Farewell and Congrats!!!!

The journey to my Master’s has been a remarkable process of learning new things for me as an Early Childhood professional. One thing I learned from this program is to utilize various resources in my community to help with issues that may surface in the profession. I was able to see that actually researching and linking with organizations can give me key answers to things that I may endure in my future. Another thing I learned from this program is make sure that I recognize and am willing to change any biases, misconceptions, or stereotypes I may have gained and find ways to learn about the diverse group of people I encounter on a day to day basis. A final thing I learned is to may sure that I respect and encourage a welcoming environment in my classroom and to meet the goals they have for their children. I realize how important family partnerships can be for the child, family, and school environment. My long-term goal is to continue to redefine myself in the Early Childhood profession, to use the knowledge and skills I have obtained and apply them to any career I hold in the present or future.

I wish all my colleagues the best in their future. It has been such an amazing journey and I am glad to have shared who I am with everyone. You can keep in contact on my blog page or email tazmon01@gmail.com.

I wish everyone continued success and let’s continue to make a difference in children’s lives. Also big thanks to our instructor for helping mold and shape us into better Early Childhood professionals. We can and will continue to be a blessing to young children and families.

international roles/jobs

 The Division for Early Childhood, http://www.dec-sped.org/, is an organization I chose because it helps support young children with delays anf/or gifts and talents. It also works to provide best practices for families and promotes policies for support the children with delays. I did not see any job opportunities available. They do list career opportunities for other businesses in various states.
 The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher's is an organization I found. I geel that it could provide support to EC educators. I was unable to find current positions open by this organization. They do list job opportunities for other corporations on its site. I did notice an ideal position for me in the future as a Regional Representative. In this position you share insights and experiences, get answers to questions, and overall support were needed.
 A final organization I found is National Child Care Association. It works to provide policies that will help children and families with high quality care. I was again unable to find any positions open. If I could choose, I would be apart of the professional development team. I could help put together needed training for educators, help organize events and conferences, and extend my experiences were needed.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE community-national/federal level

The National Association of Early Childhood Teachers is an organization I found during searching for national organizations and possibly a member of my ideal CoP.  You can access their webpage at http://www.naecte.org/. I was not able to find current positions available for NAECTE, but they do post job opportunities for other companies that have positions open in many states. As I scrolled through their officer positions, I did notice an opportunity for a position that could be ideal for me. It was a position as a Regional Representative for the organization. Regional representatives share insights and experiences, gets answers to questions, and overall provide support as needed. I believe this type of position would allow me to share my own experiences merged with the organizations mission to help support early childhood teachers in a particular region.

A second organization I found interesting was National Child Care Association, https://ncc.site-ym.com/, which helps support child cares by fighting for policies that will make sure children and families are provided with high quality child care. I was not able to find any positions open within the company, but maybe I could try contacting them to see if there are any available. If I had to choose an area to start in, I think I would choose to be a part of the conference and professional development team. I would want to start by helping put together the training information with the team, helping organize thoughts, relevant research, personal experiences, and such to extend new insight to EC professionals.

The third organization I came across was Early Childhood Intervention, http://www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/, which is under Department of Assistive and Rehabilative Services in Texas (aka DARS). I think this organization intrigued me the most, especially because it’s in Texas and they support children ages 0-3 that have disabilities or developmental delays. I would love to serve in this type of federal program. The position of Early Intervention Specialist caught my eye because I would basically work with the child and family to create an IDP (Individualized development plan) and make sure the family goals are being met, almost like case managing and family partnering together. I would also provide parent education and follow up until the child is discharged from services.  Skills and experience include a Bachelor’s degree in a field of Child Development or Childhood Special Education, a year human experience with children 0-3, copy of transcripts for educational background, and valid driver’s license. I really feel enlightened to say that this may just be the next step for me in my career opportunities. Also this organization is ideal to my CoP in helping teachers learn how to help children self-regulate and gain self-control.

Reflecting on Learning and a Note of Thanks

“Anti-bias work provides teachers a way to examine and transform their understanding of children’s lives and also do self-reflective work to more deeply understand their own lives” (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010, p.2 ). 

My hope for the future is to continue to provide support and respect to all children and their families that I work with in my classroom. I hope to continue to gain knowledge to be able to become a resource for the community to help share anti-bias work I feel will be valuable for any early childhood classroom or professional.

This class has been very instrumental in helping me inspire to reach and connect with a diverse group of people. It has also helped me form my own positive thoughts about how to build partnerships with families in my years as an Early Childhood professional. It is with great thanks I have to say to my colleagues as we also work in partnership to brighten the lives of any diverse child and/or family we encounter. Thanks for your support, comments, discussions, feedback in this course. I wish you continued success on the journey to our Master’s.

Reference

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and

Ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC).

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The area of the world I chose was West and Central Africa. I chose this area of the world because I was curious to learn more about people of African descent. I also wanted to know what is happening with young children in this area of the world. Some challenges of the world children in this region face is malnutrition, AIDS/HIV, risk of early death due to preventable cause, poor health and hygiene (poor water resources), low food supplies, female genital mutilation (with babies as young as 3 months), wars within the country.

With such devastating challenges, it can have detrimental effects on children’s wellbeing and development. Children likely will be malnutrition or sickly due to poor nutrition, water supplies, and no help with stopping preventable diseases. Also they may be subject to emotional instability. What I have learned personally and professionally is that children all around the world are dealing with circumstances that can leave a scar on their development and emotional well-being. This assignment was a great eye opener to what is taking place around the world.

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

I believe that sexualization is on a high in today’s society. With the vast promotion of social media and technology, children of all ages are introduced to the overly sexualizing that we see happening in the world around us. It’s sad that children are introduced to such provocative and inappropriate messages that make them think that boys/girls should look a certain way to be happy and appreciated by others.

Three examples I can share to illustrate the exposure of young children in a highly sexualized environment would be the following:

1.       Girls in pretend and play center wanting the long, blonde hair because they think it makes them look prettier.

2.       Toys that are sold to boys/ girls send messages about what shows femininity or masculinity. Barbie dolls and Bratz dolls with makeup and provocative clothing on.  Wresting figurines that show guys ripped with muscles.

3.       Little girls wanting to walk in mommies’ heels, put on make-up, and a wig to look prettier. I have seen this on the show “Toddlers and Tiara’s.” Were toddler girls are put in pageants and are covered in makeup, heels, short dresses, and wearing tons of hair pieces.

With young children being exposed to things such as these examples provided, they are subject to learn messages of what defines ‘femininity’ or ‘masculinity’ in our society. They are also taught that these types of images are what portrays what it means to be “pretty,” beautiful,” “tough”, or “a ladies man.” Being aware of these issues as a professional means that I need to provide opportunities for children to become happy with whom they are. Find ways through curriculum, songs, books, etc. to teach children that it’s okay to be you and its okay to be me. Learning how to appreciate differences amongst people, as well as, using teaching methods of persona dolls, songs, books, etc can help with concept of positive self-images.

Impact of "isms"

An "ism" I have experienced is that of race. I can remember being called the n word when I was younger and even being singled out because of my race. I hope as an educator to allow children to understand that we all come in different colors and shades, but that does not mean you are less or more than because of that. I want them to understand we all are humans that bleed the same color blood.

Another "ism" I have experienced would be with ageism. Starting out young in the profession, I was often looked down on as inadequate or inexperienced. I want to ensure students in my class realize that have a voice and they can speak up for themselves. It does not matter how young or old a person is they all can share something special that someone else may not have known or experienced.

Serving as an anti-bias educator I will continue to work to foster positive relationships with the diverse children and families I have the privilege of educating and caring for.