Time Well Spent

Time Well Spent - Hallelujah!

As I contemplate the achievement of this degree the words of an old-time gospel song rings through in my mind.  “For every mountain, you’ve brought me over, for every valley you’ve seen me through. For every blessing, Hallelujah, for this I give you praise” (Carr, 1999). So right now I just want to shout, “Hallelujah”!

One of the things I have learned in this program was the importance of effective communication. There may be times when you have to be the presenter of bad news so the method of delivery is very important. Also if you want others to ‘buy in’ to your vision and mission you must be adept at communicating it in a way that others will be eager to join in. Another deeply felt learning for me was the recognition and utilization of resources. I had considered resources to consist of things available to be used, but I now realized that the greatest resources are usually the people around you. These people should be recognized and rewarded for the integral part they play in your professional life regardless for how small that part may seem. The final deeply felt learning that I will share at this time is the style of leadership and the pros and cons of them all. It is important for me to know what type of leadership skills I possess so that I can best collaborate with the people who will be working with me. I have also learned that it is important to be flexible in my style of leadership and willing to adjust as the situation dictates.

My greatest long term goal is to open up an early childhood center of my own in the next five to ten years. I am so thankful for Walden University for helping me with this huge step towards making this goal a reality. I am hoping to transfer to the early childhood division of my school this September, where I will be able to achieve hands on experience on the day-to-day running of an early childhood center.

I am so excited to post this final blog. I’m already wondering what I will be doing with all of the extra time I’ll have this summer with no more discussions to post and papers to write. I’d like to say thank you for all of my fellow students who have made this journey easier. Trevor, thanks for your discussions which were usually short, to the point, and devoid of ramblings. Heidi, thanks for your sense of humor, and your quirky way with words you always made me smile. Thank you for those of you who asked questions that I wanted to ask and thus helped me get the necessary answers. I would like to say a special thank you to my professors for their assistance as I completed this journey. I would like to say a special thank you, Dr. Embree, the professor for foundations of Early Childhood education, for your patience and words of encouragement. I wanted to give up as I felt overwhelmed with the amount of work required but now I can look back and say I have made it thanks in part to you. I would also like to say a final thank you Dr. Johnna Darragh-Ernst for challenging me to step up my writing skills and to give my best.

I pray for God’s richest blessing on all of you as we move on to achieving our goals and making a difference in the field of early childhood in our communities and around the world.  

P.S.

I am leaving my contact information if any of you plan to visit the beautiful Bahama islands, feel free to contact me if you would like to get the local feel of the island.

moniquehepburn11@gmail.com

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

The UNICEF organization appealed to me as I learned about their work with children with disabilities. As an integral part of their work, they sought to protect the rights of children with disabilities through a focus on equity. One of their mission is to recognize and eliminate the causes of inequality so that children especially those who are deprived for reasons such as disability (UNICEF, n.d.).

Save the Children

This organization focuses on caring for the children of the world. They impact the lives of many children by teaching their families and communities to be self-sufficient. Another focus of this organization is to provide relief for children after significant disasters and severe crises have occurred in their country realizing that children have unique concerns in such situations. Save the children is equipped to provide rapid assistance in an effort to help children to recover from the damaging effects they receive during times of war, and conflict or due to natural disasters that occur (Save the Children, 2011).   The organization also commits to work with communities in order to help children access quality healthcare and education as well as to keep them safe from harm (Save the Children, 2011).

United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

UNESCO promotes the provision of education as a right for all humans. The organization supports the belief that a high-quality education should be accessible to children everywhere. As a result, UNESCO undertakes global leadership in education and seeks to strengthen the education systems around the world with a focus on education for all children regardless of gender (UNESCO, 2011). This focus encompasses all levels of education from early learning to tertiary.

Job Opportunities:

Education Officer

Country: Sri Lanka

Job Description: provide technical operational and administrative assistance for education projects and facilitating the development, execution, monitoring, assessment, and reporting of programs (United Nations Children’s Fund, n.d.).

