My Role As an Advocate

• What motivated you to start advocating for very young children?

As an advocate I am motivated by the fact that children are our future and investing in their lively hood and education makes a difference in whether a child is successful or not in life. Also every child deserves the opportunity to be exposed to quality education.

• Why is it essential to acknowledge and foster advocacy efforts at the micro as well as the macro level?

On the micro level you helping families, providers, and teachers understand the importance of development and learning during the early years of a child.  The macro level is combining your foundation of early childhood knowledge with public policy and legislation.  As an advocate you have to be versed in both areas because the more you involve the micro level in the macro level the bigger the impact you can make.

• What does it take to be a community leader on early childhood issues?

It takes knowledge and passion for what you do.  It also takes being involved in community agencies  and making connections with those who are already community leaders. You also want to involve yourself with those who have a similar or same beliefs that you have and are willing to advocate for.   You must also be willing to stand alone in what you believe in and stand up for that belief.  

• What resources does it take to be a state leader on early childhood issues?

As Robin Roberts (Zero to Three) states it takes money as a resource to implement new programs and to even maintain current programs. It also takes having individuals on your side that have connections on a state level whether it be representatives or commissioners, someone that can actually make changes in your states policies and laws.

• What tactics or strategies do you use to mobilize others?

To mobilize others I use education of facts of things that are occurring in the field that they will be affected by.  Also when I interact with my staff or teachers and they have ideas or issues with the early childhood system I encourage them to get involved with legislation and law making.  

• What advice would you give to someone who was interested in taking a leadership role in advocating for young children and their families?

My advice would be to let your passions guide you. Begin to make connections on the local level with those agencies or councils that share your interest.  Also begin to follow news through council newsletters or etc so that you can stay current with changes that are happening. 

Resource:

Zero to Three Policy Center. (2008). Advocacy strategies to improve outcomes for very young children: Interviews with leaders at the state and community levels. Retrieved from
http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/AdvocacyLeaders_final.pdf?docID=1882

Becoming an Advocate

Obama Supports Early Education as Ultimately Cost Saving

CHICAGO, Dec 16 (New York Times) —

"Mr. Obama’s platform, which Mr. Duncan helped write, emphasizes extending care to infants and toddlers as well, and it makes helping poor children a priority. It would also provide new federal financing for states rolling out programs to serve young children of all incomes."

Mr. Obama’s platform accepts the broad logic of the Ypsilanti study. “For every one dollar invested in high-quality, comprehensive programs supporting children and families from birth,” the platform says, “there is a $7-$10 return to society in decreased need for special education services, higher graduation and employment rates, less crime, less use of the public welfare system and better health.”

The report was published in the New York Times.

This excerpt for the New York Times highlights that our government has begun to see the benefits in early childhood education.  I chose this because for teachers in the early childhood field having the appreciation for the work that they do will allow others to understand how we are creating the foundations for a lifetime of learning in children's lives. For  me this is one of  reasons I want to become an advocate.

Resource:

 The Child Advocate. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.childadvocate.net/

Time Well Spent

As I come to the end of my journey in the Masters of Early Childhood it is very emotional. I have spent this time connecting with so many different colleagues and connecting with their experiences. From this program I have learned the value of passion, passion is the driving force behind every aspect of this field and working with families.  I have become more aware of how my own passion for children and assisting families shapes my views and interactions in my own experiences. I've also learned the importance of celebrating and recognizing diversity in the field. Each one of my colleagues brought a difference of opinions and culture to these courses, just as each family brings their culture to the early childhood programs. Creating environments where families feel comfortable and welcome is crucial to their child's development, the creation of non biased education.  The third most important concept was leadership. The characteristics of being  a strong leader and leading a team of individuals successfully.

As I end this journey I also reflect on what my goals are for the future and how I can positively impact this field.  My ultimate goal is to become a leader in early childhood education for my community by managing several early childhood centers and becoming and advocate for the field by involving myself in several local early childhood agencies.  I want to impact the field by serving children and families and informing others how early childhood can positively impact a child's future.

