Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

UNICEF focuses on child survival and development, basic education and gender equality, HIV/AIDS and children, child protection, and policy advocacy and partnerships.  UNICEF focuses on the whole child and every aspect of a young child's life to ensure that children around the world are receiving the best care and quality care.  A job opening that interests me within UNICEF is in the education department and is Chief Education.  This position is located in Abidjan.  I would be accountable for formulation, design, planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluation of the Education program to ensure overall efficiency and effectiveness of the program management, delivery and accomplishment of program goals and objectives.  The qualifications were to have a master’s in Education or Social Work.  It also called for experience and proficiency with MS Office.

UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, mission is to contribute to the building of peace, eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.  Their two global priorities are Africa and gender equality.  There are no current job openings in the education sector of this organization but I do know this is the sector I would like to work under.

Save the Children is an independent organization dedicated to changing the lives of children in the United States and around the world.  They are there when disaster strikes with food, medical care, and education and they stay throughout the recovery period.  The position that interests me with this organization is a Program Specialist, Early Childhood.  The Program Specialist is the on-the-ground Save the Children staff member providing technical and management assistance to partners to ensure the effective coordination, implementation and monitoring of early childhood education programming.  Under the supervision of the Senior ECD Specialist and working as a team member within the State based staff, the Program Specialist oversees the implementation of the integrated programming at approx 5 to 7 partner sites.   The requirements are a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood, 3 plus years experience working with birth to 3 years, and experience working with or supporting professional.

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

At the national level I found the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).  The AFT was founded in 1916 and represents 1.5 million members.  They are divided into five divisions: Pre-K through twelve teachers; paraprofessionals and other school related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state, and local government employees; and nurses and other healthcare professionals.  The mission of AFT is to improve the lives of their members and their families; to give them a voice; to strengthen the institutions, in which they work; to improve the quality of service; and to promote democracy.  Within this organization I found an open position that peaked my interest, the Assistant Director of Public Affairs.  In this position I would promote the AFT and its priorities to the news media and the public, AFT members and leaders.  Qualifications for this position include five years experience in media relations, excellent verbal and written communication skills, respond quickly to important developments, experience writing speeches, op-eds, and articles, good organizational skills, dependable and have a background in education, labor and/or politics.

The second national level organization I found is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  It is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children.  Their mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources.  Within this organization I found the position of Conference Program Coordinator.  Responsibilities include coordinate the proposal review process, updating/ maintaining the proposal/presenter/scheduling databases; preparing presenter, session, and scheduling reports and correspondence; updating the Conference websites; and managing the Conference meeting room inventory.  The qualifications are a BA/BS required, be detailed and accurate, able collaborate as well as work independently, work under pressure and meet tight deadlines, and be proficient with MS office.

The third organization I found is the US Department of Education.  The position I found is under the Institute of Education Sciences and is an Education Research Analyst.  In this position I would be responsible for designing and implementing experimental and quasi-experimental studies of after-school programs and programs for improving student academic achievement and interpreting and critiquing empirical findings from experimental and quasi-experimental studies.  The qualifications are a degree in a related field and experience reviewing and critiquing experimental and quasi-experimental studies.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State

I am interested in working with both children and adults.  While doing this assignment it made me realize I am drawn to more administrative positions rather than in a classroom, which is where I am now.  One organization that appealed to me is the Louisiana Department of Education.  This agency appealed to me because It offers many different opportunities within the education field.  I found many types of positions from.  But the one that peaked my interest was the Comprehensive Public Training Program Administrator.      If in this position I would administer all training activities provided by the Comprehensive Public Training Program and other special training initiatives, ensuring that training needs of all state agencies are addressed.  The minimum qualifications for this position is a Master's degree or equivalent, plus eight years of experience planning, administering, evaluating, or instructing in a formalized training program.

