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

http://www.aecf.org/MajorInitiatives/KIDSCOUNT.aspx

The first organization I looked up was Kids Count- The Annie E. Casey Foundation. This foundation is a private charitable organization that has a focus on public policies, and providing community supports for children and families who are vulnerable.  States, cities and neighborhoods can get grants from the Foundations to help respond to the needs of the community.

One Job that I found interesting was in Washington DC a Program Associate, Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.  The Program Associate works with the Grade-Level Reading staff and they track the work of the grantees and is a consultant.  They also coordinate communication and outreach activities. The minimum qualifications are to hold a BA in human services, social work or a related field, they also want you to be started in some kind of postgraduate work.  Also, candidates should have 3-5 years of community based experience.

http://www.dec-sped.org/index.aspx

Next, I looked that the Division of Early Childhood (DEC) to see what kinds of jobs you could find through their website.  I found one that looks really interesting, however a lot more schooling would be necessary.  It requires a doctorate degree in one of the following areas: child development, developmental psychology, clinical child psychology, family studies, or a related field. Also, you must have an interest in working in diverse early childhood settings.

The DEC is a division of the CEC-Council for Exceptional Children. The CEC is dedicated to providing the best educational outcomes for people with disabilities.  The division of the DEC focuses on the work with children from birth to age eight.

http://www.nccp.org/

As I was searching through organizations I kept coming across organizations that really focused on families and children living in poverty.  I came across The National Center for children in Poverty (NCCP) it is a public policy center wanting to provide positive outcomes for the following generations.  They focus on economic security, health and the well being of low-income children and their families.

Currently, they have one job posted.  But I would assume that with time they would have more. As of right now they are looking for Research Scientist. They are looking for someone with a Ph. D or equivalent in the following fields: sociology, economics, public health, public policy or a related discipline.  Also, they would like 5 years of experience. Another important qualification is being proficient statistical software. 

I am surprised when I research organization that are working with the wellbeing of children is how many other fields relate back to early childhood.  For example, a lot of these organizations want research scientist or even business people.  It is a great reminder that you need people with all different skill sets to create the most effective organizations.  

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

The first place I went to look is our local ESD office, which is located in the town I live in.  I often use this website for professional development opportunities and to find local organizations to help my families that I work with. For this assignment I looked at the ESD and specifically the Southwest Washington Child Care Consortium (SWCCC).  The consortium is the largest community-run childcare system in the United States; the consortium is made up of our local Educational Service District 112 and local businesses, educators and civic leaders.

http://web3.esd112.org/swccc

Job opportunities are a plenty with this consortium because they sever more than 1,600 children and employ 200 people. There is several teachers’ assistant position where you need to have at least twenty hours of early childhood credits.  There is one position to work for the local ESD as a childcare training specialist. Where the minimum qualification are to have an AA degree or 90 quarter hours and working towards your degree in ECE, elementary education or a related field.  You also need two years experiences working with children AND being the director of a childcare center.  They would prefer a bachelor’s degree, experience in adult training and knowledge of Early Achievers program.




The next organization is DEL (the Department of Early Learning for Washington State).  I often reference this website, especially for their early learning checklist.  The strive to focus on the earliest years in children's communities, which includes childcare, school and homes. They provide a wide range of information to teachers and parents to help create a safe, nurturing and healthy learning environment for all children.

http://www.del.wa.gov/ 

They have a few jobs that are posted; several jobs have to do with technology within the department.  However, there are two postings one for early learning and childcare licensing administrator and one for child care center licensor.

The childcare center licensor requires a bachelors degree, prior licensing or CPS experience, ability to manage a large amount of work, use web-based applications and to type.


The early learning and childcare licensing administrator requires a bachelor’s degree in sociology, education, early learning, or public administration. It requires experience in managerial work preferably in the state government. Experience and knowledge of several policies and project within the Washington state system and ability to manage conflict.


