Time Well Spent

I've officially completed all of the assignments for my master's program! It feels amazing to be done and I look forward to having more free time from here on out. These past 22 months went by pretty quickly and I learned a lot along the way. Through this program I learned how to find and utilize current research on child development topics, I developed skills I need to be an effective leader, and learned ways to advocate for young children. My long term goal as I move forward through my career is to continue to stay informed about best practices within the early childhood field. 

I want to thank my instructors and colleagues for your feedback and insights during these past two years. Your support has been incredibly valuable. Best of luck to you as you begin the next chapter of your career!

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

International organizations that are of interest to me include:

Association for Childhood Education International

Mission: To promote and support the optimal education, development, and well-being of children worldwide.

One thing I find interesting about ACEI is that they organize a Global Summit on Childhood which brings together people from all around the world to focus on the needs of our young children.

While I didn’t notice any staff openings on their website, I did see that they have openings on their Board of Directors. ACEI also supports internships. In order to be part of the staff or board, individuals would need educational or work experience within the field of education.

http://acei.org/ 

International Child Research Institute

Mission: To promote a world in which all children and families are able to fulfil their greatest potential. ICRI does this through early childhood care and education, promoting children’s rights, empowering women and girls, maternal and child health and grassroots community development.

I appreciate that this organization provides consultation and technical assistance for establishing and improving child and family programs.

ICRI has a staff of 14 and a Board of Directors. There are currently openings for the Board of Directors. ICRI also welcomes volunteers to the organization. Interested board members should have a passion for supporting children and families.

http://www.icrichild.org/

International Step by Step Association

Mission: To support professional communities and develop a strong civil society that influences and assists decision makers to provide high quality education for young children, ensure greater inclusion of family and community participation in in children’s development and learning, and ensure social inclusion and respect for diversity.

I really like that ISSA promotes a great deal of resources which are available to educators, families and community members. Their publications highlight new research and initiatives that are happening in the field of early childhood education around the world.

The structure of ISSA consists of councils and boards of professionals from all over the world. Interested individuals with experience in early childhood education can work to be part of these committees and boards. 

http://www.issa.nl/

Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

Organizations that align with my focus in this course include….

The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth

The mission of the NAEHCY is for every homeless child (early childhood through higher education) to be successful in school. Their goal is to ensure school enrollment and attendance for those who experience a lack of stable, safe housing. This is done through education, partnership and advocacy. This organization is currently made up of 3 professional staff and 18 board members. All staff and board members have a variety of experience and education, but all have the same goal of helping to support homeless youth.

http://www.naehcy.org/

The National Center for Homeless Education

 NCHE is funded by the United States Department of Education. They work to provide resources, research and information to help communities address the needs of homeless youth. They produce training and awareness materials at various conferences and events. NCHE employs 5 staff members, all with very different backgrounds in terms of education and experience.

http://center.serve.org/nche/

The National Center on Family Homelessness

The NCFH works to develop innovative solutions to end family homelessness in the United States. NCFH collaborates with homeless shelters and service providers to share research and trainings aimed at preventing and ending family homelessness. Their consumer advisory board is made up of a diverse group of adult family members with first-hand experiences of homelessness. They also have five board members, also with diverse backgrounds.

http://www.familyhomelessness.org/

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

Three local or state organizations or communities of practice that appeal to me:

MnAEYC is a state affiliate of the National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). MnAEYC mission is to promote high quality early childhood opportunities for Minnesota’s young children. They focus on policy and advocacy, professional development and program improvement. This organization appealed to me because they have been a great support system for my school and many others who have been going through NAEYC accreditation. Staff at this organization have been incredibly helpful to early childhood professionals throughout the state by helping them to connect with a variety of important resources to help our young learners.

Recently MnAEYC went through some staffing changes. The job openings are no longer posted, so I believe they have just been filled. Some of the roles at MnAEYC include senior project coordinator, accreditation coordinator, accreditation specialists and more. There are also Board of Directors opportunities as well.

The Institute of Child Development is located within the University of Minnesota. This program focuses on understanding and fostering child development. The Shirley G. Moore Lab School is housed within the institute, allowing researchers to study children enrolled in the program. This agency appeals to me because they are providing important research to early childhood educators and families to help us better understand young minds. Opportunities within these organizations could include conducting research as a staff or student within the University or being employed by the lab school. Teachers at the lab school all have master’s degrees in early childhood education.

The third organization that appeals to me is Minneminds. Minneminds is a statewide campaign focusing on funding for access to high quality early childhood programs. Their mission is to ensure that children are successfully prepared for Kindergarten and life in general. This campaign is of interest to me because they are urging lawmakers and communities to support early childhood education. The current Executive Committee is made up of professionals from various agencies within the community. Minneminds is always looking for additional supporters with a knowledge of early childhood development.

Thank You

A common "sign" the children use at my school is "thank you." Those are two very important words to teach our young children as they recognize the kindness and help they receive from those around them. I want to say "thank you" to all of my colleagues from this course as we have learned about collaboration and communication in the Early Childhood field. Thank you for all of the support and feedback you gave me as I learned ways of becoming a better communicator. I hope many of you will be in my next class: Developing People and Leading Teams. I'm really looking forward to the next few classes which focus on administration, management and leadership. Good luck to everyone!

Adjourning

This week I learned about the five stages of team development. These states include forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012). The final stage, adjourning, is when a project or task has come to an end and the members reflect on their experiences together. When I think about a time when I had to leave a group I think back to when I was a summer camp counselor. I spent the entire summer living and working with 25 other college students as we became very close. When our “mission” came to an end it was a strange feeling having to say goodbye now that our goal was accomplished. Before leaving camp, we hugged, prayed together and agreed to stay in touch with each other and made plans to come back to visit periodically. This group was especially hard to leave because we were practically each other’s families since we lived away from our family and college friends for 10 straight weeks.

I imagine the adjuring stage from this program will look quite different than back when I left my role as a camp counselor. When we finish with our master’s degree we will all feel relief, excitement and will probably be proud of our accomplishments. I would like to share contact information with my colleagues so we will be able to continue communicating once the program is over. It’s always very helpful to have multiple contacts in your field. Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork. These closing rituals are important for continued communication and support.

Resource

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

Conflict Management

Knowing positive ways of solving conflicts is essential for any teacher or administrator. In the early childhood field there are a lot of different people who are working together to do what they think is best for the children in the program. Classes are made of up teachers who serve students from all different types of families, homes and backgrounds. There are bound to be some conflicts arise between parents and teachers from time to time.

I have experienced a few conflicts over the years in my role as a teacher. A time that especially stands out was when one parent was very upset that their child continued to come home talking about how another child was mean to her. The child the girl was talking about was a student with special needs. My co-teacher and I were working very closely with the student with special needs and keeping in very close communication with the student’s parents as we worked to get him support from the local school district. While we worked very hard to eliminate problems between this boy and the other students, it was impossible to prevent all of them. It was especially frustrating to me speaking to the parent who was very upset because there was only so much information I could give her about the little boy. I did not feel like I could give her details such as the fact that he had special needs.

From what I’ve been learning in this course I know that when people are upset, they usually want to be sure that they are heard and understood more so than they want the problem to end. I know that I could compromise, making steps to help her feel better. I could let her know that I would put her child in a separate group whenever possible or pay closer attention to the interactions between the two children. I could repeat back what she was telling me so she know she was being heard and letting her know a little bit of the situation from my observations/perspective.

Colleagues- do you have any other ideas for how I would solve a conflict like this in the future? I look forward to reading your examples as well.