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

After exploring some national organizations and federal agencies, I find three are of interest to me and working in these organizations would be beneficial to me.

The Erikson Institute, it works to "improve the care and education of children age birth to eight" through some academic programs, online programs, direct services to families, applied research, community partnerships and initiatives (The Erikson Institute, 2015). The community of the Erikson Institute consists of diverse walks of life, such as faculty, students, alumni, trustees, supporters, and partners, which indicates that the Erikson Institute to the largest extent supports children and families from different areas. If possible, I would like to have a job in this institute because I am inspired by its mission: to prepare early childhood professionals to help children to reach their full potential and to support families; to support stressed parents and help them build their strengths; to study early childhood programs to understand what works and why. I would like to work to offer direct services to families that need support; in this way, I would learn what exactly those families need for children and themselves so that the challenges that children face in their learning and development can be overcome. In this work, I think listening and communication skills are really important. By listening, I can acquire the essence of information that tells what families need; By respectfully speaking with families, I could offer informational support and exchange each other's perspectives, then implement some practical support for families. Meanwhile, I also need to acquire some deep knowledge of early growth and development so that families would trust me as a professional.

Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, aims to promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals and communities to ensure that they are resilient, safe, healthy, and economically secure (ACF, n.d.). I especially appreciate its policies: it strives to make informed policy decisions and become a model employer, with a culture that values fairness, diversity and inclusion in the workforce (ACF, n.d.). I would like to work in an environment that embraces fairness, diversity and inclusion which I could learn in my workplace and then pass to children and families I serve.  However, I am not sure if I am qualified for applying the jobs since the jobs are intended for U.S. citizen or federal employees.

Zero to Three, the National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, is "a national nonprofit organization that provides parents, professionals and policymakers the knowledge and the know-how to nurture early development" (Zero to Three, 2014). According to Zero to Three, "health and development are directly influenced by the quality of care and experiences a child has with his parents and other adults" (2014). This center touches on children's behavior and development, maltreatment, care and education, which is a resource date base for early childhood educators, parents and other adults who give care for children. I would like to work as an intern in its multicultural and diverse environment to gain a personal and professional growth and development, and a rich, substantive education experience; in this way, with my master degree in early childhood education from Walden University, I would be more competitive to have a teacher's role in the international school where I serve now as a teaching assistant. To work as an intern, I think basic knowledge of child development should be acquired; appropriate communication skills be learned in this place full of professionals to make myself understood and understand.

References:

Administration for Children and Families (ACF). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/about

The Erikson Institute. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.erikson.edu/

Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

This week, we are required to find three local or state organization or communities of practice that appealed to me and job opportunities that interest me, and some skills and experience that I would need to competently fulfill each of these roles.

The first community of practice is the Parent Support Association (PSA) for our international school. It is a non-profit organization with volunteer parents filling the roles of executive, committee organizers and school representatives. It has been a source of information about the school, and a way for concerned and actively involved parents to channel their energy. It provides parent and school approved events with the desire to raise school spirit and promote community involvement. If I could, I would like to be a member of this community-PSA. In this community, I could gain more information about families from different countries and cultures and have a better knowledge of what different families need in this school and in this country where they are newcomers out of job transfer. In this community, I could learn more about the cultural background of other members who represent a group of families from the same country; in this way, I could gain more knowledge of cultural diversity. Working in PSA, I need some skills to fulfill this role. The most important skill is the listening skill. Since the other members in this community are from diverse cultures, they have their own perspectives and ways of doing things. To better serve the children and families in this school, I should first listen carefully and respectfully to their perspectives and then find a common ground after sharing my own perspective; thus, cultural conflicts could be reduced, eased or avoided.

The second community of practice that interests me is the Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR). I chose this community because I find its objectives inspire me: to provide PTIs (the community of Parent Training Information) and CPRCs (the Community Parent Resource Centers) with products and materials to support their work with families; to increase Parent Centers’ knowledge and capacity in specific domains; and to increase the coordination of parent training efforts throughout the network. If I could, I would like to work as a member of one of the CPIR team--FHI 360, which brings together experts in health, education, nutrition, environment, economic development, civil society, gender, youth and technology to address the full range of human development needs. Working in FHI 360, I would learn to embrace innovation, to mutually respect for diversity and cultural differences, to have a passion to make a positive difference, to have accountability, to have commitment to excellence and to teamwork. To fulfill the role in FHI 360, I need to have professional knowledge of education and relevant knowledge, such as knowledge of nutrition and technology; as well, I need collaboration skill to work with other experts in different areas.

The third community of practice is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), which works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, advances a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession and supports all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children. I chose this organization because I am inspired by its vision, mission, values and beliefs. And that's why I would like to work as a member of NAEYC. Since NAEYC comprises nearly 70,000 individual members of the early childhood community and more than 300 regional Affiliate chapters, culturally competent communication skills, (including listening, appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication skills) and collaboration skills are essentially required. As stated, "Collaboration is a mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship entered into by two or more organizations to achieve results they are more likely to achieve together than alone" (Winer & Ray, 1994, p.24).

