Time Well Spent

I can’t believe we all have made it to the end, it seems like it was just a few months ago since the beginning but thank God we are through. Since being at Walden I feel that I have become a better student. I learned so much from my fellow classmates. I really enjoyed reading the blogs because it gave us the chance to express ourselves freely with one another and to share ideas. One long term goal is to see parent/child in which I have provided the necessary resources to receive quality education actually come back to report the success of the program.

Dr. Johnna Darragh, Its has been a pleasure to spend my last class for my Master’s Program with you and my colleagues that have shared in this journey. I have learned quite a bit from the beginning to the end. I wish everyone the best of success and may God bless each of you. Until we meet again .

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The first international community of practice I chose was 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. Recognized for our commitment to accountability, innovation and collaboration, our work takes us into the heart of communities, where we help children and families help themselves (Save the Children, 2011). This organization appeals to me because what they do is part of my role as early childhood educator. Children have rights and to be safe, protected and developed are only a section of their rights.

• Job /Career opportunities:

The job that interests me most is the Emergency Child Protection Adviser

Individuals should be able to Assess, design and guide staff to initiate interventions to address violations of children’s rights to protection from abuse, exploitation, violence and neglect.

The second international community of practice I chose is called Global Respect in Education (GRIN) and can be located at: http://www.grincampaign.com/Home.html. “We are an awareness campaign to promote equality and respect in education, focusing particularly on the LGBTQ community and those who are “just different” primarily in the US and the UK”. This organization was actually founded by a teenager in response to the number of suicides in the UK and the US. I believe this is a great addition to a community of practice geared towards teenagers. It is an awareness campaign and could be of great assistance to other children that are experiencing the same type of bullying, harassment and discrimination that the children involved in the campaign have been through. This organization is geared towards raising awareness through social networking, photographic protests and trying to build allies for the cause. Due to the nature of this organization there are no job posting, only volunteer opportunities.

The third international organization that I have decided to ally with is the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and is located at: http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/home/index.html. “The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is a leading international organization dedicated to human rights advocacy on behalf of people who experience discrimination or abuse on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression”. This organization has been assisting all over the world to include Russia and the Middle East. They have been helping to fight for gay equality, family rights and even fighting against torture and abuse in some countries. This organization advertises ways to support through donations, corporate sponsorship and fundraising. I could not find any information on employment within the organization. There are opportunities for interns and the application process states: To apply to be a Communications and Research Intern in the New York office, please e-mail a cover letter, resume and writing sample (no more than 5 pages) as separate MS Word or PDF attachments to iglhrc@iglhrc.org, with “Internship Program” as the subject header

References:

Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site

Global Respect in Education (GRIN). Retrieved from: http://www.grincampaign.com/Home.html

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Retrieved from: http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/home/index.html

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

This week we were to look for national/Federal organizations that we would want to be a part of. The first organization that came to mind was the National Association for the Education of Young Children , NAEYC. I chose this organization because it is their information that I come across when doing research on the early childhood field. The NAYEC (National Association for young children, n.d.) ” is the largest organization working on behalf of local affiliates and a growing global alliance of like-minded organization.”

The second one is the National Bullying Prevention Center because it has a lot of excellent information and resources on their website. It offers videos, stories, news, and website for children/parents and it also has a petition. There is a link on the website that offers a list of Community events as well. They even offer run, walk, and roll events across the country. It’s a wonderful website that helps brings people together within communities and make something negative into something positive. (National Bullying Prevention)

The final organization that I looked into was the Alliance for Childhood. I chose this organization because they are working towards getting children away from the television and computers along with reducing the amount of high stakes tests that children have to take. Their mission statement is to:

Promote policies and practices that support children healthy development, love of learning and joy in living. Our public education campaigns brings to light both the promise and the vulnerability of childhood. We act for the sake of the children themselves and for a more just, democratic and ecologically responsible future.(Alliance for Childhood, n.d)

References:

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

National bullying prevention center.(2012) http://www.pacer.lorg/bullying

Alliance for Childhood (n.d.) http://www.alliance for childhood.org

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

At least three local or state organizations or communities of practice that appealed to you, and explain why you chose them

One state community of practice that appealed to me is the Learning Labs Initiatives created by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. This foundation, in an effort to improve the well-being and healthy development of children in this country, made a series of strategic and connected investments in promising early childhood initiatives across four states: Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi and Washington. I am a resident of Mississippi and with the Learning Labs Initiative, these philanthropic investments were intentionally connected into a community of practice to advance the specific programmatic innovations, systems change objectives and policy goals of each of these four states, and to extract the valuable lessons learned to inform the national early childhood movement. According to W.K. Kellogg Foundation (2011), “the Mississippi Center for Education Innovation is a new entity, created with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation” (p. 1). “It seeks to meet the three goals of the State Board of Education: 1) reduce the dropout rate to 13% by 2013; 2) reach the national average on national assessments by 2013; and 3) ensure that all students exit 3rd grade reading on grade level by 2020” (W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 2011, p. 1).

