Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The first website that I searched for jobs that I found appealing was Save the Children (http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6226565/k.BA72/Careers.htm#Careers).  The job that I was interested in was an Information and Documentation Specialist for Education and Child Development; this position is responsible for writing and designing promotional materials and organizing events for the organization.  This position is full-time  and requires a minimum of a Masters degree with five to eight years of experience working with children.

The second website that I searched was UNESCO (https://careers.unesco.org/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl). The career opportunity that interested me was the director of the Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.  The requirements are that you have an advanced degree in education or the social sciences and it is preferred that you work for the United Nations or a similar organization for 15 years minimum.  This job is rather far fetched for me as I do not work for the UN and I do not foresee that happening, but this is a job that I would enjoy; Gandhi was such an inspiration for peace and education that it would be an honor to work on this project.

The third website that I reviewed was the UNICEF site (http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_67677.html).  The career that stuck out to me was a temporary position as an education specialist in Sierra Leone.  An advanced university degree is required in the field of education or social sciences.  This job appealed to me because there are so many children and families who need an advocate for them in this region. 

Job Roles in the ECE Community: Federal and National

     One site that I found was http://www.makingthedifference.org/federalcareers/education.shtml.  This is a federal jobs website where you can search by the field that you are interested in.  The job that I thought would be extremely rewarding was a foreign language teacher for the department of defense.  This job requires that you teach military and other government personnel how to speak another language in both a professional capacity as well as personal capacity. 
     A second organization that I found to be interesting was the National Afterschool Organization.  I found this site to be a good resource for my challenge as well because of my focus on latchkey children.  The organization is ran out of Virginia, but their focus is on a national level.  The website is  http://www.makingthedifference.org/federalcareers/education.shtml.
     The third organization that I found to be interesting as far as a career in ECE was the National Parents Council.  This organization focuses on educating the parents of children from all over the U.S. about their rights, best practices that should be used at home to teach responsibility, and many other areas of parenting.  The website for this organization is http://www.npc.ie/npc/page.aspx?pageid=29.

     

    

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

     The first organization that I found on the state level that appealed to me is called Families First.  Here in Georgia, this organization is responsible for helping to provide resources to the homeless families as well as counseling, adoption and foster care services, and resources for young parents to help them be successful.  This organization thrives because of many dedicated volunteers.

http://www.familiesfirst.org/T80-home-page

     The second organization that I found to be very interesting is Georgia's Head Start program.  I actually learned a good bit about this program while in the Master's program because a colleague of mine spoke of it often.  I think that the services that Head Start offers are wonderful and I especially like that the program focuses on the children before they enter school which helps the family as well as the child.

http://www.georgiaheadstart.org/

     The third organization that I found is called Quality Care for Children.  The goal of this non-profit organization is to help families find quality childcare for their children at no cost to the parents.  They also have a food program that aims to provide healthy meals to families who are struggling to put food on the table.  I chose this organization because there are so many families who face these issues daily, but are not aware that help may be available to them.

     One job opportunity that interests me is Curriculum Director for a Head Start program.  If I was not currently working in the classroom, I would choose to work with Head Start in a leadership capacity so I could help the families of younger children and infants.  I think that it is important to make parents aware of the resources that they have available to them before they are in such dire need that they put the safety of their children or themselves in jeopardy. 
     With advances being made to provide the families with the best possible resources, as of September of this year, a coordinator must have a Bachelor's degree or higher with a concentration in early childhood education. 

Reflecting on Learning

     Upon reflection on the field of early childhood and what I hope to be able to accomplish one thing comes to mind- that every child know that they matter, that they know that I believe in them and that I care about them as people.  All too often we as educators get caught up in the daily things such as standardized tests, scores, and things of that nature, but my goal is to let each child know that they matter to me outside of the scores and the testing.
     I want to teach children to be confident in themselves and to have faith in themselves rather than to make excuses; excuses are what you get as a result of a child being frustrated and not getting something.  I know that I cannot go home with the students, but if only one person tells these children that they matter, that they can do whatever it is they aspire to do, that there is no dream out of their reach if they are willing to work hard to get there, then I want that person to be me.
     Thank you to all of my colleagues who I have learned so much from during this course; the course materials are good, but the experiences that we share and the diversity that we bring to the table make this course fantastic!  Thank you to Dr. Shepard for being there when I had questions about things; I also appreciate the feedback on each and every assignment as I feel like your words helped guide me and make me better.  Good luck in the future courses to all of you!

Impact on Early Emotional Development

     I chose to look deeper at China because students here the United States are always compared to the students in China in terms of "quality education".  I was hoping to look at China and see what it is that this country does so differently than we do her in the U.S. to see what may give them the educational advantage.
     One of the things that children of China have to overcome is the natural disasters that strike the country.  The earthquakes and such that strike the country cause such wide spread devastation that it takes the country quite some time to recuperate.  Some children end up without families and homes; finding a way for these children to still receive an education is a challenge that China faces.
     If a child is orphaned due to a natural disaster, I cannot imagine that continuing on with their educational routine would be of the highest importance to them.  Although it would provide them with some sense of normalcy, it would be hard for them to focus on the educational goals in the classroom when they have lost so much.
     As a teacher, I cannot imagine what this child would be facing, but I would be there in any way that I could to help the child.  It would be difficult to lose your home and be concerned with school, but as a teacher, I may be able to help the family by helping the children maintain that routine while the adults sort things out in other areas.  From a personal level, I would want to do all that I could to help the family. 

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

     In response to the question, I think that our country is entirely too sexualized, but especially the younger generations.  As a mother, it is difficult to buy clothes for my child that are not skin tight, too short, or just plain not appropriate for a six year old.  Children today are not allowed to be children long if they want to be considered "cool" because all of the messages sent to them on a regular basis about what cool is and what it should look like.

     Children are constantly presented with pictures of beautiful girls who wear revealing clothing and who act in a provocative manner.  I do not allow my children, who are five and six, to watch anything other than SPROUT or PBS because of the images that the media 
 portrays as "cool".   Movies that are aimed at "tweens" tend to have sexual situations in them that encourage children to view sexual behavior as okay.

There is a child in my fourth grade class who I have had to watch because she comes to school dressed one way and comes into my classroom in something entirely different at least twice a week.  I called the mom and we discussed that her daughter said that the boys think she is a nerd so she had been taking her older sister's clothes and makeup trying to make the boys think that she was cool.  I could not help but think that when I was in fourth grade, I still thought that boys had cooties and that they were odd just because they were boys; I cannot remember trying to empress anyone at such a young age, but especially not with how I dressed. 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

     The -ism that I chose to focus on for this assignment is classism.  I live in a small town in Georgia and all of the schools are now Title I schools.  I grew up in this town and I have lived here most of my life as has my husband; we have chosen to raise our two children here and do not see it as a bad place to be. 
     I have had people that I have known most of my life who I have gone all of the way through school with ask me "what I can teach a child being from this sad little town and choosing to stay here?".  This bothered me because these same people have many children and are staying here while not trying to better themselves by going to college. 
     I believe that the consequence of any -ism that I was facing in my personal life would cause me to question the way that the parents and students thought of me.  It would make me feel unsure of myself to some degree, just as the comment I shared with you had done.  I would worry that the families shared the same ideas as the acquaintances that spoke about and that they questioned my ability to properly teach their children.