCD projects/programs can come from a variety of backgrounds (they may be health care workers, parent educators, preschool teachers, mothers from the community, etc.), and that they can work in a variety of settings (homes, clinics, community centers, child care centers, primary schools, etc.), in this Guide we use the term ECCD worker to include all of the variations.
Who Do We Need to Staff the Project?
THE PROJECT MANAGER
DEVELOPMENT STAFF/CONSULTANTS
SUPERVISORY/MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
ECCD WORKERS
Staff Development
Training
·LIBRARY LINK: Program Quality Assessment, High/Scope.
·SIDE TRIP LINK: Quality–Four Definitions of What Constitutes Quality in ECCD Programs.
·ECCD BRIEF LINK: Guidelines for the Development of an Experiential Training Program.
·LIBRARY LINK: M. Gibbons. 1992. Capacity-Building for Early Childhood Development Programmes: A View from Save the Children.
·LIBRARY LINK: K. Torkington. 1992. Experiential Learning in Action.
·LIBRARY LINK: M. Swaminathan. 1992. Training for Child Care Workers in India.
·LIBRARY LINK: UNESCO. 1994. Enhancing the Skills of Early Childhood Trainers–More and Better Learning, Training of Trainers Pack, UNESCO.
·ECCD BRIEF LINK: In-Service Teacher-Training is the Key to High Quality Early Childhood Programs.
ACCREDITATION
·SIDE TRIP LINK: Child Focus Project: A Training and Credentialing System from the Caribbean.
·LIBRARY LINK: Early Childhood Care, Education and Development (ECCED) National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQJ). Draft of credentialing booklet.
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