I have been having continued
conversations with my international contact Michael Hibbeln. He is one of the
principals of the American School in Milan, Italy. He is currently the
principal of the Elementary School EC-5th grade. I asked him all of
the questions for this week and here are his answers.
The issues regarding quality and early
childhood that professionals are discussing where he works and lives are
related to skills. “How many skills to bring down
to preschool? What about the importance of play...are we expecting too much
academic content from our youngest learners? When should we introduce
technology? Is EC too early for laptops?”
What
opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?
“Our school belongs to
a professional organization called ECIS (European Council of International
Schools). They provide two conferences annually where teachers can
attend. Next month they are specifically sponsoring an Early Childhood
conference at the Zurich International School in Zurich. Our EC teachers
will attend this conference for example. Teachers also attend conferences
in various other cities in Europe”.
I asked him what his professional goals
are and his reply was:
“My professional goal is to lead an international school similar
to the American School of Milan at the Director level. This will not be
at another school in Italy, but another country. In our school we have a
Principal for the Upper school (6-12) and Elementary EC -5th grade. Then there
is our director who acts like a Superintendent/Director or sometimes called
Head of School”.
I asked him about his hopes, dreams and
challenges.
“Hopes - that our school inspires our students in more ways than
just academics - that it inspires them to be world citizens”.
Dreams - Similar to my
hopes
Challenges - having
the knowledge and ability to rally everyone in the organization around a common
theme (Hibblen, M. personal communication, February 18,
2015)”.
An insight that I gained is that furthering
his career is important to him. He will not be satisfied staying in his current
position. He has a passion and drive to grow in his chosen field and make a
difference in the lives of children. I loved what he said about inspiring
students to be world citizens. As I thought about that statement, it seemed very
much in line with Walden’s mission of educating its students to affect change
in the world and I see that as also being world citizens.
Another
insight that I gained from his answer is that we are facing the same exact
issues here in the United States. This is an issue and trend probably in many
countries and communities around the world. The push down of skills to younger
and younger children maybe a threat to positive outcomes and losing play is a
continuing and growing problem where he lives and works. He and his colleagues
are asking the same questions that we are here in the US. I also hear from him
that these are not easy questions to answer and debate is continuous in the
early childhood field.
The insight that I gained from his
answer to this question is that maintaining high-quality in part is related to
highly trained teachers. An ongoing commitment to further education and growth
in the field is imperative to a quality teaching staff. Schools inside and
outside of the US recognize this to be true. His school is accredited which
means it meets a higher level of standards.
The last thing I would like to talk
about is how much I have enjoyed communicating with Michael Hibbeln and getting
a perspective from somewhere other than the US. It has been a wonderful
experience. I am still amazed that this man who does not know me at all would
be so kind as to take up his valuable time to participate in this ongoing
correspondence. I wish there was a way to thank him even further. I have
thanked him through SKYPE and email. I think I will send him a thank you card
in the mail.
I have not yet heard back from Gem Munro
in Bangladesh in the last two weeks. As he said in his last email to me that
email availability is scarce. I hope to hear from him soon and continue our
correspondence. Again, I am amazed that he has emailed me two times already as
he is founder of the Amorak Society. He did not ask someone else to email me or
not respond at all.
I am glad to have had this opportunity.
That is fascinating to hear that your personal contacts faces the same issues that we have in the United states. It lets us know that nationally the early childcare field is trying to be on the same page for the importance of educating the children and training the staff.
ReplyDeleteLisa
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your contact this week. Mr. Hibbeln sounds like a world changer as he desires to make a difference in the lives of children. I thought that it was interesting how he stated that he wondered if he was giving too much academics. This always comes up when my early childhood teachers have high expectations and the parents express that it is too much. Some parents expect their child to just play all day independently without lesson plans and agendas. Thank you for sharing your international contact this week. I absolutely love his heart for children and them becoming successful in society.
Hello Lisa,
ReplyDeleteThat is so awesome your contact with principal Micheal in Italy and thank you for sharing your communication thoughts about quality in the early childhood care and education.
For me, my contact from Japan mentioned that email contact is scarce in her position also. She mentioned merely herself and her position from the one and only email that I got from her; and how her position sets her away from contact outside other than the classroom. She also mentioned how there is no difference in the hierarchy from leaders to teachers. I totally understand how your contact Gem in Bangladesh of not being able to get in touch and hope your able to hear from soon.
I have enjoyed reading your blog posts and how each post enlightened me with the issues and trends challenges in other global areas of the world. Thank you again for sharing.
mO