I have political opinions that often set me apart from my friends, families, and neighbors. I am not a patriotic person, and my "love of country" does not even fall on my list of priorities. I am a citizen of the earth, a global thinker, and a very neutral party.
So, it is no surprise that I am comfortable in an international setting. I highly value the professional contacts I have made over the past eight weeks and look forward to the possibility of fostering those relationships over the long-term.
One consequence of learning about the international early childhood field is the letting-go of biases and assumptions about the way other cultures view childhood and development.
Another side-effect of interacting with professionals from around the world is an expanded tolerance for ideas that are unlike my own.
A third effect resulting from conversations with professionals abroad is a renewed affirmation of my own beliefs and values. While some biases can be dispelled through a global education, other themes hold true; I have found through my conversation with a British early childhood professional that the heart of our work is very much the same.
My hope for the early childhood field is that opportunities for international collegial relations continue to increase and that practitioners can find their way to the benefits and possibilities held in reaching across borders to learn together.
