Wordle_Time Will Tell

Time Well Spent

 

Throughout this course, I have learned so much that it is hard to list only three. My learning stemmed from examining the concepts of communities of practice, leadership styles, intended and unintended consequences. The understanding and lessons learned will help to propel me into a journey within early childhood education. I have a long-term goal of opening a daycare center and preschool.

Throughout this course, my professor and fellow classmates/professionals have contributed by providing their perspective, insight, and support throughout the last eight weeks. They have helped to develop me into being a better student and educator. I am also grateful for your warm words of encouragement when I felt my thoughts were far left on topics and issues concerning childhood development. Thank you for listening to my military stories along the way (LOL). As we come together to complete this journey, I want to wish each of you great success in your career and future. Keep up the fire and drive towards building a foundation of learning for all children. Also, be a voice that advocates for children and educators.

P.S. I will post my email in this week's discussion post instead of here.

Sincerely, Ashley

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

 

1.      Save the Children:

I chose Save the Children because they are a well-established organization where their focus has been to enrich the lives of children through a variety of ways from education, health care, and advocacy work. They have a community of practice that thrives on creating social change for children and their families. around the world. According to Save the children (2020) in 2018 “they reached more than 134 million children in 120 countries including the United States.”

2.      The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF):

I chose UNICEF because they have an education initiative that strives to support quality learning for children around the world. They work to provide information and resources to communities, school, and governments. One concept that UNICEF uses is to provide data collection information and data analysis to governments to help bring to their attention about educational systems and programs that benefit young children (UNICEF, 2020). They are a good organization to partner with for a community of service.

3.      Global Partnership for Education (GPE):

This organization is like the other two organizations where they are advocating for access and equality of education. According to GPE (2020) “they help partnering countries reach the most disadvantaged and marginalized children, increase domestic and external financing for education, improve the quality and availability of learning materials, and increase the number of qualified teachers. “

 

I am interested in the following job:

1.      Education Manager

Skills and experience requirements: Bachelors in early childhood development, education, or related field, or relevant equivalent experience. A minimum of five years of relevant experience in Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs. Knowledge of early childhood development and safety issues and methods for communicating effectively with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, parents, and other staff. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff, children, parents, and outside agencies. Effective communication skills, good problem solving, and time management skills.

2.      Early Childhood and Development Coach

Skills and experience requirements: Minimum of Baccalaureate or advanced degree and equivalent coursework in early childhood education with early education teaching experience. Minimum 2 years of experience working with infants and toddlers and/or preschool-aged children. Extensive knowledge of early childhood education, developmentally appropriate practices, child safeguarding, and methods for communicating effectively with infants and toddlers and/or preschoolers, as well as parents and other staff. Must have extensive knowledge of Head Start Program Performance Standards. Effective communication, problem-solving, organizational, and time management skills.

3.      Specialist, Early Childhood

Skills and experience requirements: Professional level of specialized knowledge to manage complex tasks, programs or projects. Ability to use MS Word, Excel, PPT, and on-line technologies proficiently. Willingness and ability to travel regularly within the region. Home visiting experience with families with infants and toddlers. Knowledge of and experience with home visiting programs. Strong interpersonal skills with demonstrated capacity as a team player and relationship builder. Experience supporting program implementation. Experience working effectively with limited-resource communities. Experience communicating via remote technology (Zoom, Skype, etc.).

 

Reference:

Global Partnership for Education. (2020). About GPE. https://www.globalpartnership.org/who-we-are/about-gpe

Save the Children. (2020). Education. https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/education-programs 

UNICEF. (2020). Early childhood development. https://www.unicef.org/early-childhood-development

 

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

1.      Children’s Defense Fund (www.childrendefense.org)

2.      Zero to Three (www.zerotothree.org)

3.      The National Association for Education of Young Children (www.naeyc.org)

I chose these organizations because of their support towards creating social change for children in many different levels. Their contributions and advocacy work dates over 100 years and have help influence policies, laws, programs, and acts. The organization has a a platform for parents, educators, and other community leaders and professionals at all level to gain information, resources, and awareness on issues surrounding the whole child concept.

Job Opportunities:

I am interested in child youth services coordinator (federal job), Director or assistant director of an early childhood center/ daycare center, or a kindergarten teacher. The skills and experience needed for these jobs are minimum of two years’ experience of a degree in the early childhood or education field, good writing and communication skills, and professional attitude.  

Exploring Roles in ECD

1.     Florida Association for the Education of Young Children (FLAEYC): They are an affiliate of NAEYC and Southeaster Early Childhood Association (SECA). The FLAEYC has a history that spans 63 years of promoting and supporting quality care and education for children (FLAEYC, 2020). Their focus is on advocacy, professional development, and quality care within the field of early childhood education. They host training, meetings, conferences, and networking events for members to attend.