The next agency I was interested in is the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.  This agency peaked my interest because it has a program called Early Steps which provides services to families with infants and toddlers age birth to three years who have a medical condition likely to result in developmental delay, or who have developmental delays.  This program offers many services to the families but I was interested in the Early Childhood Interventionist services.  To qualify I need to be certified in early child intervention: birth to five.  I found that most universities in Louisiana offer the program as a bachelor degree but since I am already a certified teacher I would only need to pass a test and take a few courses.  As a certified Early Childhood Interventionists I would be prepared to work with children ages birth to five years old and meet any and all educational needs of the child.

The last agency that caught my eye was Delgado Community College because I was qualified for most positions there.  I like the idea of teaching at the college level one day but the job opportunity that is available at this time is the Assistant Director of the campus based childcare facility.  As the Assistant Director, I would spend most of my time aiding the director in making sure the center is running smoothly.  I would also fill in for teachers when needed.  To qualify for this position a bachelor's degree a 3 years experience in early childhood is desired.

This assignment helped me to open my mind to new opportunities.  It has always been hard for me to imagine myself doing anything but teach children but I have a new outlook on my career in the Early Childhood field.

Final Communication Blog

Dear Colleagues,

I just want to say thank you to everyone.  Some of you I have had multiple classes with and others this may have been my first but all of you have touched me and helped me in one way or another.  I have learned many things from you all and I hope to keep in touch with you as we near the end of our journey.  I have really enjoyed reading the great posts throughout each course and they have given me inspiration for my own posts.  I enjoyed reading the different views of everyone.  It was interesting to read through everyone's posts and reading how someone interpreted something in a completely different way.  Again thank everyone and keep in touch.

Tanisha Poche

Team Building and Collaboration Part 1

The group I spoke about in my discussions are the people I work with everyday so there is no separating.  although the adjourning phase still exists in a sense.  Even though I work with them everyday we still go back to our daily events in which we do not work as closely and as much together.  We may have had trouble communicating and building trust while working together on our Family Literacy Night project but when it comes to what we plan on a weekly basis for our students we really come together and make it work.

When it is time to adjourn from my colleagues that I have met throughout this program while be a bitter sweet moment because we have worked together and helped each other through the program so in these aspects it will be sad to say good bye but we will all have accomplished the goal we set out for so it will also be a happy moment.

The adjourning phase is an essential stage to teamwork because it really shows how the team came together as one.  If the team separates with no emotion and with joy than to me they were not really a team even if they were successful.  I believe a team will not want to say goodbye.  They will look forward to working with and communicating with the other team members in the future.

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

This week I have been learning about various ways to deal with conflicts.  I am going to share a personal conflict.  My brother and I disagree about a lot of things.  The most recent was about how he could get a car.  My brother is the type of person who thinks he knows all the answers and when you try to help him with solutions to his problems, he always has an excuse why it won't work.  I approached him with a couple of ideas about selling his current vehicle that does not work in order for him to get another vehicle.  I listened to what he had to say then I would reply.  This goes on for a few minutes until I can't take it anymore.  I used to try and ration with him but know I have gotten to the point I just say ok to whatever he says.

When dealing with my brother the two strategies that I can use is to listen to his point of view and not cut him off because I think he is wrong and I can also try the 3 R's.  If I demonstrate the 3 R"s maybe it would rub off on him and we could actually finish a conversation.

Who Am I As A Communicator?

This weeks assignment was very interesting and insightful.  I had fun with the assignment because I like to see what others think.  Believe it or not but all three of us evaluated me the same.  We had slightly different scores, but I fell in the same category for all three tests.  I was most surprised with the results from the Communication Anxiety Inventory.  Myself and my two evaluators all scored in the moderate level.  This surprised me because I am petrified to speak in front of others.  i do better in a small group but the thought of speaking to a large group frightens me.  I have always been very shy and as I have gotten older I am slowly but surly coming out of it.

One insight that I gained this week is that I am a caring and empathetic listener.  I am a person who is always thinking of others and the Listening Styles Profile showed it because it says I am people orientated. This can help me on the professional level because in the early childhood field that is what a child and his/her family needs, someone who cares.  Another insight from this week is how we are all different.  After looking at the results and reading through all the results, I realized that everybody learns, listens and talks differently.  we all process and deal with things differently and it is important to remember these things when dealing with young children and their families.