Time Well Spent

I learned a lot from this masters program but if I would only have to highlight three points I would have to choose the following.

1. To become an effective advocate of social change in the field of early childhood care and education requires to network with individuals share a common goal so that a community of practice can be built, creating alliances and leveraging resources.

2. It is important to find ways to keep motivated and passionate so that I can continue to make change.

3. It is okay to question the norm of something if I feel it is unjust. It probably affects others and a change should take place.

One long term goal that I plan on pursuing is to be able to one day teach at the University level and share my experiences in working with families and children to many upcoming child development majors.

I wish my instructors and colleagues a great journey in their professional careers.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The first international organization that caught my attention is the United Nations Children's Fund. This organization has information on statistics from around the world and resources on young children as well as adolescents.  For as long as I have been in the field of childhood studies, little do I hear of programs having information on older children. In past child development courses I hear about including the young child's family in the education and care of the child but we sometimes fail to address the child's older siblings.

The second organization that caught my attention is the World Forum Foundation. They host a yearly gathering of ECE professionals from around the world. They highlight the importance of a global perspective of understand child development with cultural diversity as a base. The upcoming gathering will take place in Puerto Rico and they are expecting 800 individuals to share their social justice issues and to share resources on how to better assist families. I did not see information on their site for people to work for them. I would love to be a part of organizing this event as I would get to first hand talk to individuals from around the world as they register. I would also want to be a presenter for them and talk about the importance of unintended consequences that can occur out of a kind act. I would think that the qualifications for a job like this would have to be for a person has to understand cultural diversity and have the liberty to be able to travel around the world so that they get some firsthand experience.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a great international organization that promotes gender equality and the need to end poverty amongst other issues. I like this organization and would like to ne an ambassador and take to my local ECE community and nation the information that this organization provides. In learning about social justice issues and how factors like poverty creates inequality, I am passionate to learn any resource I can use to combat challenges early on.

International organizations like the ones mentioned above are great resources and it would be a dream come true to be able to work for one. I am sure I would be traveling around the world so I would be out teaching children and begin to teach adults. I am not sure I would want to do this yet. I love working children.

 

Resources

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved on June 15, 2013 from http://www.unicef.org/

United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2011). Retrieved on June 14, 2013 from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-unesco/

 

World Forum Foundation. (2013). Retrieved on June 15, 2013 from http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The Early Head Start Early Resource Center (EHSNRC) is a federal organization that provides federal, state, and private resources on early childhood development. They provide podcasts on various topics that can be downloaded to a computer, tablet or smart phone. It contains research material on health and nutrition topics that educators and education providers can download to become more educated. Materials can also be used as handouts for families at open houses and at parent workshops.

If you serve families that are low income, this next federal organization can provided the center with various foods. The US department of Agriculture is a great organization to know. One can request fresh fruits and vegetables to be sent to your program.

For housing and community assistance, this same organization has a program called the rural development program (RURDEV). They provide funding for single family homes, apartments for low-income persons or the elderly, housing for farm laborers, childcare centers, fire and police stations, hospitals, libraries, nursing homes, schools, and much more.

I would not like to work for any of these organizations but I sure would like to collaborate with them. I am comfortable working in my community.

Resources

http://www.ehsnrc.org/

http://www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ricpubs/rural_child_care.htm#federal

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/LP_Subject_HousingAndCommunityAssistance.html

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

A national organization that appeals to me is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) with close to 80,000 members. I like that ground breaking information related to our field can be easily viewed nationwide. Although I would love to work for this organization, they are based in Washington, DC. I live in Los Angeles, California and I would not want to live far from the community I grew up in and the surrounding communities I now currently work in.

A state organization that I would like to be a part of is the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing. I currently assist ECE individuals in obtaining a state permit so that they meet the state and federal requirements. It sometimes takes a long time for them to get a response from the commission. I would like to assist them if possible, to be able to reduce this. I recently attend a workshop where another organization, the Child Development Training Consortium, which partners with them, shared how overwhelmed they are with the overflow of ECE professionals requesting these permits.

A local organization which I would like to work for is the Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP). LAUP is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide access to quality preschool education for children in Los Angeles County. I currently am subcontracted through this organization as an advisor in ECE for a higher education and professional growth program. I would like to be fully hired by them. A current position is that of an early education expert.  They state that by being successful in being a pioneer in early childhood education, they pride themselves in provided great benefits to their employees and their families (LAUP, 2013). I love this position because it requires me to work and collaborate with local and statewide organizations to be able to provide the best overall information across the communities and surrounding communities. This position requires a minimum of a master degree in child development and preferred to have someone that has five years of experience in an ECE setting. Soon, this position can be a reality for me.

References

State of California. (2007). Commission on Teacher Credentialing.  Retrieved on May 17, 2013 from http://www.ctc.ca.gov/

Los Angeles Universal Preschool. (2013). Careers. Retrieved on May 17, 2013 from http://www.laup.net/EmploymentOpportunities.aspx

National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Social Justice Issues...which one to choose

Hello Everyone.

Poverty, family, children, literacy, equality, math, diversity, anti-bias, self empowerment, community, ......the list goes on!

I wish everyone luck in advocating for a specific social justice issue during the two month period of this course. Working directly with children and families in low income communities can bring up various issues and as educators, can face these issues a hand full at a time. I cannot stress the importance of teaching families about advocacy. This term is too broad for this course so I have thought of incorporating advocacy in the importance of family involvement. Due to lack of financial resources, centers sometimes only do the minimum to address this issue. They would rather focus on the child and sacrifice the factor of self empowerment with the home.

Making the most of the Adjourning Stage

As some groups disband and disassemble in this stage, others will take on another projects (O' Hair, D., & Wiemann, M., 2012, p.258). in the adjourning stage of my current groups at work, I am keeping an eye out for members who's trust I have felt. While others are reflecting on their accomplishments and saying there farewells, I am  using this time to also commence the forming stage of my next team project. I introduce ideas of new projects and use our successes in our current team to strengthen the bond and belief that we as a team can accomplish great things. I plan to do the same with my colleagues in my masters program as well. I have kept the links of my past and present classmates so that I may be able to understand their passions on a frequent basses. As we enter new job positions with our new held degrees and/or to just grow as a professional, I would hope to one day travel the country and meet with them to discuss issues in our field years down the line.

Resources

O' Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Strategies for Effective Communication

I have found that the principals of the center for nonviolent communication have aided me in my wanting to become an effective communicator. People who practice NVC have found greater authenticity in their communication, increased understanding, deepening connection and conflict resolution. (The Center for Nonviolent Communication, n.d.).

I communicate with many people on a daily basis at work and half of those  people I work with , I have meet for the first time. For example, different cultures and perspectives add to the conflicts that I must think of when I talk t them. I have used the NVC  main principle of the natural state of compassion when no violence is present in the heart. Even if I am faced with a dispute, practicing this ideology has cleared my mind. Cleared my mind of anger and hatred. Both factors that can blind any positive communication skills that I could engage in.

My colleague at work. We have had many conflicts as far as misunderstandings since I have worked in my current job. Now, we are very close as we have become a very great team. I feel that not only I, but she also just put her guard down. I had to put all our past differences in the past and engage in effective communication with an open mind and heart. I also try to show my enthusiasm to others at work with a smile, something that I did not do as often. My non verbal communication skill of showing a smile has made me more approachable as well.

 

References

The Center for Nonviolent Communication. (n.d.). The center for nonviolent communication. Retrieved from www.cnvc.org