The third organization I found was SELF (Support for Early Learning & Families).  This is a new organization and it looks pretty wonderful.  It is a partnership organization and their mission is to help create a community where all children can thrive.  They have participation from educators, health and mental health, preschool and childhood programs and professionals.

http://www.selfwa.org/

Their career council section has information regarding job training and information to be an occupational therapist, SLP and physical therapist, which links to our local Innovated Service NW.  For any of those positions that are currently listed you would need your degree (Masters) in one of those fields. 


I think that it is important to constantly look up organizations and agencies that are available in your areas.  Often there might be merging of a variety of organizations.  Most importantly it gives you an idea of services that you may be able to hook your parents up with.  Often my parents want to know where they can locate services and sometimes I am at a loss, so doing this simple exercise has allowed me to explore what is out there.

From Passion to Action

Reflecting on Learning

My most passionate hope for early childhood is that pre-schools become more inclusive of those with varying abilities and that teachers are more open to the idea.  I know the idea is great to have this inclusive pre-school where all different types of children and families are represented, but the truth is is that is is hard.  Some students can be challenging, especially when you are trying to figure out all their uniqueness's.   My hope that is teachers use their resources, talk with the community/friends/families and remember to breath because you will figure out how you can best support the child in your classroom.

I am very impressed this semester how everyone has really jumped on board with anti-biased education.  I am proud to be apart of our learning community and I am excited that everyone will be out in our world teaching our most precious children. We are really in the home stretch now and I am sure some of you are getting ready to start up another great year hopefully with lots of new ideas and plans for your students. 

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

I chose to look at China and South East Asia because I have taught and traveled in those areas.  Traveling to countries that were so outside of my comfort zone really opened up my world to life outside of my own. 

After exploring the website it was clear that a big challenge children face is physical abuse and even sexual abuse.  It was reported that 1 in 10 children experience abuse that resulted in a physical injury and sometimes up to 33% of children are suffering. Nearly 9% of children are suffering from severe phycial abuse, or 1 and 4 children, this might include, beatings with fists or implements.  There was also a report stating between 14-30% of girls and boys have been sexually abused, forced intercourse (UNICEF, 2012).

These experiences can have a negative impact on children's emotional well being.  The damage can last a lifetime, children who suffer abuse, neglect, and re exploited are more likely to be depressed.  They also may experience mental health problems, attempt suicide, and may engage in high risk behaviors (UNICEF, 2012).

My personal experience was while I was in Vietnam. I never witnessed physical abuse in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos or Cambodia but what I did witness was manual labor.  I saw people paying children to message their feet or carry wood for miles out in the villages.  It was interesting when people paid for services, because to me they should have known better.  In the villages it was their way of life, I understand helping out the family but it was a bit much to me.  Although, it is hard for me to understand because it is not a culture that I am apart of.  So I guess this goes to show how much we have to learn about others. I hope that I can continue to travel and be opened up to new insights.

Resource:

UNICEF, (2012). "Child Maltreatment: Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences: A Systematic Review of Research, ." Retrieved http://www.unicef.org/eapro/Child_Maltreatment.pdf>.

Week 6- The Sexualization of Early Childhood

I have often thought about the topic of sexualization of early childhood, perhaps because I was exposed to many shocking comments or behaviors.  It is shocking to read some of the scenarios, but when I think back to my childhood I think that all those things did happen.  The biggest thing that I have noticed over the years is what girls are wearing and toys that children are playing with.  In the article there was a fourth grade girl writing a love letter, though I do not think this is untypical, I believe that her comments were untypical (even though they were not all shared).  I can remember having “boyfriends” in Elementary school but there was nothing sexual about it, I was still wearing stretch pants in the 5^th grade and would have cried if I had to wear something uncomfortable (like a short skirt).  Girls dress so proactive to me now a days, I want to cover them up.  But it comes from the messages they are receiving from the media (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). I thought about all the media messages that we receive even as an adult. I thought about how when you get to be in your upper twenties or thirties that people expect you to get married, even close friends have said to me “when are you getting married?”  And I always respond, “not until I am sure.”  There is this expectation to get married and have babies and not I try and filter through if it really is something that I want or if I am feeling just the societal pressure (but I am sure that I do want all of this, just not as fast as some people go after it). So of course young girls feel they need to live up to something because it is ingrained in our culture to always be wanting for the perfect body/clothing/boyfriend/relationship/job, etc. 

