Research and practice in the field of early childhood increasingly supports the full inclusion of young children within early childhood environments. Until 2009, the field lacked a national definition

“Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Field” Program Transcript MICHAEL TRAPANI: Hello. I'm Michael Trapani and I'm the program director\ for your masters and early childhood program. Though you're about to begin y\ our second term, I hope you take a moment to reflect on what you've accompli\ shed so far.

You should be proud of yourself and excited for what's to come. You're s\ etting a strong example for all those around you while gaining the knowledge and \ critical thinking skills you'll need to be successful in your career and to truly\ make a difference in the lives of young children. Let me give you a little insi\ ght into one of the courses you'll be taking next, Issues and Trends in the Early Childh\ ood Field.

The title of this course speaks for itself. However, during the first we\ ek of the course, you will learn how to examine issues and trends from three diffe\ rent awareness viewpoints, personal, professional, and within the context of \ your community.

In addition to looking at topics from different viewpoints, you will als\ o apply what we refer to as the four C's to each of these issues and trends discussed. The four C's include change, context, consequences, and constants.

And you'll learn how economists, neuroscientists, and politicians influe\ nce our field. And how you can use those perspectives to be a more effective adv\ ocate for children.

In this course, will also learn the role demographics and diversity play\ in early childhood, as well as understand how poverty and equity of care influenc\ e child development. Let's hear the student perspective.

REBEKAH CONRAD: This course was super interesting to me. Something that,\ kind of throughout my courses at Walden, I started to somewhere find a p\ assion for this, you know, working with children in poverty. And I don't know w\ here that came from. But I just started getting interested.

And then this course came up. And this was an awesome opportunity for me\ to really dive into the research and dive into resources about the achievem\ ent gap that was occurring between kids. So this was something that was really u\ p my alley. So I really enjoyed this course.

The most critical issue in early childhood, I think to me, is the consta\ nt change that's occurring. There are always new and better things to do that we c\ an help with our students.

1 You know, and I think especially in terms of this course, I think learning ways to work with those children who are living in poverty. This course gives yo\ u a lot of insight and a lot of research-based ways that you can really work with t\ hose kids and help them succeed.

MICHAEL TRAPANI: As you'll soon find out, Issues and Trends in Early Childhood is a course that will give you a lot to consider including the\ affordability, accessibility, cultural responsiveness, and equity of the\ early childhood systems. These are topics that you will not only find throu ghout the duration of your studies, but throughout your career as well.

I hope you enjoy the course.