A Final Farewell to my Walden friends

Three deep felt learnings from this program:

1.      Respect is a vital part of all communication. You need to have respect to build trust and trust to build a relationship.  Through this class I have learned to look inward and understand my place in the world and how my experiences have influenced my perceptions.  I have learned about what I have to say to better understand how it my be heard by someone with different values and cultural them myself.  I have learned to use language that is inclusive of all families.

2.      Education is a commitment to continual improvement.  Through this program I have gained the skills to research and review article in my field tha twill help me to stay current on best practices in early childhood education.  I have learned that education is simply a choice to keep learning and improving.

3.      I have learned that anything is possible.  My collaborating with others in this field I now know that great things can be accomplished.  Together we are stronger than any single person or agency.

 My long-term goal

            My goals are to mentor new teachers in this field through my work at Head Start.  I hope to continue to move up in responsibility within my agency and perhaps one day work for Head Start on the Federal level.

Farewell Message

 

We have all been together on a wonderful journey that has consumed the last almost two years.  It seems so long ago that we started out and I remember looking at the list of classes and wondering how I would ever accomplish all of that while working full-time and still spend time with my family.  I took a picture of my Granddaughters when I started school and I kept it as my computer screen saver to help remind me how quickly we were algrowing. 

Here are the same two girls 22 months later

 

To Dr. Terri Davis, thanks for all our help in fine tuning my APA.  Thanks for putting up with all my questions about the project and your feedback.  I have enjoyed this class and you are an awesome teacher. 

As Nelson Mandela once said, “ It only seems impossible until its done”.

NAFSA

Association of international Educators is a nonprofit organization that focuses in all areas on international education.  NAFSA studies trends and impacts in education on an international level.  They look at how other countries are educating their students and what percent of those students end up coming to the United States.  There are some interesting job categories listed on the website, however you had to pay to post your resume and see the specifics of the jobs.

International Early Childhood Education Foundation (ICF)

ICF has an international early education service that began in India in 2007, to combat some of the dramatic changes that were happening in early childhood education at that time. Changes included updating national standards, developing a national licensing and accreditation system, a child care and resource system as well as professional development system

UNESCO

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Is an organization that was developed in 1945 to work towards lasting peace through moral and humane solidarity.  Currently they have positions available for teachers in many countries including China and Russia.  A job that specifically interested me was working in Africa in the field of AIDS education.  There were also positions working in the field of gender equality as well.  The average age for a worker in this organization is under 32.  I am a little too old to be starting a new career in world education but it is a very interesting project.

 

Reference

http://www.nafsa.org/Explore_International_Education/Trends/TI/Regionalism_and_Higher_Education/

http://en.unesco.org/themes/education-for-all

http://www.icfi.com/markets/education/campaigns/early-education-institute

National and Internation Jobs in the Early CHildhood Field

UNICEF

UNICEF is a wonderful organization that fights for the rights of impoverished children and families in countries across the world.  I would be very interested in working for UNICEF.  Currently there are short term positions available in the education field in many countries.  Unfortunately the websites says that they receive many more applications than they have availability for placement.  Skills for this job would depend on the place and issue that you are working towards resolving.   For me that might include a degree in education as well as experience working with families of different cultures

International Child Resource Institute

A program I found interesting on a national level is the International Child Resource Institute.  This program helps to promote a world where all communities have the resources to reduce poverty (International Child Resource Institute, 2013).  They work in grass roots community efforts to alleviate the effects of poverty on families.  There is currently a marketing internship available. A person needs to have a commitment to world issues and a desire to better the lives of children and families, which I have.  You also have to be interested in building your experience to include consulting work in many developing countries.

National Head Start

Working for National Head Start would be a terrific job for me.  Currently there are positions available in the Education State Center for National Head Start.  To be successful in this position, I would need a back ground education in earlychildhood education as well as a master’s degree or doctorate in the field.  I would also need much experience working with diverse populations and have an understanding of how Head Start functions and their mission in this field.