Reference:

Winer, M., & Ray, K. (1994). Collaboration handbook: Creating, sustaining, and enjoying the journey. St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance.
Winer, M., & Ray, K., "How Do We Set Forth?", Collaboration handbook: Creating, sustaining, and enjoying the journey. Copyright 1994 Fieldstone Alliance. Used with permission from Amherst H. Wilder Foundation via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Reflecting on Learning

From this course, I have learned about the issues that children and their families might face, about the Four Core Goals of Anti-bias Education, and about some practical strategies that anti-bias early childhood teachers could adopt to counter those issues, and so on. All of what I've learned from this course arouses my most passionate hope to create a caring, non-bias learning environment for children by positively interacting with children, building positive relationships with and among families, setting up the classroom full of materials that honor diversity both within and beyond children's own identity groups, and planning anti-bias curriculum for children. I hope that through this environment children could develop to their full potential, that families could feel supported and assured that their children are physically and emotionally safe at school, and that my career in early childhood field is fulfilled. 

Hereby, I would like to thank Dr. Kien for her careful check on all of my assignments and her insightful comments that broadens my views and knowledge. I would like to thank all my colleagues for posting their insights and comments that show me diverse perspectives. Thank you for providing me with such an rich chapter of my journey in early childhood field.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The region I would like to choose is East Asia and Pacific because it is where China is located and I would like to learn more information about children in China and around China. When I look into this region, I found that the challenges that children are confronting are mainly child maltreatment, violence against children, poverty, lack of education, abuse, natural disasters such as earthquake, and so on, which have a negative impact on children's physical, intellectual, social and emotional development.

For example, due to poverty in rural China, Panpan's mother left her when she was one year old; Panpan's father has to work far away to make a living; Panpan lives with her grandparents, who are busy in the field and have no time as well as don't know how to educate her (Liu, 2014). The absence of Panpan's parents in her early childhood has a negative impact on Panpan's emotional development, making her think that she is not loved, cared and important, which affects her self-esteem, self worth, and her personal and social identities. The lack of education cuts down her chances to learn how to interact and communicate with her peers, how to react to problems regarding social and emotional development, how to aquire from her peers and teachers skills that she could not learn from home, and so on. However, thanks to Child Welfare Directors Project, problems due to poverty like Panpan are being eased.

Child maltreatment, such as the neglect of children with disabilities is one of the main challenges that children in East Asia and Pacific face. However, through looking into the website, I found out there are some successful strategies that promotes the emotional development as well as overall development of children with disabilities. For example, due to the partnership between UNICEF and Manchester United, children with intellectual disabilities in Thailand have opportunities to watch a football match, which has been shown to have a positive impact on their overall physical and emotional development as well as helping to improve their communication and social skills (UNICEF, 2013).

If issues regarding the overall development of children with and without abilities are highly paid attention to by government and society, there is always a way out for children who need supports in different kinds of area. As early childhood teachers, what we can do is to be prepared with knowledge, to contribute what we have to children's development, and to make a positive social change, even a small one.

Reference:

UNICEF. (2013). UNITED for UNICEF helps to inspire children with intellectual disabilities in Thailand. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/eapro/media_21164.html

Liu, Yang. (2014). In rural China, an innovative solution to reaching to vulnerable children. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/china_73613.html.

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

In recent society, children are exposed to the surroundings full of sex and sexuality. They are bombarded with messages of sexualization at young ages but have not yet the ability to understand them and even get frightened (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). Based on the introduction of "So Sexy So Soon", though children are not old enough to understand the meaning of sex and sexuality, they are curious about them starting from a very young age. Due to their curiosity, if parents and teachers, especially early childhood teachers, could deliver to children age-appropriate information about sex and sexuality with honesty, children would develop a healthy understanding of gender, sexuality, and relationships (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). When reading the topic of the sexualization of early childhood, I feel it urged that it is very vital for early childhood educators with whom children spend most of their time to provide children with an environment where they can healthily "shape their gender identity, sexual attitudes, and values, and their capacity for relationships, for love and connection, that they take into adulthood" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.2).

Observing carefully, we can find that children are highly exposed to a sexualized environment which not only early childhood educators but the whole society, especially the commercial circle, should be responsible for protecting children from. Examples of children in this sexualized environment can be seen everywhere. For example, in the subway, there are lots of ads that promote cosmetic surgery to beautify the features and body parts of female so that the beautified female would be attractive and successful in her life, which emphasizes the importance of physical appearance-- "a narrow definition of femininity and sexuality" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.2). Another example that I find in my workplace is that when we look for some video materials related to our curriculum in YouTube, some ads would pop out and we cannot skip those ads that are full of sexualized messages which unexpectedly impact on children's gender development. As well, when walking on the streets or in the malls, we can hear some songs full of sex and violence that is not age appropriate.

As stated, "As children struggle to understand what they see and hear, they learn lessons that can frighten and confuse them. These lessons can seriously harm their ability to grow up to have healthy attitudes about themselves and their bodies and to have caring relationships in which sex is an important part" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.4). As early childhood professionals, we should be alert about what books, songs, and videos can be provided for developmental and age-appropriate purpose. We should collaborate with parents to protect children from a sexualized environment at home. As for the environment outside home and school, when children are unexpectedly exposed to sexualized messages, parents should give them guidelines and make positive clarification about those messages.

The study of the sexualization of early childhood makes me become more aware of the sexualized messages that children might meet with and pay attention to what kinds of curriculum materials that I could provide for children. As well, we should provide more opportunities for children to develop as whole people and lay "the very foundation necessary for children to actualize their full potential and to value and respect themselves and others" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.6).

Reference:

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