I have so many examples…

- When I was in high school I worked at an after school program.  Each day we ate lunch with our students and a 4^th grade girl was going on diet because she felt fat and that no one would like her that way.

- A student of mine started to sing “All the single ladies” and then would do a dance and would shake her booty (she would say “I am shaking my booty).  My cheerleading in high school was not this proactive and she is only 5.

- I also have a student who is so attracted to violence, which he wants to act out.  He is five and has Autism, he has a very difficult time filtering though what is expected vs. unexpected.  His father allows him to watch adult movies, movies that are PG-13 or R. He is only five.  His mother has talked with his father about this and he doesn’t see the problem, even with the example of him acting out in the classroom.  He is not intentionally trying to hurt someone but he ends up punching a teacher or a student and then will say it was in the movie. 

I can see the negative impact on children right in front of me.  I can see the skewed views of expectations vs. reality.  Children think that one thing is okay and then being told that it isn’t.  For the little girl singing the song and doing the booty dance.  I showed her a cheer that was appropriate to do at school.  Then I got her to make up her own dance to a song in our classroom, and no, in her own dance she did not do a booty dance.  We talked about the words in her song and I said that is wasn’t appropriate for school.  As for the little boy and violence, his mom talks with me about it and has handled the situation by providing his father with examples.  She says that it might take him awhile to understand. 

As the school year is about to start up, I think that I will pay close attention to where a child may have gotten something.  I feel very out of the loop, in regards to toys and children’s TV shows.  I think that I need to take the time to familiarize myself so that I can react more appropriately to my students. 

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

Week 5- Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

There are always consequences of peoples actions.  I have experiences some sort of ageism at my school for being so young from an older male teacher.  It is constant, until I recently told him I thought that his comments were not funny (ignoring them did not work, good reminder to be a more open communicator). His comments about how young I was made me feel at times that I was not "old enough" to hold the position that I have (negative consequence), however it did make me feel that he has no idea what he is talking about (positive consequence) and that I know what I am doing (and I would never treat a person that way.   

When -isms show up it is mind-consuming, so I was spending less time thinking about teaching. I thought about his words often for along time and about what I could do differently to make him change his mind.  Then I realized I need to do nothing differently (besides tell him to stop) to change who I was to make someone else see me differently.  I am who I am (a very young looking teacher). 
Having experience gives us examples when we are working with young children and their families.  It is interesting that I have never had a parent question my age, however it was not until this year that they really started to ask me for advice with their children.  I am not a parent, but I do have some pretty great experiences that I like to share with people.  Most often when parents are really concerned with their child's academic progress I tell parents about my brother.  He has severe dyslexia (ex. didn't read his first book until college) and he just graduated with his Masters from Tulane University (proud sister). My story about him seems to give the parents just a little glimpse into my life and how we are are all so different from one another, we have no idea people's stories until we ask or find out. 

I could not imagine what it might feel like for a family or a child to experiences racism or class-ism.  From my experiences I thin that it would play havoc on my emotions and certainly it would be more difficult to perform at work.  When you feel inferior about something it an be more than difficult to try an prove yourself, because often the person who you are trying to prove yourself to has their mind made up.  Not to say that you cannot help teach everyone around you.  I think that if people around me were having such stereotypes it would be so hard for me to come into school everyday.  Teachers are not just supported from their co-workers but also from their parents (I could not imagine if they had stereotypes against me).  I think that physically it would wear me out and I would feel incompetent to do my job. 

So, if I think about my reaction, I could not imagine what young children and their families potentially could be thinking.  Especially, if you think about a child's performance at school.  If I think that it would emotionally, physically and cognitively wear me down... it probably would do the same for them.  This is SUCH an excellent reminder of how important anti-biased education is for our communities.