The second state community of practice that appealed to me was the “ensuring school readiness” community of practice established by The Southeast Comprehensive Center or SECC. SECC established a regional community of practice (COP) that focuses on ensuring school readiness and success of preschool-age children in the five states in its region. And, Mississippi is one of those states in that region. “This (COP) will provide a forum in which SEA representatives can interact and collaborate with national experts and staffs from other SEAs to learn about research-based and emerging promising practices in the area of school readiness, analyze their state’s use of resources to address this topic, and develop strategies for strengthening connections between services provided through funding sources and K–12 standards and expectations in the state” (The Southeast Comprehensive Center, 2014, p. 1).

School Readiness and Success of Preschool-age Children This COP really appealed to me because the “SECC promises to work with the Mississippi Department of Education’s early childhood coordinator and other staff to develop a plan for a comprehensive early childhood strategy for the state through a process that engages other early childhood stakeholders and program providers, including Head Start, private daycare providers, and others” (The Southeast Comprehensive Center, 2014, p. 1).

The third state/local CoP that appealed to me was the ZERO TO THREE’s Center for Training Services. This training service has been adopted by our local Head Start and Department of Health Centers and ‘ZERO TO THREE’s Center for Training Services is proud to present Sharing the Care: Partnering to Promote Child Well-Being” (Zero To Three, 2012, p. 1). This project consists of 8 interactive, knowledge-building one-hour online lessons, focused on strengthening parent-provider relationships to promote the well-being of very young children. “Each lesson will include activities, vignettes, practical resources and tools to encourage application of the content for cross-sector and multi-disciplinary professionals that work with very young children and their families” (Zero To Three, 2012, p. 1). To provide opportunities that help participants put what they learn into practice, we are including facilitated, virtual Communities of Practice (COP) sessions. “The (COP) encourages cross-disciplinary learning, peer support and collaboration in approaches to partnering with parents to enhance family strengths and promote well-being and healthy early childhood development” (Zero To Three, 2012, p. 1).

References

The Southeast Comprehensive Center (2014). Projects in the State of Mississippi. Retrieved from http://secc.sedl.org/our_work/state_update.php?state=Mississippi

W.K. Kellogg Foundation (2011). Emerging Models for Early Childhood Education and Care. Retrieved from http://205.186.139.237/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Kellogg-Foundation-Learning-Labs1.pdf

Zero To Three (2012). Sharing the Care: Partnering to Promote Child Well – Being. Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/areas-of-expertise/training-and-professional-development/sharing-the-care.html

What have I Learned

The one hope I learned is working with children and families who come from a diverse background because I would want to know about my students and where they come from and the holidays they celebrate. For instance, if I had a Jewish student I would want to learned about the Jewish background as well as their holiday. And if I had a student with a disability problem I would want to try and find way to help this students overcome their disability.

One goal I would like to set for early childhood field that relates to the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to require that all teachers take a course in diversity so they can learn about other cultures, ethnic background and how the role of the family has changed over the years.

Dear Colleagues

I want to take this time to thank everyone for your help during this ling eight week. I have learned a lot from all of you and it has help me grow. I want to wish everyone the best of luck as we continue our journey toward our Master Degree.

Start Seeing DIversity Blog: Creative Art

The images I selected for my blog are pictures of children of different races and ethnic background. I feel since America is a melting pot and the land of races and ethnicities. I feel that all religious holidays should be celebrated and taught in schools in order to have more a diverse education.

Doc2pictures

In today’s society racism and prejudice are still strong.People are not born racist or nor are they born prejudice, but rather these things are taught to children at a young age. I feel if children are taught about races, religious, and ethnic background. I feel that racism and prejudice will decrease. I feel that school need to take the time to celebrate all religious and cultural holidays.

 

week Six Blog We Don’t Say Those Words in Class!

I remember one Christmas morning when I was shopping I seen this woman and her two young boys pointing at an older lady and said hey mom look she has no hair. He began to say mom why she don’t have hair? I thought all women have hair. So the lady told them she lost her hair due to chemotherapy because she was sick. The mother apologized for her boys rude question and the lady said she understood because many people come up to her and asked her what happen. The lady had also taught in kindergarten and she knew first hand that young children are curious. When the lady left out the store the boys mother told them it’s not nice to stare at other people or is it polite to ask question because some people do not like talking about things that personal. The message that have been communicated to the boys where it’s a time when it is inappropriate to ask personal questions because some people don’t like to share personal information.

