Developing an Implementation Plan
All parents are looking forward to seeing their children’s growth, development, and further successful integration into society. From the very birth, children cognize the world, demonstrate and exercise their abilities and talents. How early is it important to intervene into the process to help the children? The answer to this question, according to the latest research, is that it should be done from the very birth.
It begins in infancy and continues throughout the life. The studies also show that the investment into children is a continuous but also rewarding project with as many positive results as it is possible to imagine. Starting from the very early age parents try to contribute to the development of their children as much as possible. Here, corresponding educational establishments become useful. Nevertheless, is it enough to rely on the available choice or perhaps the question is still open? Apparently, in the world of fast development (mainly because of enormous IT leap) it is important to reconsider and improve some of the aspects connected with this area. New generations will be definitely more advanced in the IT aspect. However, the older generation’s task is also to have the children develop their personalities and abilities in order to become motivated and self-efficient social units. According to James J. Heckman, PhD, 2000 Nobel Laureate in Economic sciences, learning is the process that starts from the very early age before the formal education at school starts and it is impossible to postpone that to later periods (Heckman, 2004). Besides, the author mentions the importance of other skills like non-cognitive perception, self-discipline, necessary social skills for a child to become a successful social unit. At each stage of development, certain abilities are to be trained and elaborated.
Normally, when development and education are mentioned, they discuss schooling and assessment issues as well as teaching and curriculum. However, before school every child goes through other important steps in its development. Moreover, the crucial period takes place up to the age of 3 (Early childhood development, 2001). Besides, in the modern world with immense IT influence and overall higher rate of communication development it seems to be appropriate to talk about education starting with the very early age (Australian Research Alliance for Children & Youth, 2006). Therefore, the project considers Early Childhood Development (ECD) in terms of personality development from the very birth. The target audience (or customers) is definitely parents whose influence on their children is impossible to ignore. The project is supposed to be held in Ukraine, which is a developing country and needs crucial innovations in plenty of areas including education.
In order to organize the project properly, it is essential to lead a thorough investigation of the issue basing both on the current international experience of ECD and new research in this area. Both directions have to be carefully controlled by appropriate professionals of the corresponding field of research. Hence, it is important to get approvals from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. First, it is supposed to be a pilot project. Therefore, it will offer a totally new view of the issue of early development that would involve plenty of specialists all over the country. Besides, it will ease the maternity leave problem when many women have to be away from work for the whole period of 3 years or so (Science of early childhood development). Therefore, the implementation seems to have quite a lot of advantages from an economical point of view.
Initially the project will be implemented at local kindergartens and nursery schools where there are already all the necessary conditions for successful results. Nowadays the situation with the above-mentioned establishments in Ukraine is far from ideal, when companies that are not connected with education at all rent the premises. Therefore, it would be a pity to miss the opportunity of using the premises for their primary purpose.
As stated above, the project is beneficial from different points of view. Firstly, children as the future generation of citizens must be taken care of properly, primarily by being able to develop their talents and abilities given from their birth. Secondly, by working on this project, which could become national, thousands of people will be engaged such as researchers, educators, teachers, nurses, doctors, administrators, managers and others. Especially while taking into consideration that the unemployment rate, according to the official data, rose to 8.6% in the first quarter of 2013 (Trading Economics, 2013). The innovation will contribute a lot to the country’s employment policy. Thirdly, the project would inevitably create a separate network of pre-schooling educational establishments with an innovative approach to such an important issue as education. Finally, by enabling the network other systems can and will be involved. For instance, in order to get the best nourishing the nursery schools will use only organic products of high quality, so a special sector in agriculture producing organic products will have the ready market.
Another reason to have such a project is international experience in similar fields. Among the organizations dealing with the issue are World Health Organization (Wolrd Health Organization, 2009), UNICEF (UNICEF, 2012), National Center of Infants, Toddlers and Families in the USA (Early child development: a powerful equalizer, 2007) and many others. Current research and available results will be immensely helpful for successful implementation. Of course, in order to achieve the best results the available experience has to be taken into consideration in integration with national or local traditions and networks.
