Words To Describe My Experiences

The End of Another Educational Journey

As this educational journey comes to a close I would like to reflect on a few deeply felt learnings I gained while engaging in my Early Childhood Studies graduate program.

• Dr. Derald W. Sue’s introduction to the severe psychological harm on a person’s well- being when microaggressions are inflicted upon the lives of minority groups.  The definition of microaggression will forever drive my passion to support equity and justice for all, “brief everyday indignities that are verbal, behavioral and environmental, that they may be intentional or unintentionally communicated to women, to people of color, and to gay/lesbians” (2011, Laureate Education).   Listening to Dr. Sue’s video and reading the literature he authored inspired me to identify and confront my own internalized biases and to create a process that will support other early learning professionals to confront their internalized biases, enabling them to provide equitable educational services for all children and families.

• Before taking the EDUC-6162 Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field class I had a tendency to work in a silo because I felt I could get the job done in an timely manner.  The knowledge I gained from this class changed my perspective on the value of teamwork so we can identify and address all intended and unintended consequences of any decision that will affect children and families.  Intended and unintended consequences need to be analyzed as a part of the decision making process when working with children and families.  Examining these consequences requires a team approach, which will sustain a thorough and mindful decision that will benefit the majority.

• Becoming a learner of families is an ongoing process which requires being an active listener, maintaining a strong home-to-school connection and sometime research of the family’s individual cultural values and traditions.  Research has shown that children’s developmental progress excels when parents are involved in their child’s education.  As an early childhood professional it is my responsibility to ensure all families supported to be their child’s life-long educational advocate.  First, I must be sincere in my approach to be a learner of the family.

My long-term goal is to see my Capstone Project brought to the legislative level so all educators, from birth to college, will be required to engage in an anti-bias educator training before they teach in a classroom and annually thereafter.  I have already reached out to the National Indian Head Start Directors Association to support this as a mandate in the next Head Start Reauthorization.  Their executive Board of Directors provided very positive feedback and once their lawyer takes a look at it, will determine if they will support the anti-bias educator mandate in the next Head Start Reauthorization.  The next step will be to include it in the Washington State legislative agenda for all early learning programs and school districts in the state of Washington.

To my early learning colleagues and instructors, there are no words to express my gratitude to you for adding so much value to my life.  The emotional and cognitive return on this investment is priceless; each and every one of you added fuel to my passion for advocating equity and social justice for children and their families.  I will miss reading your discussion posts and I look forward to keeping up with each of you on your individual blogs or on our Walden MSECS Class of October 2012 Facebook page.

Favorite quotes:

“Let us put our minds together and see what future we can make for our children.” 
Chief Joseph, Nez Percé (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt), 1840-1904

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”  Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator and Attorney General

References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). “Microaggressions in Everyday Life” [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6284779&Survey=1&47=8983925&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

International Jobs in the ECE Profession

My first introduction to UNICEF was ten years ago when I was presented with the Convention on the Rights of the Child document.  In February 2010, when I started my Master’s program with Walden University I was introduced to this document again.  I am very encouraged by the mission of UNICEF because their mission is to protect all children from around the world from violence, support good health and nutrition and provide quality educational services.  Currently there is an Education Specialist position open in Bujumbura, Burundi.  One of the job responsibilities is to identify gender inequalities, which is right in line with my Capstone Project.

            Another position I am interested in is the Principal at the Liberty Learning Center, which is located in Belize.  The Liberty Learning Center provides quality educational services for children who are living in the Liberty Children’s Home because they have been abandoned or removed from their birth home due to abuse.  The philosophy of the Liberty Children’s Home is to ensure their approach prevents “damaging effects of institutionalization on children” (Liberty Children’s Home, n.d.).

            The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization are an international organization with a mission to “support early childhood policy development with the aim to build on a solid foundation for a child’s lifelong learning” (UNESCO, 2012).  My ideal job with UNESCO will be to work with the Education For All program.   This program provides comprehensive early childhood care and education for the most vulnerable children with the administrative functions housed in their Paris, France field office.

