Getting to know our international contacts, Part 2

Getting to know my international contact, Nura of Iceland, Part 2

I am finding the communication with someone from such a different country challenging.  I described to Nura the NAEYC accreditation and Step Up to Quality evaluation processes that my center has gone through.  She didn’t know of anything like that in Iceland.  In Iceland, the preschools are set up by the government and everyone already follows the same policies and curriculum so there is not a focus on verifying quality. I decided to ask her more questions about herself instead, drawing on the great questions my colleague, Taina Roman, shared in her previous blog.

Why did you go into Early Childhood Education and why are you passionate about this field?  Nura said she began working in the preschool as a teacher’s aide.  When her first child was born with a learning disability, she became passionate about learning more about the Icelandic education system.  She was born in Singapore so she was just learning about it as an adult.  When her second child was 4 months old she entered college to achieve her degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Iceland.

Please describe a rewarding experience that you had with a child or family.  Nura said she understood what powerful relationships she had built over the years with colleagues and families when she faced breast cancer.  The support she received was overwhelming.  She even received well-wishes from former students she had 14 years ago who were now graduated from high school.  She is grateful for the on-going communication and sense of community that is felt within her school.

What are some hardships that you have experienced working with families, children and other Early Childhood Professionals that helped you grow professionally?  Nura said when there is a language barrier it is hard to communicate well enough with families to get them involved in the school.  She is fortunate to speak both English and Icelandic so this helps.  But they have families from Morocco, Vietnam, France and Poland in their school.  They are able to hire interpreters to help during parent-teacher conferences. She and her colleague have been chosen to lead a multicultural project in their school to encourage families to share more about their unique cultures in their children’s classrooms.  She is very excited about that. I will be very interested to hear what she and her colleague come up with.