Final Post

Time Well Spent

One deeply felt learning experience in this program was in Week 5 when we were
reviewing leadership styles. I did not know of all the different learning styles. I did learn that I am a mixture of multiple leadership styles - people-oriented, servant and transformational. What I will need to work on is combining all three styles to provide a quality program and Community of  Practice team to advocate for early childhood. The second is taking a step back and truly looking at the problem that I want to fix within the early childhood program. The educational impact and healthy issue that could arise from eliminating free-play in the daily routines of young children has hit home with my 7 year old niece. The problem is not only professional,
but personal. The third deeply felt thing from this course is the interaction with colleagues and learning about each individual's passion and challenge.

A long term goal would be to continue to advocate and fright for a FAPE for
all children. To continue to keep free-play into the learning environment
in our early childhood programs to help our children develop in a healthy
manner.

To all my colleagues in this course and Dr. Teri

Thank you for your advice and input with my challenge during this course.
Your information has been very beneficial in the continued effort to make
learning fun for children. When children have fun learning the information
learned will stay with them longer. Thank you all and I look forward to
blogging. Have a wonderful summer!

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The OMEP is one of the oldest early childhood organizations that work to ensure the wellbeing, rights and education of young children.  They currently have offices established in over sixty different countries.   They are a non-profit, non-governmental international organization.  OMEP works collaboratively with UNICEF to develop water and sanitation systems for children in the developing world.  This organization offers a membership to be a part of their team.

OMEP-USA.  (2010).  Making a difference for children at home and around the world. Retrieved from: http://omepusa.fatcow.com/omep

Education International is an organization compressed of teachers and other education employees across the globe.  Their goal is to provide a quality education to all children around the world.  This organization works to eliminate racism across the globe by advocating for equity in society.  This groups drive is to provide an education to all children.  The organization has regional and global task force teams working to promote a better life for children.

The employment opportunities range from switch board operator to teaching.  The qualifications one would need would be a degree in education.  You have to be someone who is committed to working with other individuals and making a better life for children.  Employment for me with this organization would not be feasible as I do not speak a different language.

Education International. (n.d.). Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from: http://www.ei-ie.org/en//websections/content_detail/3265

The third organization is the International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education.  This organization works to promote health, education and care for all young children from birth until they enter school.  They publish monthly newsletters on their current events and issues.  Waldorf kindergartens are located in Germany.  The site offers membership to the organization, as well as being able to list your child care center with them.  This organization also offers a program that can provide support to the individual child care centers.  At this time I did not see a place to apply for employment. 

Rudolf Steiner. (n.d.).  International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from: http://www.iaswece.org/index.aspx

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

*          At least three national/federal organizations or communities of practice that appealed to you, and explain why you chose them. 

            The three national organizations that appeal to my challenge are National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Zero to Three, and United States Department of Health and Human Services.  All three of these organizations have offer support and up-to-date resources and information when working with early childhood.  All three organizations offer publications and conference to attend for training on current issues.  These organizations have been in my resource bank for many years, as they provide knowledge on age ranges from zero to adolescence.   The sites keep me abreast of new information, ideas and data regarding a child’s development.           

*          Job opportunities (currently available or not) that interest you

Currently NAEYC and Zero to Three organizations do not have any jobs available that I am qualified for, however the jobs that were posted give me an idea of what this organization is looking for as far as an employee.  The United States Department of Health and Human Services had several jobs that were of interest that worked with assisting youth into adulthood and child protective service.             

*          Skills and experience that you would need to competently fulfill each of these roles. 

 

The skills and experiences needed for the United States Department of Health and Human Services position is my current teaching position with high school students.  Currently I teach students life and job skills to prepare them for post-secondary life.  The child protective job training in placement services, self-protection training, and hands on job experience in working as a social worker or educator. 

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

            Family and Children Services, Head Start, and Easter Seals.

All three of these organizations have a local office and work with children who have special needs.  Family and Children Services offers a variety of services and programs for children at risk, low income families and assist with early intervention needs for all children.  Head Start helps children who are less fortunate that others.  This program gives children a competitive edge with their peers in school.  Easter Seals offers supports to individuals and programs for children with special needs, as well as financially.

