“Over the past several weeks I have been reaching out to the World Forum community to capture stories about powerful experiences and memorable moments. I have been working together with individuals to tell their World Forum stories and will be reaching out to others to keep moving forward on this project. These stories will eventually be posted on the website and everyone will be invited to share their own life-changing experiences.”
Christy Spencer
If you have a story that you would like to share, please add it below. World Forum Foundation might use some of these stories to promote future events.
my story “addendum”: The red oak seeding I brought back from the First Nature Action Forum for Young Children in 2006 is now 12 feet tall and surviving well in flood plain soil.
Since attending the 1st working forum on Nature Education for Young Children in October 2006 at the Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Nebraska, I have become more involved in environmental education and sustainability for all. Upon taking the oath of promise to “preserve nature in my country and work to protect its soil,air, water,flora and fauna, so that it may stay beautiful and rich for my generation and generations to come”, I have pursued additonal opportunities. Those include an additional Nature Action Collaboration for Young Children in 2008(same site); conferences with the Midwest Environmental Education Associations (Wisconsin and Illinois); Stevens Point, WI. and more locally Kings /Lycoming Colleges in Pa. (As a People to People Early Childhood Delegation representative to South Africa in Oct.2010, I was unable to attend forum #3). All the while I continue to work with young children and their families in early education and community awareness through workshops, trainings and camp directorships. The experience has become intergenerational and on going. If I were to pursue academia again as a student,I would most certainly elect “EE”, environmental ed.
My quest comes from living “downstream” from waters flowing to the Chesapeake Bay, regard for wildlife habitiat and generally living with repect for the earth we share.
Most recently I have had the opportunity to help create a natural playspace at our college early learning center (with guidance from Rutsy Keeler whom I met at the 1st forum and reconnected with at the 2nd)) a nature house at a nearby church retreat center, and on going tips for living green within our own backyard.
Scouting, Nature’s Classroom and Nature Explore, have brought elements of the great outdoors available to others curious and searching for environmental experiences.
I’m off to “Green Grand Camp,continuing the legacy of that Sence of Wonder, Rachel Carson devoted to keeping alive.
The last World Forum was held in Honolulu, Hawaii, in May 2011. Around 950 ECD-loving people participated in the forum. Three persons from Bangladesh participated in the forum; one of them was from a renowned national NGO-Gana Unnayan Kendra (GUK), working for the extreme poor and disadvantaged people of Gaibandha (a northwestern district of Bangladesh), mainly in the remote char island and embankment areas. They have large programs to improve the livelihood situation, create awareness and skill development for hard-core poor, inclusive education, income and employment creation, gender equality and empowerment of women, enhance community resilience on disaster management (focusing on climate change and many more topics, but not anything about ECD). They have education programs, specifically Non-Formal Primary Education (popularly known as NFPE). They heard about the World Forum news from the Bangladesh Representative of WFF. After many discussions, gradually they were convinced to participate in the World Forum in Hawaii using their own organizational funds. The organization decided to send their Program Director; her name is Anjum Nahed Chowdhury (Lucky). During the Forum she was amazed to see the program presentations from many countries and the positive impact of ECD programs. She participated in most of the programs as an observer. During the program visit, she went to a Preschool and Day Care Center in the rural area (Ka Pa’alana Preschool). She learnt about the benefit of Early Childhood Programs, observed peoples’ commitment towards ECD, liked the relationship between the leaders and ECD personnel, the ECD experts and their presentations. When she came back she decided to establish a Day Care Center in her working area, as well as nature-based outdoor play area. First she started a Day Care Center in her office premises so that children of the organization’s staff became happy and benefitted from it. I went to the office of Mrs. Lucky as a part of my schedule visit and I found a Day Care Center has already been established and running with the children. She asked me to provide support to ensure the good quality day care. Now the staff is so happy, they are not showing any hurry to go home early, children are playing with the toys, and learning more things. A mother can feed her child in a timely manner and the child loves to stay longer at the day care center.
She really convinced the higher authority to start a parenting program with their Savings Group members, working on developing a parenting manual guideline with the help of ECD professionals. She is interested to join in the ARNEC and already became a member of Bangladesh ECD network.
