Time Well Spent

I believe what I have learned the most form this program and was the most profound for me is that are silence can be are biases.  I never thought in my years of teaching that because the culture was not present in my classroom that I was teaching a prejudice by not speaking about it.  Anti-bias education is about awareness and for me that silence was my awareness and it seems everywhere I go I am aware of my silence. 

I believe the next thing I learned from this program is the meaning behind Martin Luther King Jr. quote “Intelligence plus character is the true goal of education” (King). My capstone project was based on raising awareness and training professionals on anti-bias education so that children will have social confidence.  What I learned was without anti-bias education children will never have character because they will continue to judge based on misinformation rather than education. 

The last deeply heartfelt learning I gained from this program is the passion we all have for early childhood education and our jobs as professionals.  In the beginning we often told stories of how we had to advocate that we are not babysitters.  However, today are stories have change to advocates in early childhood and how we are going to change the world. 

My long term goal after receiving my master’s degree is to focus on getting a director’s position in early childhood education and going back to get my doctoral and just maybe when all my kids are grown I would love to be part of the Teaching for Change team and become a full-time advocate in anti-bias education.

To everyone thank you so much for the encouragement I could not have done it without you.  Although, I never saw your faces your words were often the strength I needed when I felt like giving up.  You all are remarkable educators and should be proud of completing this journey of receiving your master’s degree.  I wish you much success and happiness in your future endeavors and may God continue to shine on your passion.  I love you all!!!!!!!!!

 

King, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/character.html

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The first organization that appealed to me was United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.unicef.org/ I chose this organization because of their global involvement in helping underprivileged children and their families.  There work with educating mothers with AIDS and the prevention of spreading the disease is phenomenal in place that have over an 80% AIDS rate.  The organization does other services such as child protection, advocacy, and equality but, the AIDS work they do is very passionate to my work with children. 

The job I found was an early childhood education specialist in Kenya. However, when you click the site for more information on the job there is an error and there is an error for every job looked into.

The second organization I chose was Save the Children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.8D6E/Official_Site.htm

This organization appealed to me because like UNICEF they advocated for the rights of children and their families.  There organization is in educating the families to break the cycle of poverty for children in America.  They have a literacy program called Early Steps to School Success in which children age birth to 5 are provided home visits and books while the parents are provided ways in which to promote their children’s development. 

I did find a job that appealed to me another early childhood development specialist which required the following:

• Masters in early childhood development, education, or related field
• Three to five years prior early childhood development program design/implementation experience.  
• Experience in developing countries preferred.
• Experience in materials development to support ECD programming.
• Excellent communication skills
• Willingness to travel 30-40% time

It is located in Washington, D.C. however the only aspect I do not qualify for is experience in developing countries and working in programs that support ECD programming.  Not a negative though because I believe if I can portray my passion someone will believe enough to hire me because of my dreams.

The last organization I looked at was Academy for Educational Development. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.aed.org/en/index.htm

This organization appealed to me because of their science and technology innovations is improving the lives of young children.  For instance, they have a position for an administrative assistant in AIDS research, not exactly what I went to school for but, I do have all the qualifications in assisting the director. I think what really appealed to me was again their literacy program in early childhood and giving children the tools to close the gap on achievement.

Here is the qualifications need for the Administrative assistant for AIDS research

• High School Diploma with 1-3 years’ experience. 
• Microsoft Office Suites, preferred.
• Ability to gather, recommend and summarize data for reports.
• Finds solutions to various administrative problems, and prioritizes work.
• Work requires attention to detail in composing, typing and proofing materials, establishing priorities and meeting deadlines.
• Strong MS Office skills (i.e. Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
• Excellent written and communication skills