2.     Florida Association for Child Care Management (FACCM): The FACCM is an organization for professionals in early childhood education. They are dedicated to advocating, education, and professional development. Under the FACCM they have Accredited Professional Preschool Learning Environment (APPLE) that is a national early learning program accreditation that strives to elevate the quality of care for early childhood center (FACCM, 2019).

3.     The Florida Education Association (FEA): The FEA is an association of education professionals to come together to work for advocating for educators and for Florida’s children to have the opportunities and rights for a higher quality of care (FEA, 2019). Ranging from pay increase laws to legislation to impacts, professional development, and new teacher development.

  

I chose these organizations because they advocate for making educational opportunities available for all children. Prioritizing education is vital for the future of our young people. I would be interested in these organizations to help boost the awareness of creating equalities through different avenues.

Within the field of early childhood education job opportunities there are different job I am interested in like:

1.     Early Childhood Center Director:

a.      Skills and Qualifications:

Must meet the director requirements of local childcare regulatory guidelines

Have a degree in Early Childhood Education or two years of experience

Experience in management, business, or public relations

Knowledge of state licensing

Strong leadership skills

Excellent verbal and writing skills

2.     Child Youth Service Coordinator:

a.      Qualifications and Skills:

Undergraduate degree within early childhood or 24-month experience

Leadership and communication skills

3.     Assistant Director:

a.      Qualifications and skills:

Associates Degree or equivalent in early childhood education

Two years of experience

Must meet all requirements stipulated by the state

Highly Professional and dependable

Able to lift no less than 40 pounds

References:

Florida Association for the Education of Young. (2020). About us. FLAEYC | Florida’s premier professional membership association for Early Childhood Professionals. https://flaeyc.org/about-us/

Florida Education Association. (2019, February 11). About FEA. https://feaweb.org/about-fea/Neckerman, K. M. (2004). Social inequality. Russell Sage Foundation.

The Florida Association for Child Care Management. (2019, January 22). About FACCM. Florida Association for Child Care Management | FACCM. https://www.faccm.org

Groups

Throughout my experience of working in groups, they can be helpful in the concept of learning about people that you may not have interacted with on a daily and developing friendships from working together.

On the flip side of working in a group, it can be difficult and overwhelming due to the lack of effort or contributions of others. I personally do not think that it is hard to walk away from a group because the groups where you develop connections and friendships you can always leverage those people and their expertise when needed. Also, in my experience groups that have defined roles and responsibilities help to provide structure to the process of completing the goals of the project. These roles influence the process and outcomes of the group interactions (O’ Hair, Wiemann, Mullin, &Teven, 2018).

Being apart of the military I have experienced a number of adjourning. Each time is different from the last because you develop a certain type of bond that can not be mimicked. The last position I worked in we had a great work ethic and team cohesion. When it came time for each person to leave, we would have a farewell luncheon and present that person with a parting gift.

I think when the time comes to adjourn from my colleagues from this master’s degree program it will be a bittersweet experience. Over the last few months and years, we all have grown and developed into great educators that are ready to go out into the world to educate the young people of tomorrow. I believe that we can each find gratitude in knowing that we have all helped to better develop, educate, and mentored one another over the time spent within each course.

                                                   Reference:
O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J. (2018). Real communication: An introduction (4th. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Week 5 Communication and conflict

     During this week I had a disagreement with my mother about my cousin that was adopted, and recently deciding to look for his biological parents. He wanted to find them due to medical issues he was experiencing as well as his grandchildren. A few months back he located both the mother and father and scheduled a meeting with them. They met and he brought along his adopted parents to share in the experience. Since that day he has continued to communicate with them and even traveled to met other family members. Overall, he has been receptive to the process and enjoying getting to know them.
      While talking with my mother this week she mentioned that my Aunt was upset that my him (my cousin/her son) was still communicating with his biological parents and building a relationship with them. I expressed to my mother that I thought my Aunt was being selfish in her thoughts that she should be happy and excited for him. When I said that it struck a chord with my mother because she did not think he should be still communicating with them after he learned their family medical history. At that point is when the conversation got intense. She and my Aunt thought he should have outlined that he wanted to work toward building a relationship. We disagreed on how both he and my Aunt should have handled themselves in the situation.
     One of the strategies I used was applying the three R’s (respectful, reciprocal and responsive) in this situation/conversation. I also strived to be supportive of their understanding and perspective of the situation. I found it hard to keep emotions from running high in this conversation due to my experience of growing up without knowing my father and his family. At the end of the conversation we were able to agree to disagree about how we viewed and felt about the situation.