They allocated budget funds to participate in the next conference of the Forum to be held in 2014. This time, the Executive Director and Founder of the organization would like to join the World Forum program. We hope there will be more scope for the organization to run ECD programs.
Finally, I can conclude that only one event creates an ECD door for the organization, which will create benefits to the children of extreme poor and disadvantaged families in the Northwest part of Bangladesh.
“My journey with the World Forum Foundation has lasted for more than 10 years, from antic Athens to exotic Honolulu, and I do believe that we’ll have a great future and more chances for collaboration. Together, we visited several world megalopolis, like Kuala Lumpur, Acapulco, Montreal, but more than than great personal experiences, I had great chances for professional development with WoFo.
“First of all, I would like to stress that World Forum is a great opportunity for me to learn and is a great motivation to my professional growth. I finished my Master Studies, Doctoral Studies, and achived my PhD in Pedagogical Sciences.
“World Forum helped me a lot in a process of raising awareness of Early Childhood Education in Montenegro. The place and importance of early childhood education in Montenegro, from its foundation to date, have been inadequate. Since the founding of the first preschools in Cetinje and Kotor at the beginning of the 20th century, these institutions have been ‘defined’ as a kindergarten, a colloquial term that is maintained to this day. Also, negative trends are reported in my country regarding the number of children attending preschool institutions. In fact, only 28% of children up to seven years old are covered by the system of preschool education, which together with neighbouring countries Macedonia, Serbia, and Bosnia, is the lowest percentage of the system of inclusion of preschool children in Europe. But, in the last decade we developed, with a help of WoFo too, several strategic documents like State Law in Preschool, National Strategy for Improvement of Preschool Education in Montenegro, with particular emphasis on Early Childhood Education, National Preschool Curriculum, University Education of Preschool Teachers’, and so on. Experience and Exchange magazine helped me make raise national awareness about the importance of early education to overall physical and psychological growth and development of the child and on promotion of better quality and more affordable system for professional development and teachers to improve pedagogical practice. In the last decade, we improved pre-service of future preschool teachers to a higher university level in order to adequately and professionally respond to the ever-growing needs of early education and further professionalization of the upbringing and educational work with children from birth to school age. Of special importance is the further development of the education system of Montenegro as a foundation of pedagogical and psychological studies, as key areas of higher education of teaching staff. These curricula were enriched with a significant number of innovative courses, such as Modern educational systems, Modern educational trends, Intercultural pedagogy, Interactive teaching, Educational Communication, Continuous Assessment, Curriculum Development, Evaluation of educational institutions, Education Management, etc.
“A lot of WoFo colleagues from around the world from Afghanistan, Lebanon, Tanzania, Bosnia, and other countries with conflict experience presented and we had a chance to learn that war time and other crises drastically changed the family way of life to the extent that it obtained certain, very specific forms. Families became traumatized by separation, fighting, death, disability, violence, and when taking refuge. The last few decades have shown that teachers around the world have not had appropriate or enough knowledge concerning the issue of human and children’s rights, and concerning the specifics of education of children belonging to the refugees and socially deprived groups. I also presented at several World Forums on different issuses like Roma Education, Education of Refugee Children, Trends in Teachers’ Preservice, and Education Policy in Early Childhood Education. During my presentations, as well as presentations I attended, I realized that all contemporary societies are characterized by an increase in the level of multi-cultural and cultural differences, so it is rather natural that intercultural education — interaction with different cultures, societies, and social groups — becomes more and more important.
“It has been my great pleasure to represent World Forum in an International Conference organized by Arab Resource Collective held in Beirut, Lebanon, in November 2009. I was keynote speaker and presented on ‘Inclusive Education Trends and Child Rights.’ One more great chance for international exchange I had when my article “Transition of Leadership in Roma Education” was published in Exchange magazine.“
“As a child care manager with over 25 years of experience, and a significant involvement with our child care system in Canada, I thought I knew a fair bit about child care. Amongst other things, my first World Forum experience in Montreal opened my eyes to how much I had never even considered or thought of beforehand. I also was amazed at how much there is left to learn from the experiences from other cultures and communities. There are two moments from Montreal that are still etched in my memory.