           

*          Job opportunities (currently available or not) that interest you

The job opportunity that I would be of the most interest to me is working with the early intervention assessment team.  Being able to support children and their families from the initial diagnosis would be rewarding.    The position with Easter Seals would be a coordinator.  This position assists families in setting up therapy, day care or other services for individuals with special needs.

           

*          Skills and experience that you would need to competently fulfill each of these roles.  The skills and experiences needed are to know the process of evaluating a young child with special needs.  Early childhood training, courses and hands on experience in working with special needs are essential for knowing how to establish effective programs that will benefit the child and family.

Week 1 Wordle in the Final Stretch

The final stretch is here.  My wordle topic is dealing with the public school systems wanting to delete play from the early childhood years.  Good luck to everyone in our last course.

Welcoming Families from Around the World

       The country of the family’s origin is Italy.

The ways that I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family would first be through research of the country; 2) with affiliation to the military I would check family services to see what we could offer a family that is moving to this area with different ethnical backgrounds; 3) make a list of questions to ask the family that I feel would beneficial to me from the research conducted on Italy; 4) ask the staff if there is anyone who has ever lived or has relatives from Italy; 5) set my classroom up with some items from Italy that would make the family feel welcome on the first visit; 6) ask the family if the items I’ve placed in the class are appropriate or could they assist me in making the necessary corrections.

I believe that these preparations will assist me in eliminating some of my own biases or fears of the unknown when the family arrives.  Also this will I hope make the family feel a little more comfortable and empowered when they walk into my classroom.  I want all of my families and children to know that this is their classroom.  For parents to feel comfortable knowing that they have a voice in what we do and the creation of the education for their children.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

Living in South Korea I had a hard time dealing with the way women are treated.  The value is of little significance.  The women are there to take care of the children, house and the men.  If an as women married an American male who had children (female) they treated that child as if she was a threat to the relationship.  

 

This oppression diminished the equity between the male and female race; making the male more superior.  These women were oppressed as they were not allowed to speak up unless directed.   The women automatically knew their places in society.  As a woman of the western culture, this is what we were called, it made my skill crawl to see how they treated the women and to know the little girls were going to grow up the same way.

The feels this brought up for me was that of anger, resent, the who do they think they are syndrome, and if it were not for the women they wouldn’t exist either.  For anyone to think they are more superior to the next is pure ignorance.  Men could not survive without women in the world; they need to get over themselves. 

What and or who that would have to change would be society and history.  History has made its mark on the culture and now only society can change the way things are passed from generation to generation.  When there society realizes that everyone is human and should be treated equal only then will the opportunity for greater equity be seen.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

This week at school the one microaggression that I heard was a microinsult.  Our high school has a very diverse population of students.  A lesbian couple was sitting on the stairs when other student walked past saying to two should be ashamed of yourselves. At first I wasn’t sure what the student was talking about, but he had seen the girls kiss.  The young man was upset that the two girls showed this display of affection in public.  I felt sorry for the girls but understood the young man’s feels as well.  His culture beliefs did not allow for such expressions and one could be outcaste for doing so in public.  The girls seemed to let it roll off without saying anything as if it was an everyday occurrence.

My observation of this situation this week left me wondering how we can better educate our students of the diverse population that they live in.  Instead of sitting back and waiting I spoke with our school psychologist about the lack of education our students have on discrimination, prejudice, and how they stereotype each other.  Her office is in the process of setting up assemblies with the medical field on base to discuss some of these issues with students and the effects of ones actions can have on another student.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

This week we were asked to obtain the definition of culture and diversity from three friends.  I wrote to three colleagues; their definitions were similar to what we have been reading.  One aspect that we’ve studied that my friends spoke of was culture groups (Smidt, 2006).  Some of the examples from their definitions of what is culture: commonality among a group of people, their history, family, traditions, and their beliefs.

The one aspect that was omitted was the dominant culture.  My friends spoke of a mingling of various cultures embracing the differences of one another or multiple cultures interacting in an environment.  No one spoke of how the dominant culture might affect the individual cultures or how these individuals are encouraged to conform to the dominant views.

When thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity I found that my friends’ way of thinking was similar to my own thoughts.  Culture defines who we are as an individual, where diversity is where and/or we fit into the social cultural groups.  I believe that when we think of culture or diversity you have to remember that we are all different but these differences are what make us unique individuals.  The different cultures can provided for an awesome learning opportunity in our diverse classrooms.