References

International Child Resource Institute. (2013). our vision. Retrieved from http://www.icrichild.org/our-vision/

National Head Start. (2013). Job board. Retrieved from http://www.nhsa.org/?e=jobBoard.detail&job_board_id=1342

UNICEF. (2013). Employment. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_internship.html

 

Communities of Practice

The first community of practice that I would like to join would be the Shasta County Local Child Care Planning Council.  This group meets monthly to discuss the issues that are facing our local preschools and childcare programs (Shasta County Local Child Care Planning Council,2013).  I was a member of the Trinity County Local Child Care Planning Council before I moved.  In order to be part of this community, I would need to be nominated for an available space by someone from my agency.  The skills necessary are an interest in children’s issues in the county.

The second community of practice I would like to be a part of is the Berkley Media Studies group.  This group works together to bring issues that affect children in poverty to the fore front of media attention(.  That attempt to influence policies and work to promote public health through issues such as violence prevention, health equity, and children’s issues (Berkeley Media Studies Group, 2013). The people in this group are paid employees, with the exception of the intern positions.  This could be an area that I might consider employment after I complete my degree.

Another Community of Practice group that I currently belong to is the online Mind in the Making group.  We use this group to discuss issues that face educators when helping children reach their full potential (Galinsky, 2012).. The group is based on the book by Ellen Galinsky.  Currently, as with the most early childhood programs, the focus is on how high quality preschool benefits children and how we are going to ensure that all children have access to it .

A job in early childhood that I would be interested in, is the early childhood specialist for Region  IX, Head Start.  Although this job is located in San Francisco, it involves travel throughout Northern California.  This position provides support and training assistance to Head Start in Northern California.

Another job I would be interested in (if it were available) would be the assistant director of Shasta Head Start.  I feel that with my 20 plus years of experience, I have a lot to offer the agency.  Add to that the knowledge of systems and management techniques I have learned at Walden, and I feel I could help see our agency into the next challenges that face us.

I would also be interested in the Shasta County Office of Education Early Childhood Services director.  This position oversees all of the State P-Ks in Shasta County.  This is another position I feel my experience and education have prepared me for.

References

Berkeley Media Studies Group. (2013). About us.

Galinsky, E. (2012). Mind in the making. Retrieved from http://mindinthemaking.org/

Shasta County Local Child Care Planning Council. (2013). Local child care planning council. Retrieved from http://www.shastacoe.org/page.cfm?p=3147&pback=2642

Wordle

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/6449783/Early_Childhood_Passion_Walden

So long for now!

I have learned so much from everyone in this master’s group.  It has been a wonderful experience learning how other programs and other centers run.  Reading the posts from everyone each week, I know that this is truly an amazing group of inspired and brilliant professionals.  I have enjoyed reading everyone’s blog each week and looking at the pictures that some of you posted throughout the program.

It is exciting to think that we will be moving on to our individual specialties next. Wow it’s almost over.  I know that for me, the idea of completing this program was overwhelming and here we are preparing for the final chapter.  I wish everyone the very best in all that you do. Please know that your insights and comments have helped me grow as a professional and a person, and I hope I have done the same for you.  I’m sure I will see many of you in the administration and leadership specialty.

Five Stages of Team Development, Adjournment

In adjourning a team, we hopefully have reached the common goal and completed the project that the group was formed to solve (Abudi, 2010).  For some of the less productive groups I have been involved in the adjournment phase came quickly and quietly and we all left with mixed feelings about the group and the completion of the project.

Adjournments of highly productive groups are something different.  I have been part of many IEP teams that were drawn together for just a short period of time but we all worked together to meet the needs of the child in our class.  Adjournment of these meetings left us feeling content that we had all worked as a group to find the best solution to a problem.

I think I will miss the camaraderie that happens in the Walden discussion posts and blogs.  I have recently begun to think about life beyond school as we head into the home stretch of our degree.  I have been going to school continually for the last 5 years.  I’m not sure what I will do with all the free time when I do not have blogs and discussion posts to read and answer or articles to read and write about.  I hope that we all leave this group with that feeling on contentment that we have completed a project to the best of our abilities and are ready to move on to the next chapter.

References

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html