Education: A University Degree in education, psychology, sociology or other social science field is required.

Technical Knowledge: A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in management in Early Childhood Education and social development planning.  

Language Skills: Fluency in English as well as the knowledge of other official UN language is an asset.

Senior Education Adviser

Country: Sierra Leone

Job Description: Maintain technical operations and oversee the implementation of the save the children educational program in Sierra-Leone’s four districts. Act as liaison between Sierra Leone’s education program and that of Save the Children. The advisor will also develop an Ebola Education Strategy in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, donors, and other partners to ensure that the education strategy of Save the Children is ready to support the and meet the goal of supporting and building the education system after such a crisis (Save the Children, 2011).

Education: Minimum of a BSc/BA/BEng in Social Work, Human rights Law, International Relations, Developmental Studies or equivalent field experience (Save the Children, 2011).

Technical Knowledge: Excellent management and communication skills.

Language Skills: Fluency in written and spoken English and experience in proposal writing

References

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6146355/k.24E9/Who_We_Are.htm

United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2011). Retrieved from http://en.unesco.org/themes/education-21st-century

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/

There are numerous organizations that deal with early childhood education. The first that appealed to me was the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI). This organization envisions a society that focuses on the success of all children. The mission of NBCDI is to “improve and advance the quality of life for Black children and their families through education and advocacy” (National Black Child Development Institute, 2017). NBCDI is driven by educating and enabling parents, improving childcare, and ensuring that funding and resources are equally available for all children as they seek to implement their policies, programs, and activities (National Black Child Development Institute, 2017). A job opportunity that is available within NBCDI is that of policy director. The successful individual applying for this position must be knowledgeable on policies that affect young Black children and their families. Applicant must also have great research skills along with written or oral communications skills as well as have the necessary skills to analysis policies and understand legal and regulatory provisions found in policies. The applicant must be able to lead teams and should have a graduate degree and minimal of three years of experience (National Black Child Development Institute, 2017). 

Qualified educators who love children are a critical component in ensuring high-quality early children programs. An organization that has a focus on supporting professionals in the early childhood field was the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This organization seeks to support high-quality early learning by establishing a strong connection with early childhood procedures, the policies that guide the profession and research (NAEYC, n.d.).  NAEYC is advertising for a Global Engagement Project Manager to manage their international projects and ensure completion. Duties include the management of the designs and development of ongoing projects and providing information, guidance and technical assistance for global programs (NAEYC, n.d.). The successful applicant will also be required to implement strategies that will support the mission of the association. The ability to supervise and liaison with other team members is critical to this position. In order to meet the requirements of the job, the applicant will need to have an understanding of database systems as well as early childhood education and best practices (NAEYC, n.d.).

With the goal of opening up my own private early childhood program, the Professional Association of Childhood Educators (PACE) which is committed to providing tools and support to early childhood caregivers and professionals through education and the provision of networking is the third organization that resonated with me. With PACE my program personnel will have a specific location to network with other professionals by sharing ideas and techniques and keeping up-to-date with current policies and licensing regulations. PACE also brings programs that help their members can grow professionally by improving their teaching strategies and management skills (PACE, n.d.). With memberships in the PACE organization, the personnel at my program will be able to contribute to the advancement of early childhood education.

References

National Association for the Education of Young Children (n.d.).  Retrieved from: http://www.naeyc.org/

National Black Child Development Institute (2017). Retrieved from: https://www.nbcdi.org/who-we-are

Professional Association of Childhood Educators (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://www.paceca.org/who-we-are.html

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

There are many organizations and communities of practice in the early childhood field that appeals to me. In Florida, three of these organizations include the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County, the Children’s Forum and The National Black Child Development Institute. The Early Learning Coalition of Broward County appealed to me as their visions mirror my own with the provision of high-quality education to all children to assure their preparation to enter kindergarten and then elementary ready to learn.