My Family Culture

Three items that I would take with me to the evacuating country would be a small photo album, a cookbook and a ipod.   

I would explain that I brought the small photo album to show my children the ancestors and where they came from.  These photos cannot be replaced and represent passed memories of my family.  The cookbook would contain all the traditional family recipes that my mother, grandmother and other family members had cooked for me as a child.  The ipod would hold all the music that I enjoy listening to and the other songs from our country and era of the disaster. 

Upon arrive if I was told that I had to give up two of the items I would be devastated.  I would give up the cookbook and ipod as the photos could not be replaced.  The photos are a link to the past, present and future. 

The insight I gained is that I valued having pictures to remember family members that have since left us for a better place.  I can look at the photos and remember times we shared together and the things they taught me as I was growing up.

One insight I can say that I’ve gained from this course is that I don’t want to be a researcher for a career.  On a more serious note I’ve learned the importance of making sure the research focuses on the participant and their individual experiences. 

With the completion of this course I can say that I have more respect for those individuals who do research daily.  The course showed that there is a bigger picture than just reading articles, interviewing and reporting on data,  it’s looking for a result that can benefit others in the future (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, &Siraj-Blatchford, 2010). 

Research is a long process and not something that is completed over night.  The research in early childhood should be planned, designed and conducted to assist children in future programs. There should be a purpose behind the research. 

One challenge that I faced was developing a research question that was not bias to my influence and that could actually be researched.  The way I corrected this was to keep making changes as I learned more week by week.   

One of my perceptions regarding early childhood professionals has changed to a greater respect for the researchers who have explored numerous issues to assist educators in promoting a healthier environment for educating children.

References

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: international perspectives on theory & practice. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

 

Research Around the World

For this assignment I selected to evaluate the early childhood Australia website.  http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au

This site provides valuable information.  During my review I found myself clicking from one site to the next exploring.  The articles that are posted from their Research in Practice Series are quite interesting and are current with information.  Some of the current international research topics are: The inside story: Looking into early childhood teachers’ support of children’s scientific learning; Early childhood teachers' misconceptions about mathematics education for young children in the United States; Outdoor play: Does avoiding the risks reduce the benefits?; plus many more articles.

There is a web link on the site that takes you to a Child & Family WebGuide offered from Tufts University.  The site offers valuable information for parents regarding education, child development, health, medical sites, and asks an Expert.  Each one of these areas has numerous topics that break down with information from various institutions. Four times a year this organization puts out a publication on a variety of research issues called the Research in Practice Series.  These articles are designed for easy implementation when working with early childhood.  I found myself intrigued with some of the articles.

The site offers parents not only in Australia but around the world an opportunity to purchase materials to assist them with preparing to send their child to school.  The organization offers a membership for individuals internationally as well.

Reference

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au

Research that Benefits Children & Families Uplifting Story

My third year teaching my students and I had the opportunity to participate in a research project that involved working with dolphins.  A colleague was working on her Doctorate and wanted to find out the effects of an outside stimulant with special needs children.  At first the school district was reluctant to let us participant.  The district eventually gave consent when they realized that the data could provide valuable information on how to stimulate some of these children.  You must understand that most of my students were non-verbal and getting them to respond at times was quite a challenge.  The Doctorate student established an agreement and program with the local aquarium.  The aquarium had a special tank that they setup for us to use with the children and the dolphin, so that there would be no outside interference.  Some of the participants would attend visits to the dolphin with class and other times with a parent or guardian.  The study was very rewarding.  The children were asked to hand a block to the teacher/instructor and then they could touch or throw a ball to the dolphin.  At first we wondered if it would work as the children would not comply.  The Doctorate student had the dolphin come to the children and rub their leg, hand or arm to stimulate them.  The first time a child responded everyone at the tank cried.  After that it was incredible as to what these children would do to get to touch the dolphin.  We even had two children that jumped into the tank with the dolphin.  Children that were non-verbal and often non-responsive were now responding to a dolphin.  Within a few weeks their parents and I were able to get the children to respond to simple task when we showed them their picture with the dolphin and reminded them that they would be going back to visit soon.  This was the most amazing research project that I the opportunity to participate in and that had a positive outcome for all those involved.  The effects provided to be long lasting.  Two years later they started an equestrian program to see if it would have the same effect with the children as the dolphin.