My blog address is:  http://makelearningfunforchildren.blogspot.com/

References

Liberty Children’s Home (n.d.).  Retrieved from http://www.libertychildrenbelize.org

UNICEF (n.d.)  Education Specialist, P-3, Bujumbura, Burundi.  Retrieved from  https://careers.unicef.org/sap/bc/webdynpro/sap/hrrcf_a_posting_apply?PARAM=cG9zdF9pbnN0X2d1aWQ9NTA2NzQ5OTc4M0MzNzBDRUUxMDAwMDAwOUU3MTBGMEYmY2FuZF90eXBlPUVYVA%3d%3d&sap-client=100&sap-language=EN&sap-accessibility=X  

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, (2012).  Education for All Goals.  Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/efa-goals/ 

National Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community

As I was exploring jobs I may be interested in on a National level my memory took me back to our Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field class which several of us completed about this time last year.  In addition to two job interests on a National level, I investigated membership requirements for the International Step by Step Association.

I remembered the International Step by Step Association because when I first investigated the web site I was impressed with their work towards supporting children to meet their fullest potential on an international level.  In addition to supporting parents as the primary educators of their children, their philosophy also embraces the power of children learning when they are “active participants throughout the learning process” (www.issa.nl).  Being an active participant does not include ‘rote’ teaching therefore my attraction to this philosophy.  To become a member I would need to submit my membership form with the $125 annual fee to receive benefits such as participating on a child advocacy taskforce, professional development books manuals and trainings and information to attend international conferences that support children to thrive.  To become a member of this international organization I would be adding a wealth of resources and experience to my knowledge bank to better support all children and families to reach their fullest potential.

The National organization I investigated is the Children’s Defense Fund.  The mission of the Children’s Defense Fund is to “ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the health of caring families and communities” (www.childrensdefense.org).   I love the “passage to adulthood” language in this mission statement.  The Children’s Defense Fund is currently recruiting for the position of Director of Research in Washington DC.  The first qualification for this positons is “A demonstrated interest in and commitment to social justice and improving the quality of life for children and families” (www.childrensdefense.org).  Of course having research skills and statistical analysis expertise will be vital to ensure successful outcomes for children and families.  Since best practice is defined by research this will be an honorable job to strive for.

The other job I found interesting is for Voices for America’s Children, which is advocating for an Executive Director for the Children’s Leadership Council.  One of the qualifications for this job includes being a “sophisticated advocate for children” (www.voices.org).  The power behind the skill of sophistication will support this organization’s policy goals, which focus on equity and diversity, health, school readiness, school success, safety, and economic stability for all children and their families.  Of course to be fully successful in this position, the best candidate will have strong communication and collaboration skills, expertise in analyzing and writing policy, and experience working with the United States Congress.

References

Children’s Defense Fund (n.d.).  www.childrensdefense.org

International Step by Step Association: Quality Care and Education for All (n.d.).  www.issa.nl

Voices for America’s Children (n.d.).  www.voices.org

My search for organizations that foster the well being of children, families and the early childhood field include two local organizations in Whatcom County of Washington State and one state-wide organization.  The mission statement of two organizations reaches out to children at risk while the third organization’s mission supports all children in Washington State.

Blue Skies for Children is a local organization in Bellingham, WA that sponsors enrichment programs and other essentials such as clothing and school supplies for homeless, low-income and foster children.  Their make-a-wish program is funded through sponsorship.  When sponsoring a child the interested party can pick a program such as, dance, Taekwondo, gymnastics, and art lessons.  I am interested in becoming a board member for the organization.  Some skills that may be necessary to be a board member will be strong communication skills, budget development and management, policy development and analysis and flexibility to understand a variety of perspectives for how to achieve the goal.