“First, I overheard a group of educators, I believe from Nepal, who were celebrating a recent victory in their country. They had successfully lobbied to have the ratios for kindergarten children to teachers changed to allow for no more than 45 children per teacher, as I best recall the numbers. Apparently, they had often worked alone with 125 students at one time. This led to a real attitude adjustment for myself. Many of my friends returned from Montreal discouraged and saddened by the state of affairs in other parts of the world. I, on the other hand, found the experience left me feeling blessed and inspired by the human spirit that resides in Early Childhood Educators, many of whom work in some very difficult circumstances.
“My second encounter was with Don Piburn of Hawaii, who stopped me and placed a pin on my shirt, although being a complete stranger at the time. It read “Expect Male Involvement — Gender Balance is Good for Young Children.” We had a short conversation about that quote, in which he reminded me that no change ever occurs without there first being the expectation of change. I pondered this idea and quickly accepted an invitation to meet with others at a session dedicated to men in early childhood education. The love, appreciation, acceptance, and support that filled that session were overwhelming for me. I had never experienced this type of support from such a mixed audience before. The stories that were shared warmed everyone’s hearts and caused many of us to think long and hard about a topic that had rarely crossed our mind before. As men, we left encouraged, needed, and honored by our female colleagues.
“The experience in Montreal left me feeling refreshed and invigorated my career in ways that I had never imagined. This experience has been repeated in subsequent World Forums and for this I am eternally grateful to the organizers and participants. In the years that followed my first World Forum experience, both the centre I work in and I have become leaders in two significant areas of Early Learning and Child Care in our country. Our work in the areas of Men in Early Childhood Education (MECE) and the project to reconnect children with nature have been fueled very significantly by contacts made at the World Forum and the work of the MECE and Nature Action Collaborative for Children (NACC) working groups.
“The experience at the Men in ECE session in Montreal, the friendships formed with Don Piburn and some of the other men in the session, and the subsequent invitation to join the leadership team of the newly formed working group on MECE have given me a greater opportunity to use the past decade of my career as an opportunity to inspire others and work on some of the bigger issues of our sector. There is no doubt in my mind that my local and national efforts to keep the issue of MECE on the agenda would long ago have died without the support of this working group and Roger and Bonnie Neugebauer.
“A MECE highlight clearly has to be the magical experience of gathering 140 people from 24 countries in Hawaii to discuss issues around the MECE issue. I am sure it is safe to say that never before had a gathering of such a supportive and internationally diverse group come together on this topic. To be in the company of over 100 men and about 40 women and to share our vision of gender-balanced learning environments for children was so special. It is hard to express the emotions that come from such an experience. Those of us who attended will be eternally grateful to the World Forum organization for making this most significant gathering possible.
“The past six to eight years of my career have been invigorated by the recent move towards reconnecting children to nature. Although I was swept up into this movement independent of the World Forum experience, nearly all of my inspirations, contacts, and ideas during the past few years have come from the NACC and the people who lead this group. The work around shaping one single program to be more outdoor minded and encouraging other programs to join in, has given new life and excitement to my career. It makes going to work as much fun as it was 35 years ago.
“I still recall the jaw-dropping experience of sitting around a table for a group discussion at one of the sessions and hearing Claire Warden share about her Nature Kindergarten programs in Scotland, where they have access to the outdoors 95% of the time. I come from a country where the average child care kid spends 5% of their day outdoors, so a situation like this had never even crossed my mind. It inspires me, challenges me, and gives me the courage to work towards greater change in this area.
“The World Forum is so special with the unique format of expecting all delegates to consider themselves as experts. The ability to facilitate connections and conversations that might have begun in a session or during an extended break, is key to the success of the World Forum. Also, the deliberate attempt to have sessions led by international teams, with 50% of the time given to interaction with the attendees, makes this an experience that is both unique and empowering. It is worth every penny and every minute of time it takes to get there.”
The World Forum conference that I attended in Greece in 2001 was at a very strategic time in world activities. I presented at one of the large group sessions and also ran a small workshop there. I exchanged details with many people. After 9/11, I received a request for information from Kathy (then Ross) Trani from the family services near Morristown, New Jersey. She had heard from another participant at the World Forum that we had material on preparing kindergartners for stressful events and hope to cope afterwards. We corresponded and this led to an invitation to train psychologists and social workers in New Jersey in stress management and prevention techniques. We kept in touch over the years and have exchanged ideas and offered help to each other’s organizations and I thank the World Forum for their part in this.