I thank each and everyone of my colleagues for allowing me to become a member of their educational community and allowing me to share my thoughts and opinions with them. I also thank you for sharing your lives with me in return. I hope that this experience for each of you has made the same impact on your life as it has on mine. I wish  you all a successful and happy journey in the future.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community Internationally

If  I ever had the interest in working internationally in the field of early childhood, one of the first organizations I would turn to would be UNICEF as I have financially supported this organization in the past. UNICEF is the driving force that helps children globally through influencing policies, providing care, meals and ensuring girls receive proper education. There are several positions that you can fulfill with withe organization from intern, volunteer, to regular vacancies, general service, and positions in headquarters.  The positions are located all over the world. My interest would be in regular vacancies child protections which three positions are currently in Dem Rep Congo, Ethiopia and USA. To apply for these jobs you must complete a profile online and then they match you to a qualified positions. Save the Children is another organization that I would be interested in, in a 120 countries including the US they seek to improve the lives of children by improving health,education,economic, and during times of crisis they deploy units to recover children and decrease the affects of war, and other natural disasters. The position that interest me is within the US as a Program Specialist in early childhood development, as the program specialist your would provide technical and management assistance to the partner sits in Tennessee and Alabama. As well as
 Visit each assigned site on an as needed basis, supporting partners as they implement the Early Steps to School Success (ESSS) program. This involves providing training and technical assistance to the Early Childhood Coordinators on a regular basis with a particular focus on early language and literacy and parenting education for ages birth to age three, making training/coaching site visits to ESSS sites, providing adequate professional development and support to all partner staff.

• Drawing on the support of the Senior Early Childhood Specialist and Deputy Director of Programs, provide training and technical assistance and build partner capacity by working directly with site-based staff to ensure high-quality program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Coordinate the annual partner planning and budget process with assigned partners, assisting them as needed and expediting the review and approval process of the plans and the resulting Partner Agreement.
• Upon receipt from USP Finance staff, review for appropriateness partner requests for funds, quarterly financial reports and budget revision requests, and provide confirmation or questions to Finance and Subgrants staff for processing.
• Observe and monitor partner progress and performance to ensure effective and timely implementation of program objectives.
• Participate with the Senior Early Childhood Specialist and the Deputy Director of Programs in building relationships that align our programs and strategies with local/regional community and state activities associated with early learning.

FHI 360 mission is to improve lives in lasting ways by advanding intergrated, locally diriven solutions for human development. The values of are innovation, mutual respect, passion, accountability, commitment to excellence, and teamwork. There are open jobs currently but none that appealed to me, but I am interested in the mission of the company. 

Resources:

http://www.fhi360.org/about-us/vision-and-mission

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6226565/k.BFEA/Working_at_Save_the_Children.htm

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_Meet_UNICEF_staff.html

Jobs/Roles in ECE Community: National/Federal Level

When I think about my future and what I would like to do with my career in early childhood education, I want experience this field in more of an advocacy level or teaching level. The division of child development, North Carolina is a state agency as apart of NC Health and Human Services that ensures the state is bringing quality care to children in the state . As I explore the available positions currently there are not any positions available in the division. The Office of Child Care provides assistance to families of low-income and promotes learning by improving the quality of care and education in after school programs.

Zero to Three is a non-profit organization that I would have an interest in working for. The organizations mission is to provide parents, policy makers and professionals with the knowledge of how to provide children from zero to three the quality educational start they need in life. Currently there is a senior training specialist position available. Which this position is something I have recently become interested in doing. I want to begin looking on a local level on doing educational training's for early childhood professionals.



http://ncchildcare.nc.gov/general/home.asp
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/occ
http://www.zerotothree.org/

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community:Local and State Levels

One of the first community agencies that I explored is on that I work with often as an assistant director of a child care center., The Martin/Pitt Partnership for Children. The mission of MPPC is to make meaningful and measurable investments in the quality of life for young children and families in education, health and support services. This organizations sticks out to me because there are professionals of different nature working together for a common cause. I have experienced working with multidisciplinary teams and would like to do that again in the future. Another organization that interest me on the state level is the NC Early Intervention Services.  Early intervention services are provided through Child Developmental Service Agencies who work with children zero to three.  This is a area that I am interested in and have worked with an agencies who where a part of providing early intervention services to children. Montgomery County Schools is one of the counties in the state of Maryland. I choose to look for early childhood agencies in this state because it is an area that I would want to live in. The division of early childhood programs and services in Montgomery's mission is to provide comprehensive, research-based services to young children, ensuring their school success through partnerships with families, schools, and the community. They have several programs to serve children zero to five that interest me. Such as Judy centers which are early childhood programs that promote school readiness.







http://www.mppfc.dreamhosters.com/

http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dma/services/earlyintervention.htm

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/earlychildhood/about.aspx

Wordle WK 1 Discussion

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/7980988/ec