---
title: "Early Childhood Education Around the World: We All Struggle with the Same Challenges"
description: "Early Childhood Education Around the World: We All Struggle with the Same Challenges"
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---

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# Early Childhood Education Around the World: We All Struggle with the Same Challenges

 May 15 2014 by [Rebecca Berlin](https://info.teachstone.com/blog/author/rebecca-berlin)

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I spent last week at the World Forum on [Early Care and Education conference](http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/get-involved/2014-world-forum/) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was my first opportunity to connect with the international education community. The [World Forum Foundation](https://www.worldforumfoundation.org/) promotes the on-going exchange of ideas on the delivery of quality services for young children in diverse settings around the globe.

This year 836 representatives from 81 countries—including Australia, Botswana, Kenya, Estonia, and Bhutan—came together to share their collective knowledge on early childhood education. The conference gives everyone the opportunity to look at educational issues from different perspectives, but what surprised me the most is that the challenges that our teachers, administrators, and state leaders face in the United States are really no different that the challenges that teachers, administrators, and leaders face worldwide.

I collected these observations from my meetings and wanted to share them with our blog readers:

- **Children across the globe are not spending as much time in unstructured outdoor play as they did 20 years ago.** In some parts of the world, like the United States, this is due to the increased about of screen time for children. Time on the computer, the iPad, or in front of the television has replaced time on swings, at playgrounds, and on bicycles. In other parts of the world, children are spending less time outside because of increased violence in neighborhoods due to wars or gang activity. Parents and teachers struggle to find ways to return to unstructured, free play in nature.

- **There is a universal concern about the lack of women entering the science and math professions.** Across the globe this concern begins in the early childhood years with fewer girls participating in math and science activities in the classroom and teachers not encouraging girls in these subjects at a young age.

- **Teacher preparation programs worldwide struggle to find effective means to engage students through distance technology**, particularly around practicum and student teaching experiences**.** Teacher preparation faculty believe that future teachers need direct support during inservice programs and in the subsequent years to ensure they meet the needs of students and do not burn out.

- **Teachers in all countries struggle with the same things we do in the United States**—too much paperwork, too much stress, too little time, too little parent involvement, and too little professional development. In addition, everyone noted that too many academics are being pushed down from the elementary grades, and as a result children have too little time to play and be kids.

Some people may be deflated that these concerns exist around the world and that they are not just a first-, second-, or third-world problem. I am actually inspired that the problems that you and I face are universal. That means that we have over one million colleagues to lean on and we all know that 1 million heads are better than one. Together we will solve our world’s education problems and make this a better place for children, parents, and teachers.

Please look for future blog posts on the international work that Teachstone is doing.

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