Introduction
“The chosen topic is of Urban Childhood Education”
Reasons for Choosing this Topic
I selected this topic because I feel that Education plays a vital role in making a child successful and independent. For any child’s life, an aspect of early childhood education is very important as it goes against the concept of childhood slavery when a child cannot fulfill his childhood needs, and others exploit him by excessive work and as a tool to get work done. in spite of being given important academic education, he spends his childhood in slavery. In the critical years from birth to three years, child develops in every way as this is the time when he starts to speak, communicate, and build his developments that are shaped through preschool learning experiences.
Sociological Importance and Changes in Society due to the Topic
This topic has its own importance in sociology as it focuses on education that shapes a child and makes him ready for educational, societal and his life’s challenges. Once he gets quality education, he can face society effectively and bring positive changes for the betterment of all around him. Early childhood is a formative phase of a child when he develops physically and psychosocially and overcomes his vulnerabilities and dependencies, as well.
Discussion
The concept in urban areas of promoting early childhood education has been growing for very few decades and getting positive response and attention due to its huge benefits. Education was essential only when a child would reach a certain level or age (Kernan, 2010). Now the concept is changing and moving towards early childhood education in urban areas that allow a child to establish solidly and make an effective start towards school readiness. School readiness refers to various experiences that a child undergoes before entering to a school. In order to maximize child’s readiness, it is must that he gets a high quality-learning environment by high qualified and trained teachers.
Parental support and family background of a child always help to determine the outcomes of any child’s early education. Parental involvement plays a key role in developing a child for better learning and making him ready before formal school settings. Within the home, a child develops his language and literacy development. Parent’s involvement and participation help to nurture and cultivate children in developing socially and emotionally. With the help of early education, child can maximize the levels of his proficiency ranging from beginning, in progress, intermediate, and proficient.
Urban childhood education programs are specifically designed to prepare a child for school readiness as they include prekindergarten curricula. In such schools, they learn to face education challenges and obtain effective high quality education in early stages of their childhood. Early childhood education develops children to maximize their abilities and skills in areas and dimensions such as social and emotional development, physical health and well being with motor development, language and literacy development, cognition and general knowledge (McWayne et.al, 2007). Early childhood education acts as a major input to the formal education of any child as it supports him to expose in an educational environment. Early gains by early education prove that social and economic impacts last into adulthood and result in higher status, employment, and eventually higher earnings, as well. Motivation and developing social skills always result in altering the attributes of a child that have large impacts upon his life and school performance. The education also shows that once a child can establish his social skills and gets motivation from all around him, he is sure to be successful and get the higher level of education. Therefore, all three attributes of education, motivation, and social skills help him to become the most valuable asset of his society.
An education process turns into most dynamic process when parents invest in early childhood education. To provide such education there are widely available institutes, academies, and schools, which aim to provide multi dimensional, good quality, well planned, and most effective educational programs. Creating a good educational program involve well thought-out curriculum and programs that focus upon complex demands of formal schooling so that a child learns in a good learning environment with safe physical space and specialized facilities. A child also gets a professional help by the professionals and teachers who help to attend each child with care and maintain the progress of a child. Various educational programs also prefer the involvement of parents so that they are better able to provide good and educational progress at home, as well.
In addition to the involvement of parents to guide their children towards learning skills before formal school, teachers also play a fundamental role to develop children and make them ready for challenges faced in schools. Preschool teachers need to have a high expertise of dealing with such small age children (Bartley, 2008). Teachers or caregivers need to be trained to convey the educational programs in the most effective way. Therefore, they undergo various preparations that range from high school trainings to college degrees such as bachelors or masters degree with major in Urban Education. Such degrees help to promote the children’s developments and prepare the prospective teachers to build skills and talents to convey to urban learners. Formal education helps teachers to understand the in-depth requirements and give children lifetime achievements and success. Teachers also play an important role to make parents ready to send their children at such small age. If teachers are well resourced, parents are encouraged to send their children to preschool. Keeping in mind such factors all the preschools try to recruit teachers that are trained, reflective, diverse, and resilient.
When teachers go for a major in urban teacher Education or program, they are able to maximize their commitments towards urban youth, providing them equal opportunities related to education. Competent educators become so much able to exploit their experiences for linguistically and culturally different youth. Urban teachers acquire proper education and degrees so that they become well prepared to face ethnic and diverse population of children and teach according to best suit. After having proper education, teachers are well equipped with knowledge, professional dispositions, experiences, and pedagogical skills that can help a child to improve educational achievements. They apply their learning in the pre schools to work in a dynamic environment and become the agents of change in the lives of children. In providing the best environment for urban childhood education, it is thus important that parents and teachers both play their parts. Parents should provide good and educational environment to their children at home and teachers should be committed to conveying teaching practices through theory and practice for the academic achievements of children. The trusting relationship, which builds between parents, teachers, and children, helps over all society and community to experience positive impacts.
Urban childhood education has become extremely important for children of the society as it allows them to understand the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, manners of leading good life even from such a small age. As a result, when they grow to learn these things at small ages, they become good human beings whose positivity can change the generations, societies, countries, and even the entire world.
Conclusion
Urban childhood education works as understanding and developing the brains of children. If from the earliest years children are given good environment then positive impacts are felt for a lifetime. Child’s experiences and environment construct his brain, which becomes responsive to external input by the education. At a small age child can capture the experiences more efficiently and shape himself for formal school by the help of parents and teachers. At the age of two or three child’s brain, power, and abilities start to develop dramatically when he shows his intentions and emotions. In this age, he can learn various things to become adaptable and resilient. Early or childhood education undoubtedly provides windows of opportunities for children. When parents, teachers, caregivers, and communities consolidate, then early positive experiences prove to bring huge impacts upon child’s achievements, happiness, and success. The focus on urban childhood education is also essential to facilitate change and meet unique needs of urban learners. With a guidance and support children can grow, learn, and prosper over all society. Maximizing the quality of a child’s life has become the priority nationally and internationally too. Expressed by policy initiatives and research it brings positive impacts in society. Even the academic disciplines such as biology, economics, sociology, anthropology, and psychology have also contributed by showing researches and philosophical and scientific interests towards early childhood education and their impacts.
References
Kernan, Margaret, 2010. "Space and place as a source of belonging and participation in urban environments: considering the role of early childhood education and care settings." European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 18, no. 2: 199-213.
McWayne, Christine, M., Paul, A. McDermott, John, W. Fantuzzo, and Dennis, P. Culhane. 2007. "Employing community data to investigate social and structural dimensions of urban neighborhoods: An early childhood education example." American Journal Of Community Psychology 39, no. 1/2: 47-60.
Bartley, Alice P. 2008. "The Influence of a School District's Early Childhood Education Policy on Urban Students' Academic Achievement Towards Advanced Class Placement." University of Maryland, College Park, Ann Arbor
