TIME WELL SPENT-FINAL POST

I have learned and experienced so much since beginning this journey.
These are just a few of my most deeply felt learning's.



My view of culture has expanded. Culture is not just someones race or religion, it can be anything, such as how often they see their family, what foods a family eats, and the way you greet someone. I am much more aware of the fact that everyone has their own unique culture and we must respect this.



I learned about my own hidden biases and 'isms'. This deep reflection made me more aware of my words and actions. It helped me to reflect on my own life and my own feelings on these issues and how they came to be.



Learning about the unintended consequences of our actions was meaningful for me. I now am able to examine my intended consequences and expand my thinking to the unintended also. Also, I learned a great deal about how consequences do not always have to be a bad thing, there are also good consequences.



My long term goal is to work on a project that involves making education more equitable.



My farewell message for Dr. Tammy Shephard is a big THANK YOU!!!! You were my instructor in my last two classes and I appreciate all of your insight. I saved many of the links that you posted in the discussions. I thank you for that.

My farewell message and wishes for all of my colleagues is that you go for your dreams and you accomplish all that you dream of. Some of my colleagues have been in the majority of my classes and I thank you for your support.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

For this week's blog assignment, we have been asked to look at jobs/roles in the international community.

The first organization that appeals to me is FHI 360 (The Academy for Educational Development, 2011). I chose this organization because of their belief that all individuals and communities have the opportunity to reach their highest potential. I also like that they take a 360 degree approach and with this approach they have a large community of practice to help them fulfill their belief.
There are many job listing for the United States, as well as outside of the United States.
One job that is in the United States is a project manager/early childhood specialist. "The project manager would provide assistance and training to Head Start Grantees in areas related to school readiness, training and career needs of Grantee staff, and collaboration activities".  http://www.aed.org/en/index.htm
Some of the requirements for the applicant are: need at least 5 years of experience serving young children, theoretical knowledge of child development, and preferably a masters degree in the early childhood education field.
There are many job openings under the education title in other countries. They include: project managers and technical advisers. Some of the skills and experience that are needed for these jobs are: ability to adapt to a high pace working environment, at least 5 years of prior work experience in an international non-government organization or foundation setting, and the ability to interact with diverse groups.

The next organization I chose is Save the Children (2011. Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world. I chose this organization because of their commitment to children and how much work they do to help in a child's future. http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6146405/k.C7E9/About_Us.htm
One job that interests me is a coordinator for early steps to school success. This program provides early education programs to pregnant woman and also to children from birth to age 5. Some of the skills and experience that are required are: experience leading parents groups, experience collaborating with early childhood programs in the community, and experience with rural families.

The last organization I chose that interests me is Unicef. http://www.unicef.org/  I chose this organization because I have heard so many wonderful things about Unicef, beginning when I was in grade school. I collected money on Halloween night as I went trick or treating. I knew back then that they are active in helping children, across the world. \
One job that is available in several countries is a child protection specialist. The skills and experience for this job are: able to develop strategies, data collection, and fluency in English.

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



The first organization that interests me is Zero to Three. I first read about this in a previous class. Zero to Three's mission is to promote the health and development of infants and toddlers. I chose this organization because of how much support they offer. They not only offer support to parents, but also professionals and policymakers. They have many organizations and individuals in their community of practice.

Careers that are currently available are higher level careers. One of interest is a Senior Director of Programs. This person would be responsible for the oversight of Zero to Three programs. Some of the skills that are needed are the understanding of broad early childhood issues, strong skills in building coalitions among diverse stakeholders, and strong oral and written skills. The website is http://www.zerotothree.org/.

The next organization that is of interest to me is Head Start. Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to 5 from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development. I am passionate about early intervention and how early intervention helps children to succeed.

Careers are available in all states. Some of the careers that I thought were interesting were family outreach worker, home visitor, and family child educator. All of the positions require excellent communication skills. They also require you to monitor the families and being knowledgeable of various local agencies to help the family. The website is: http://www.nhsa.org/

Another organization I found that may not necessarily have careers, but offers a community of practice is called The National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS-SDE). I chose this organization because when you become a member of this association you become part of a community of practice that shares ideas and solves problems. The association promotes high-quality services to young children and their families through improvement of instruction, curriculum, and administration of programs.

There are three categories of membership.

Full membership in the Association shall be open to those persons with major responsibility for programs in early childhood education, serving in state departments of education or other state early childhood education agencies in the United States and its territories.

Associate membership shall be open to retired or former full members. Any early childhood specialist holding full membership in the Association is eligible for Associate Membership after leaving state agency employment .

Affiliate membership shall be open to related professionals who hold a current state-focused position in—or providing services for—a national not-for-profit organization related to the purpose of the Association

The website is http://www.naecs-sde.org/membership

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

Children and Youth Services is a local agency that offers many supports for children. They offer many services for children and their families. A few of the services they offer are placement into foster care, family and individual counseling, intake services from mandated reporters, support services for children from abusive households, and help for truant students. I chose this organization because they offer a huge variety of services and they are strong advocates of children. Advocacy for children is a passion for me.