Personal Research Journey

After reading the chapter and working with this week’s assignments, I can honestly say I’m glad my job is not researching.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy learning new about new topic that I can help my student’s parents or ideas that I can implement into my classroom.  I am not an analytical person and research is not an area that I am comfortable with completing.  The reading has introduced the process of researching a topic more formally than I was taught in the past (It has been a long time since I took classes).  I thought I knew what was entailed in research, I was mistaken.   I’m open to any suggestion and support that anyone can offer.  I wasn’t intimidated by research until I finished reading chapter 2.  So with that said, I am looking at this course as a challenge that with the strength of the Good Lord I can conquer.

While researching sites for our discussion topic this week I came across the Austrian site and found it to be very informative.  I plan on using it again for future research.  I look forward to sharing and exploring websites with my fellow colleagues during this course.

Final Blog Assignment

There are many consequences that I learned about the international early childhood field for a professional and personal development.  One in the UAE is that there are unrealistic expectations for Primary schools due to high competition and lack of school places.  The lack of schools is also seen in the Italian communities.  The second consequence is the lack of standards in both places and the fact that no one monitors what is in place.  The schools do their own thing in educating the children.  The final consequence is found in Italy where the teachers and administrators are not on the same page when it comes to trainings and the curriculum that is used in the school.

The goal for the field related to international awareness of issues and trends is that there is more of an understanding for the need of a set of standards for everyone to follow.  The spirit of collegial relations is that valuable friendships have been made, with whom we can share and exchange vital information with each other.  The ability to community with individuals from different parts of the world to learn how they teach or use some of their strategies for particular situations is awesome.  I have enjoyed conversing with my international contacts and learning about the different education systems.

Getting to Know Your INternational Contacts -- Part 3

My post http://stuckngermany.blogspot.com

For this assignment I asked both of my contacts for information on the four questions.

1.      1. What issues regarding quality and early childhood professionals are being discussed where you live and work?   My contact (#1) from Italy said that there are so many children who would benefit from a quality program but there just aren’t enough there to help all the children.  My contact in UAE (Abu Dhabi, #2) said that until recently early childhood was not given much importance, as it was regarded as merely babysitting.  She said that everyone there has to have a labor card or work permit to work in any organization.

 

2.      2. What opportunities and/or requirements for professional development exist?  Contact #1 said she believes there is a lot of information and research but too often she has seen people with knowledge at their finger tips and ignore it.  There are special trainings designed around the curriculum and yet when the teachers return to their classrooms they fail to implement or even more frustrating when the administration does not let you implement the program correctly, as they never attended the training.  Contact #2 said that the education ministry has realized that ECE is equally an important field and therefore teachers have to have at least teacher training to work as a preschool teacher. For this reason the ministry of education offers training program which they are insistent that every unqualified teacher must take.  

3.      3. What are some of your professional goals?  Contact #1 Promote early identification of developmental delays and to help teachers not be afraid to mention their concerns to parents.  Contact #2 – The ministry of education has also begun to realize the need for standard curriculums that cater to the developmental needs of the children.  Companies are now hiring qualified individuals in education and curriculum to develop and prepare the curriculum, this is where I would like to work.

4.      4. What are some of your professional hopes, dreams, and challenges?  Contact #1 she wants to change children’s lives for the better and to know at the end of the year that I have done my very best to teach them.  Her dream is to find a way to make districts provide more than just the minimum services for special needs children and to ensure that their services are not based on funding but rather on need. Contact #2 stated that she loves teaching, but somewhere down the line I would like to get to the things behind the desk and be part of the preparation and building a curriculum that is developmentally appropriate based on all the knowledge and learning that I am getting.

The conversations that I have had with my contact in Italy, I can tell she and I have the same passion for working with special needs children and that she wants all of her children to be successful.  My contact in UAE has given me the opportunity to look at the education system of another country that is totally different from what one is a custom.  I would like to say thank you to both of my international contacts for their support during this course.

Sharing Web Resources Week 6

Upon exploring some of the outside links I found one on titled "Military Family Projects" which works to provide awareness with military families and communities.  The link lead me to various articles and topics that offer support and suggestions for the military families, child care and how to deal with a wide range of stressful topics, such as deployment. 