The Children’s Forum appealed to me because of the myriads of services they provide through collaboration with other supporting organizations. I liked that their focus is on children, families, and early childhood professionals. They offer professional development and workforce initiatives for professionals in the field, quality improvement for early childhood programs, through the promotion and management of the Gold Seal Quality Care program, and the Help Me Grow system that provides families with early identification of developmental delays and links to community-based services and supports.

Finally, I was impressed by the focus on the strengths and unique needs of the black community. Their theme on the prudence of developing strong children rather than trying to rehabilitate damaged men based on a quote by Frederick Douglass caught my attention.  As I have been blessed to succeed, it is my duty and privilege to give back to my community.

An available position in the field that interests me is Child Development Specialist. This job requires an individual who will contribute to the evaluation and assessment of children’s functioning in areas such as cognitive, social-emotional, and motor development et cetera. Leadership skills would be needed as the preferred applicant will be required to coordinate the planning and provision of early intervention services as needed and the interpretation of the results of the evaluation to the families. Requirements for the position include a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in early childhood with three years experience and possessing the knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices and techniques.

                                                                                    

Goodbye and God Bless!

Adieu….

It has been a pleasure working with all of you, my colleagues. I have learned to appreciate the diversity within this cohort group as together we have forged paths towards our various goals. We may not have always agreed or seen eye to eye on the parts, but then come together in agreement on the sum of the matter. It is also rewarding to see us all come one course closer to our goals. I have enjoyed reading the different perspectives that come out in our discussion, perspectives that I perhaps never would have employed and I have especially enjoyed the laughs that many of your blog posts have engendered.

With the skills that we have learned and hopefully developed, it is my prayer that we will all continue making a positive impact on the children and the families that we serve and perhaps the world.

Success to us all!!!!

On the Adjournment!

The hardest group that I had to adjourn from was the one where there was a great sense of cohesion and unity. It consisted of a group of educators in the early learning field who were given the task to demonstrate practical uses of play for the benefit of the students.  The group was well organized with effective leadership, excellent communication, and clear goals. Friendships were formed as we had common individual goals and beliefs as well. As we adjourned we exchanged contact information and promises to keep in touch. To date, this was the best professional group that I have had the privilege of being a part of.

As I anticipate the adjournment stage of this master’s degree group of colleagues I believe it will be bitter-sweet. While I have not met any of my colleagues physically, we have bonded over our common goals of love for children and the desire to better ourselves and therefore it will be a little sad to come to the end. It will also be a joy to say goodbye, however, as it will mean that I am one step closer to the goals I have given myself. Adjourning is an essential stage in teamwork as it is during this stage that the team members can reflect on the successes and failures of the group. Reflection provides an opportunity to see what could have been done better, as well as which methods worked well and could be repeated. So although adjourning could be difficult sometimes it is essential to effective teamwork. 

Conflict Resolution

I am not any conflicts and have not had any in recent times that may be relevant to this discussion. I will, therefore, share one that I have witnessed between two of my colleagues. I have seen them give each other the ‘silent treatment’ for five days because of a disagreement over the balancing of their workloads. One strategy that could have helped to resolve the conflict more productively would have been honest communication. As they confided in me separately I realized that they were not aware of some things that were being experienced and felt among them. I could see that one individual was using the “Escapist strategy” and was simply avoiding the issue. This may help to resolve the conflict eventually as time passes and they go about their activities the workloads may be forgotten. This may not be long lasting, however, as when they have to work together again this same old may again be an issue.

One conflict resolution strategy that I feel could be effective in this situation would be for them to consider the importance of the outcome (O’Hair & Weimann, 2015). They could look at the long-range goal of getting the job done, and divide the workload fairly between the two individuals confirming that everyone is aware of their responsibilities. With this agreement, everyone would know what is expected of them.  A second strategy could be to debate and argue (O’Hair & Weimann, 2015). In the situation, neither of the two parties knew how the other was feeling. If they had argued openly about it hurt feelings would have been aired. As questions were asked they would have to be answered and again information would be passed on so both persons would know how much the other had to do and the scale could be balanced.

Reference

O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J.  (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.