My experiences in the World Forum differ because of my approaches: as a representative from Colombia for several years; as a member of the International Organizing Committee; and also as a member of some Working Groups. This has been very positive in regards to the opportunity of being in touch with colleagues all over the world, allowing me to strengthen my knowledge and experience working with early childhood. We have been able to exchange experiences, knowledge, and share common concerns. Those relationships have as a result led to initiatives and contributions for the early childhood communities. Being part of the World Forum has been a path of satisfaction for me as a human being.
My involvement with the World Forum has, through the years, broadened my horizon and contributed to my participation in the elaboration of similar networks of colleagues in Haiti around common purposes.
My involvement has helped me develop a better understanding of early childhood in general, of the effect of the environment on the development of children, and of our role in preparing children to be environmental stewards. I also gain confidence and faith in my role as an educator as I integrate the World Forum as a participant, presenter, performer, and moderator.
I particularly enjoyed the World Forum in Hawaii where I evolved in an environment similar to the one I live in, and where there was a group of about four people involved through their work and/or nationalities with Haiti. So the networking hit closer to home and allowed me to make plans with others that I could eventually implement at home. I had also the opportunity to share choreography of a Haitian traditional folk dance to the rhythm of a contemporary Haitian singer during a plenary session in Hawaii. It was an intense experience that remains engraved in my memory.
Although I truly believe it is hard to evaluate what such an intense effort in networking, learning, and sharing has on us, it is a mind-opening experience — an energy booster — that sometimes gives me a strong impression that frontiers of any sort are human made, and they can also be thorns for humans. Being human is a universal experience, shared worldwide on different sides of the same reality.
My involvement with the world forum has definitely contributed to how I think of Children all over the world. There is no other place on earth that one can find out about what is going on with children in this world from so many different parts of this universe. The World forum has allowed me to connect and talk with people from every continent and made me realize that children the world over are the same and that we must continue to push for their rights and freedom because as we know it, the children are the foundation of the world.
My involvement with the World Forum has impacted my work with children greatly, it makes me a better advocate for the children because now I have all these examples I can point to and say this is how we believe it should work. This happens especially in the areas of foreign aid, where often the aid agencies determine the kind of building they want you to build for the preschool and often it does not mesh well with our environment. I can’t tell you how many preschools in Belize have children in a hot concrete building when in reality the children should be outside or in a more nature friendly building. Thanks to the experience I get from the world forum I now feel like I have the authority to talk about how we can make our children’s classrooms and playgrounds more environmentally friendly and more outdoorsy.
The highlight that resonates with me is when I went to the world forum in Malaysia. I found that children, even though they are on a different continent from the children here in Belize, have so many commonalities. And often times the challenges are so similar and also the fun part as well. I remember thinking immediately that we can connect with these children on the very fruit they eat and that we did. I remember coming back to Belize and telling teacher Avril from Bright star preschool that we can connect with these students via the Malayapple tree, because this fruit we have in Belize probably originated in Malaysia. Malaysia also grows Cacao the fruit that chocolates are made of and that is also one of the major exports from Belize, so immediately I talked with one of the teachers here to tell us about how the kids here in Belize eat the cacao fruits as a healthy snack.
At the first and only Forum I have attended (in Honolulu in 2011) the keynote speeches were all called “provocations” and in fact, they did just that. I remember especially the “provocation” of Father Michael Kelly, a Jesuit priest, long-time resident (and citizen) of Zambia, one of the foremost champions in Africa of HIV and AIDS prevention and analysts of the impact of HIV and AIDS on education. At the age of 82 years (after a 36-hour flight to Honolulu) he made the point that although he had given many convocations (as a former pro-vice chancellor of the University of Zambia) and invocations in his life, he had never given a “provocation” and then proceeded to give one -an impassioned plea for a greater understanding of, and action toward, the impact of HIV and AIDS on young children. I’ve made it a practice ever since to start every presentation I make, whether to 10 people or 200, with a series of “provocations,” first to wake up the audience and then to challenge them to reflect on some of the most basic assumptions they need to answer and questions they need to answer.