An example of how an anti bias education might have responded to support the classrooms understanding is to explain that people  are different and that some people are private people and so not like to explain their personal lives to strangers. I also feel it is important to talk to a child and not yell at a child because yelling does not help a situation. I also feel that parents need to praise their child for things they do correctly not just when they do things wrong.

Week Three Gender, Gender Identitiy and Sexual Orientation

Week Three of the Diversity, Development and Learning course is under way. This week we continue to tackle isms in light of learning the impact of family influence along with isms. We read and discussed racism, sexism and heterosexism or homophobia in this week content. Our assignment call for us to choose two questions or scenarios to responds to regards to the topic as you will see below. I chose these two questions to respond to A. some of the ways you noticed  the homophobia and heterosexism permeate the world of young children including books, movies, toys, stores, culture of early childhood center and school. B. your response to those who believe that early childhood  centers should avoid  the inclusion of books depicting gays and lesbian individuals such as same-sex  partnered families.

First of all we live in an ever-changing society with individual  of varying  genders, races, ethnicities, cultures and sexual orientations. Therefore , the dynamic of families  have changed and expanded in a variety of ways. This will impact the children who are in your classroom each days and each year as they are raised in families of variety of styles. In last week multimedia presentation, There’s so many different  ways to be a family.” It doesn’t matter who in the family, but it matter that you love and took care of them. That’s a family,”(Laureate Education, Inc, n.d). There can be a dingle parent or two parent families, racially mixed families, extended families blended families and families with two mothers or two fathers.

Based upon this understanding, educators and professionals must recognize that there is limited literature and examples of promoting, accepting and appreciating all types of families in society. Allowing educators to teach children about all types of relationship, identities and families will allow your  child a positive, nurturing and fulfilling opportunity, for development in the Early Childhood Years. As I known this topic can be controversial, I am passionate about equal rights for all and truly stand by my belief that all individual should have the right to marry and create families with whomever they fit.

Reference

laureate Education, Inc. (n.d) Retrieved from

http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com

Week 8 Reflecting on Learning

Over the past eight weeks, I have continue to learn about anti-bias education and it’s importance in early childhood education. I work in an childcare center in Mound Bayou, MS and I can tell you that from my experience, anti-bias education is not something that is practice. I feel anti-bias education is so important to the positive self image and development of our children.

I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read and comment on my blog week after week. I learn not only from my instructor but from the interactions of each of my classmates. Thank you and I wish you all well in your journeys.

week 7 Impact on Early emotional Development

I chose the are of West and Central Africa to study more in depth about its children and what they are facing. I have always wanted to more about Africa, because I know it is one of the areas of the world, where the children are suffering the most and are in the most critical condition. This assignment has really open my eyes about how easy it is leaving in the United States and how we take things for granted, and we do not understand what it is like to live without things, even the basic things and how it would affect our lives like the children in Africa.

Living in Africa is very challenging for the children and families there just to strive from day to day. Malaria is a disease carried by mosquitos that is extremely life threatening to the people and children of Africa. Since 2003 more than 10 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets have been given to people of Kenya (UNICEF,2008). While Sleeping under the treated nets, 67% of children under the age of 5 years old are surviving longer. One of the most common challenges fro children in West and Central Africa is the lack of immunization. Without the immunizations and shots the disease and sicknesses are spreading rapidly throughout the villages among the children and families. These children are just trying to survive from day to day they are not focusing on their education and development. For these children and their families, they are more worried about when  their next meal  is going to come or getting a net to help stay away from the mosquitos. Children of Africa are living in drastic times and through drastic experiences like watching the people they love die from AIDS or Malaria. These families and children need to be able to have access to resources to supply their basic needs, before they are ale to focus on improving their emotional and developmental well-being.

We live our daily and most of the time we are focusing on ourselves and not even thinking about people in other parts of the worlds, because it is not affecting us personally. But  now after this assignment I would love to further study about the children of Africa. Again, I think we take living in the United States for granted and really do not understand what it is like to live without resources. It is so sad to me that the children in Africa and around the world are dying extremely young just due to the lack of food, water, and medical supplies. If everyone in the United States, including celebrities and athletes, put a 10th of their income towards helping children from Africa.

Professionally, after studying the UNICEF website it makes me want help the children of West and Central Africa, but I know there are steps that need to be taken first. I want to continue my education to improve my knowledge and understanding of how to honestly improve the lives of our children worldwide. I want to look into resources through UNICEF and other organizations to change these children lives.  With all the resources in the world, there is no reason why children all over the world are suffering this much or at all.

References:

The State of Africa’s Children (2008). Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org