As for the terms of actual implementation of the project, they can differ depending on the chosen scale. However, if we regard it in a nationwide scale it would take a couple of years before the first pilot project would take place. To start with, it is essential to lead the appropriate research in the field basing on the international experience and local facilities. On this stage, a great deal of scientists will be involved to create the appropriate model for the state or community. This might take a couple of years before actual results appear. The next stage would involve the government authorities and if necessary using corresponding bills in the Parliament or local Councils to achieve the necessary legal background for the actions. As it is commonly known, the legal background is inevitable, which will also secure appropriate development of the project. Of course, the funds to be spent should be carefully calculated including unexpected expenses while processing the project. Here, donations from all sorts of organizations and businessmen will be welcomed. Talking about profitability of the project, it is necessary to stress successful aspect and high percentage of attendance and involvement in the issue plenty of participants that will contribute both to the project and to their own wellbeing. Another step is involvement of managing staff responsible in their corresponding field. In order to make strong connections to other networks, it would be also desirable to cooperate with other sectors, e.g. food industry in general and baby nourishing in particular, medical centers and IT corporations. While discussing IT sector it is appropriate to mention its immense influence on the modern world and even greater impact on the children’s consciousness. This is perhaps one of the major fields to take into consideration as a “partner area”. It is difficult to underestimate resources, which can be used here. When background is ready, the next step would include corresponding staff training. On this stage, universities would come in handy by implementing educational curriculums as well as piloting corresponding short-term courses. After all, prominent specialists from countries that already developed similar programs can be included as leading trainers. The necessary seminars and courses as well as overseas internships will be desirable to arrange. After this stage, it will be possible to talk about actual employment of the staff. Therefore, it seems to be the whole cycle of the project. As for making it familiar to the public, the project will surely need to be promoted and supported by national and local councils in order to get the best possible awareness among the population, who are the main target audience. All sorts of marketing will come in handy on this stage starting with printed leaflets, booklets, handouts, posters, PowerPoint presentations, billboards and ending up with TV programs, national promotion campaigns and specialists’ recommendations. Another helpful tool could be some kind of grant-in-aid for parents, for example, tax reduction or holiday advantages. The necessary surveys will ease the total awareness to the population’s expectations from the campaign. Thus, both parties – the establisher and target audience – will be in close correlation and connections with each other.
Overall, as one can see, Early Childhood Development and Education project is not only essential but also important for healthy development of young generation. In terms of investment, the benefits are obvious. It is difficult to imagine better contribution to a country’s future than healthy, developed and talented children who will grow and then work in the name of their country. In addition, from economical point of view, advantages will be presented in all possible aspects, like financial, cooperative and even international. In the modern conditions of multinational society, this project will also contribute to even better integration.
References
Australian Research Alliance for Children & Youth (2006). Early childhood development and long term development: the importance of the early years. Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/command/download_file/id/97/filename/Early_childhood_and_long_term_development-The_importance_of_the_early_years.pdf
Early childhood development (2001). Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://www.unicef.org/dprk/ecd.pdf
Early child development: a powerful equalizer. Final report (2007). Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/ecd_kn_report_07_2007.pdf
Facts for life. Child development and early learning. Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://www.factsforlifeglobal.org/03/
Heckman, James J. (2004). Invest in the very young. Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/pages/PDF/Importance-early-childhood-development.pdf
Montana State University (2010). The importance of play in early childhood development. Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://msuextension.org/publications/HomeHealthandFamily/MT201003HR.pdf
Science of early childhood development. Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://www.scienceofecd.com/
Trading Economics (2013). Ukraine unemployment rate. Retrieved from website http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ukraine/unemployment-rate
UNICEF (2012). Early childhood. Why early childhood development? Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/index_40748.html
Wolrd Health Organization (2009). Early child development. Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs332/en/
Zero to three. National center for infants, toddlers and families (2003). Retrieved July 20, 2013: http://www.zerotothree.org/