Another link lead me to the Early Head Start Resource Center.  Upon thoroughly searching this site there were links to such topics as: birth to three (offers information on best practices and research in the field), tip sheets (on challenging behaviors, curriculum, screening & assessment, family engagement & relationships,etc), webcasts, TA papers (News you can use, EHS program strategies, and home based program options), news you can use (this months discussed working with children and music), EHS program strategies (five reports illustrating the experiences of Early Head Start programs in meeting the challenges of planning), home-based program options (four publications are for different audiences and address different aspects of the home-based program option; they are intended to be used collaboratively).   I also found a early moments matter toolkit that offered a training program for professionals/trainers with parents and/or staff such as: home visitors, teachers, or family advocates.  There was so much information that after an hour of reading and searching I still had not looked at all the topics. The web address for this site is http://ehsnrc.org

The site zero to three offers information on equity and excellence in early care and education.  The studies showed that this is an on going issue and the it is becoming more and more in demand as both parents are having to work to support the family.

Once issue that was discussed this week was knowing how to best support young children through seperation or divorce. The article offered strategies to help babies, toddlers, and preschoolers navigate this major life change, with the support of loving adults they can continue to feel feel safe and secure throughout the divorce and make a good adaptation to their new family dynamic.

http://www.zerotothree.org

Getting to Know Your International Contacts--Part 2

One insight that I have learned through conversations with my international contacts is that there seems to be some common issues when it comes to including immigrant children into the countries early childhood program.   Both contacts have said that the UAE and Italy are not receptive to supporting non-nationals.

Another insight is the Reggio Emilia schools were founded in Italy and are used as models ffor many countries, especially the United States.  The philosophical model of her nursery school and kindergartens focused on constructive theoretical foundations with a learner-centered curriculum.

My international contact in Italy said that if all the countries would look at the Reggio Emilia program that uses the child’s natural curiosity of learning and implement this into the early childhood program then we would have well rounded children.  We should be addressing the holistic child and not what is best for the politicians.

My contact in the UAE does not have a standard curriculum being used at this time.  They have some basic standards that are very open to interpretations.  There are apparently ‘new’ standards currently being written in Dubai (one of he seven emirates, UAE comprises of) with the aim for ALL private Nursery Schools to be inspected and graded on a Rainbow system.  She feels that there are huge gaps between private nurseries and school expectations: no standards being enforced; unrealistic expectations of Primary Schools due to high competition and lack of school places; and many different Nationalities living in the UAE all with their own curriculums, standards and expectations.

Sharing Web Resources

Relevant information to my current professional development on the zero to three website was the availability of Federal agencies that work with implementing programs for children with special needs in this age group, while providing an overview of the agency.  The information that is provided is current and up to date, providing valid resources for early childhood.

On the site was a new video titled “Starting Life Without a Home” that caught my attention.  This video brought tears learning that 1 in 4 infants and toddlers are homeless or born into homelessness.  This is heart breaking and yet at the same time makes me angry.  Our country is spending so much money on re-establishing a country that we went to war with instead of spending that money on our own children and families.  There should be no reason that we have homeless if we (country) can afford to spend that amount of money on a war.  Stop the war and start loving our own!  This video was created off of a Congressional briefing where Congresswoman Judy Biggert is fighting to protect infant and toddlers that are homeless or living in or at poverty.  Her information is provided by the National Center on Family Homelessness.

The zero to three website has a section called Action Center where you can join policy networks, advocacy alerts and tools that can be used to assist educators or parents, a contact source with other advocates, and policy video library.  There is a lot of information on this site regarding trends and issue along with the information how to help fight for early childhood rights.  I find something new every time I look at this site.

Getting to Know International Contacts Part 1

My contacts for this assignment are depending on who is available to respond back in time.  This is summer vacation for most of my friends and they are in between places where they can access the internet.  I was able to contact a colleague (Deepa) from a previous course and ask her about the area in which she lives.  She lives in the United Arab Emirates.  Per our conversation the area that she lives in does not have any issues dealing with poverty nor do the children face any challenges. 

My other contact is Jen who lives in Italy.  She has been working in education for 16 years.  Her career started with working with the children on an Indian reservation.  She has worked as an assessor, sure start, kindergarten and 1st grade teacher.  She is a single mom with four children all of whom have special needs.  She is an amazing lady.  Before she left for vacation she told me that Italy has the highest rate of poverty in Europe.  They have garbage piled on the streets and rats as big as cats.  She said the economy is very different.