Sheron C. Burns Ph.D.
teecha@gmail.com and sheburns@hotmail.com
BIODATA
Dr. Sheron C Burns has spent over 20 years as a classroom practitioner in Grades K - Two. She holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees from the University of the Virgin Islands and a PhD (Early Childhood Education) from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. She was the recipient of a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship. She currently works as Education Officer, Early Childhood Education, in the Ministry of Education in Montserrat.
ABSTRACT
“To be sustainable you must be able to feed yourself, reproduce yourself and educate yourself” remarked Dr Didacus Jules, Registrar, of the Caribbean Examinations Council during an interview on Caribvision on July 29, 2008.
How can quality early childhood education and care contribute to the sustainable development of Montserrat? In an attempt to answer the question, the paper hopes to point out that though not a traditional revenue contributor, education, especially of the young child is worth its modest budgetary allocation and is a must for sustainable development. This paper will seek to demonstrate the contribution that can be made to the sustainable development of Montserrat by ensuring that young children are exposed to quality early childhood programmes.
Although early childhood Education refers to education in the early stages of human development from birth to eight years, its contribution to sustainable development is vital. According to the Wikipedia, free online encyclopedia, “recent studies on infant brain development show most of a person's neurons are formed from ages 0-8. If a young child doesn't receive sufficient nurturing, nutrition, parental/caregiver interaction, and stimulus during this crucial period, the child may be left with a developmental deficit that hampers his or her success in preschool, kindergarten, and beyond.” Traditional early childhood education tends to focus more on knowledge transmission while quality early childhood education focuses on children learning through play. How can quality early childhood education meet the needs of today’s Montserrat without compromising the ability to meet the needs of tomorrow’s Montserrat?
© Sheron C. Burns, 2008. Page last revised November 3, 2008.
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