The mission of Rebound of Whatcom County is “committed to equipping, strengthening and empowering children and families facing difficult life circumstances” (www.reboundwc.org).   Some of the services offered include, summer camps for children in need, torturing programs, parenting enrichment programs and support groups for parents facing difficult circumstances.  If the position of executive director were to become available I would apply.   Some skills necessary to fulfill this position may be, grant writing skills, strong connection to community resources, strong insight on establishing and maintaining collaborations, budgeting, organizational management and effective communication.

The third organization of interest is the Foundation for Early Learning.  Their mission statement reads, “Finding and fostering opportunities that support kindergarten-readiness for young children, birth to age five, in Washington State” (www.earlylearning.org).  This organization provides community grants and resources to organizations supporting early learning partnerships.  In reading about three partnerships across the state I learned the funding from the Foundation for Early Learning have supported children and families to connect with local resources to support English Language Learners, literacy, and early intervention services to address mental health issues for children ages birth to five.  The position of interest for this organization is the Program Manager.   The Program Manager manages grant activities, supports the Early Learning Public Library Partnership and the Native American Early Learning Initiative.  Skills necessary to support this position may be, knowledge of local Native cultures, child development, establishing and maintaining community partnerships, grant writing and analysis, strong communication skills and a strong connection to community resources.

Reflecting on Communication and Collaboration

As I finish up the final assignments for the last of my core classes towards my M.A. degree in Early Childhood Studies, I am reflecting on all that I have learned through the resources provided, our very thorough and knowledgeable Dr. Darragh and my fellow students through their insightful discussion and blog posts.  Our assignments, discussions and blogs have helped to solidify the knowledge learned like the value of self-monitoring my communication skills and from resources like the Center for Non-Violent Communication and The Third Side.  It has been a fun-filled eight weeks and I hope we meet again in our respective fields of Early Childhood Education.

Continue to Dream Big and be persistent in achieving your goals.  Wishing each of you the best of the best in life’s journey!!

Stage 5: Group Adjournment

As I review the information on Stage 5 of the “Five Stages of Team Development” developed by Bruce Tucker I would like to reflect on the adjourning process with two different groups; one group of Head Start employees for a program where I was the Director for two years and one group of Office of Head Start Training/Technical Assistant contracted specialist for whom I worked with for two years.

When adjourning with the Head Start program employees we were provided resources and opportunities to reflect on our two years together as a group; reflecting on our successes and addressing challenges with potential solutions we may want to use in the future.  During a farewell pot luck lunch we were able to share our future goals and we were able to collect personal contact information.  This was a sad adjournment process for me because as a team we turned so many challenges into successes over the course of two years.

The second group adjournment with fellow Training/Technical Assistance Specialist was not as successful.  Since we all work from our home offices in different geographic locations getting together to reflect on our successes and challenges was not as easy.  The main mode of communication was e-mail where we exchanged personal contact information and wished each other best wishes for the future.  Because the Training/Technical Assistance network if pretty small I think we all assumed we would eventually be working together again in the near future so we did not place much emphasis on closing out our contract at the end of August 2011.  It is now April 2012 and we are still not working together and it is sad that we did not take any steps to put closure on our work.  A teleconference to discuss our work and hear each other’s voices may have supported a less emotional transition as we venture into different directions and may have provided us with new insights that we could carry forward in our work with new team members.

Regarding the group I have been working with on my Master of Early Childhood Studies program we are about to venture into our specializations and this is my last core class.  Several of my colleagues in this program have been in every class I have taken since February 2011.  Even though this is distant learning I feel as if I know some of you very well because I have read about your passions, your families, and your emotions in many discussion questions and blog posts.  Since we are geographically located in different locations across the world, we will not be provided the opportunity to participate in any formal closure activities so I plan to gather personal information from some of you so we can stay in touch in the future.  Our group has been dynamic and each of you has added so much value to my life; I really hope we can see each other at a graduation ceremony.

References:

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved April 2, 2012 from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html