Some of the job opportunities are: Family Group Decision Making Coordinator. Some of the skills needed are ability to understand and form relationships with families, youth, and external stakeholders; excellent communication skills (written and verbal). Another job opportunity is a youth counselor. Some of the skills that are needed are excellent interpersonal skills, pass a training of safe crisis management, and facilitate group activities.
http://yorkcountypa.gov/health-human-services/children-youth-and-families/services.html

Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare is a state agency. They offer early intervention services, which is called The Pennsylvania Early Intervention program. This program is for children with developmental delays and disabilities. This program involves a community of practices including a state supported network of parents, service practitioners, and others which builds upon the natural learning opportunities that occur within the daily routines of a child and their family. I chose this agency because I currently work in early intervention and I believe strongly in the benefits of early intervention. I feel the earlier we can intervene, the better chance the child's outcome will be.

Some of the job opportunities are: Case workers and Social Services workers. The skills that are needed are communication skills, able to work unconventional hours, such as evenings and weekend, able to create good relationships with families and children.
http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/forchildren/earlyinterventionservices/index.htm

Family Child Resources is an agency in my local area, but also has agencies in other areas. They are recognized locally, statewide, and nationally.  They offer services such as intervention, education, and counseling services to children, adults, and their families. This agency interested me because of the work they do with early intervention.

Some of the job opportunities are: Counselor, Behavioral Specialist, and Social Worker. Some of the skills that are required are: must be knowledgeable in Positive Behavior Supports, Childhood Behavioral Health issues, Autism Spectrum, have strong parenting skills, knowledge of sensory integration issues and skilled in working collaboratively on grants with other agencies. http://www.f-cr.com/index.htm

Reflecting on Learning and Thank You

Believe you can and you're halfway there.

Theodore Roosevelt

My most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional is to help children believe that they can be anything they dream they can be. Regardless of diversity, they can dream big and overcome any obstacles in their way. I also hope that the early childhood field embraces anti-bias education and anti-bias thinking when working with children and their families.

I would like to thank my instructor, Dr.Tammy Shepard for her input in the discussions. I learned a great deal, especially the links that she posted in the discussions. Thank you for all of your support.

I also would like to thank my colleagues. As usual, you were very supportive. I have had many courses with these colleagues since the beginning of my program. I always look forward to reading and discussing many issues with you. Thank You.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development in South Asia

I chose South Asia. I looked at a few different regions and I felt strongly about reading more about this region after learning about the hardships that the children have to endure.

Children in this part of the world have many challenges. This area has the largest number of children living there in the world. Poverty and deprivation in South Asia are among the worst in the world. One of the challenges is that only a small portion of children go to school. So the majority of children lack a proper education. Their intellectual development is directly effected and the experiences that school has to offer is not available for these children.

Another challenge is the high portion of children who have HIV. Not only is there a high portion who have HIV, but the medicine that can help them is not available to almost all of the children. I would imagine that this has a strong effect on them. Emotionally, they may know that they may not live very long without the medicine, so they may give up hope and not care if they accomplish anything.

There is still a great deal of disregard for females. Many times, if a fetus is a female, the mothers have an abortion. I think that the self-esteem of females would be low, because they are not treated very well and not looked upon as important members of society.

Another issue that the children have to deal with is many of their births are not registered. This makes it difficult to get services made available to them that would help their well-being. Also, there are many areas that lack food and water. So these children do not have their basic needs met. This would mean that they must have these needs met before they can begin to grow emotionally.



After reading about this, I was very sad. I always hear about poverty in other countries and the way children are treated, but when I actually read it and reflected on all of the issues, it was heartbreaking. These children have so much to deal with just to get their basic needs met. It also makes me realize that some of these issues occur close to home. There are children that are living with HIV and poverty. There are children right here that have heartbreaking stories, also. It is important to understand the challenges of all children.

Source:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

This week we learned about Sexualization of Early Childhood. "Today’s cultural environment bombards children with inappropriate and harmful messages. As children struggle to understand what they see and hear, they learn lessons that can frighten and confuse them" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009 p.4). This does not surprise me. The article discusses the exposure to advertisements, media, and even toys that promote sexualization. I see this and have realized for a long time that external factors are majorly responsible for children behaving and dressing provocatively at an early age.  

The lyrics that children listen to at an early age often surprise me. Many times, the children do not even understand what they are singing. What is more disturbing are the adults who think it is cute. I have seen adults point and laugh and think it is funny. I have also seen this occur when very young children are dancing and swaying their hips in a very sexual fashion. Another example that I have seen are children who wear shirts that are tied in the back or front to expose their bellies. I am often surprised that their parents allow this. I can understand when a teen does this, but when you see a 6 year old or 10 year old do this, it is even more inappropriate. Also, it seems to be acceptable for young girls to take pictures of themselves in provocative clothing or poses and put it on their facebook page. Again, I wonder why the parents are not making them remove the pictures. Media plays a big role, but adults need to take some of the responsibility for the outcomes.

The ratings on movies are disturbing also. The ratings for PG have changed a great deal from when I was a child. The movies that are PG now, would have been rated R when I was younger. I think it becomes more accepted to allow our children to watch the movies, due to the rating. I think we as adults accept that television shows have more nudity and cursing.

Early childhood professionals can reduce some of this by keeping the children young. Do not play "sexy music". Let children dance to songs like The Hokey Pokey. Let children be children and if dolls are in the classroom, make sure they are not inappropriate. I think the impact on young children is they feel pressured into being "sexy" at such a young age, when they are not even sure what it means.

I was aware of this before I studied this topic this week. But I now have more of an understanding of why this happens. I also realize that I need to find ways to counteract the negative effects.






Source:

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf