In the past few years, my professional work and academic studies with specialization on early education exposed me to the importance of maternal/caregiver wellbeing and the professional development of early educators to the care of young children. My interviews with mothers and grandmothers in Kolkata and Birbhum districts of West Bengal, India supported by the Sigur Center’s Asian Field Research Fellowship, allowed me to acquire deeper knowledge on the hurdles for young children from marginalized backgrounds and prospects to assist them from public and private sector resources. Part of my inspiration for pursuing this study was the desire to connect mothers’ and grandmothers’ views on raising young children to the quality of professional early childhood services, including early education. Being able to learn about the ways that educators and families in West Bengal are working together to promote the welfare of young children has challenged me to think about potential ways to enhance early education in India, the United States, and the world more generally. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs under the US State Department is known for its work supporting students, scholars, and professionals’ international exchange. Several of the bureau’s programs target cultural exchange between teachers in the US and other participating countries; however, these programs are more likely to target primary and secondary school teachers. An international exchange program for American and international early educators can be beneficial in a number of ways, including:

• Affirming a global commitment to quality early childhood development. Sustainable Development Goal 4 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child both are examples of international policy agendas that advocate for the interests of young children’s development and the importance of early childhood development because they are key to the growth of a country and the world. However, countries have addressed these agendas’ targets to varying degrees, with some countries demonstrating a lack in expertise about how they can better invest in early childhood. The mothers and grandmothers I interviewed in Kolkata and Birbhum districts were aware of the ways in their marginalization affected their children’s access to and quality of education. International exchange between early educators will encourage education systems of different countries to be more accountable for ways they can fulfill the goals of these policy agendas.
• Providing a forum for educators to brainstorm ways to improve early learning programs, both in the public and private sectors, from a cross-cultural perspective. The values that families and educators alike bring to early learning experiences differ across cultures. Questions regarding the age at which a child should ideally enroll in formal early learning opportunities, whether early learning opportunities should be more or less structured and more or less academic, and how to serve children from marginalized groups are questions that early educators grapple with all over the world. Mothers and grandmothers I interviewed in Kolkata and Birbhum districts often discussed how matters that are often considered supplementary items to early learning – such as the length and duration of a program, the language of instruction, and positive forms of child discipline – were factors that determined whether or not they would even send their child to a pre-primary program. By observing and participating in early childhood education training in another context and seeing how others construct learning experiences for the young children they work with, early educators can weigh the pros and cons of how they shape the experiences for the young children in their home countries. Additionally, such a forum may bolster more research and innovation in the field of early education to understand what factors that pertain to the early learning setting add value to a child’s socio-emotional, physical, and cognitive development.
• Improving the professional status of early educators worldwide. Despite global recognition of the importance of early learning as a critical process to prepare children for a healthy and prosperous life, early educators worldwide often do not receive enough resources and support to conduct their jobs effectively. Shortages of early educators, low barriers for entry into the profession, a lack of education and training opportunities for educators, and a lack of appropriate compensation can lead to low numbers of early educators who are highly qualified and issues with early educator retention. These issues hinder the career trajectories of early educators, especially in contexts in which they serve disadvantaged populations. This means that caregivers, such as the mothers and grandmothers I interviewed in Kolkata and Birbhum districts, are not able to learn about how formal early learning opportunities can guide their children and families. Additionally, these mothers and grandmothers in Kolkata and Birbhum districts discussed how early educators were not only resources of their children’s early learning, but also their health and safety as well. Early educators have specialized knowledge that is necessary to give young children a suitable environment in which to realize their potential and establish a solid base for future growth. An international exchange of early educators would be a prestigious opportunity for participants and would encourage stakeholders in the early childhood space – especially governments – to consider how they cultivate their early education teaching force.

My field research in West Bengal, India provided me the opportunity to consider the rationale and means by which the United States could champion early education worldwide and learn from other countries’ practices to improve its own early education programs. An international early educator exchange would enable American early childhood educators, policymakers, and international partners to grow and reflect on best practices.

 

By Paromita De, Sigur Center Field Research Grant Recipient for Summer 2019. De is a second-year student in the International Education Masters Program at the George Washington University with a specialization in the economics of education.