It's been quite a journey... And We Made It!!!!

As I begin to write this last blog in our Master’s program, I have mixed emotions.  I am happy to have reached this milestone, but sorry to lose the continuity of my new-found routine.  I will miss the discussions and my interactions with my professors and colleagues.  I will miss the daily learning… although I understand the importance of following through with my extended learning.

Choosing three deeply felt learnings was a challenge; there are so many.  First of all, I learned so much about myself, as an individual and as an early childhood professional.  I realize that, although I’m not a spring chicken, age is not a factor in learning.  Yes, I wish that I would have pursued my Master’s degree many years before, but, in spite of that, I am proud that I did it now.  I have learned that anything is possible if you have a strong passion for it.  I have lost friends who did not understand that school work came first, but I have gained the respect of my true friends.    I have come to respect my husband in a new light, realizing how lucky I am for his support, understanding, and pride in me.  He has always been my rock, but in this instance, he has taken over my chores and responsibilities so I could study and read. 
Next, I learned that I do not know all that I thought I knew about early childhood education.  This field changes by the minute.  I do not believe that curriculums can be pre-packaged; I do not care if they are NAEYC approved or not!  As educators, we need to step back and reflect on each group of children we are lucky enough to teach.  We need to adapt our curriculum to the needs of our young students and their families.  Although I present workshops, I need to push myself and to continue to grow.  I need to attend more workshops at the conferences that I attend, listening to the ideas of others.  While I do not have to agree, I do have to hear.  In addition, the importance of families is critical in our early childhood classrooms.  We MUST know our families; our classrooms MUST reflect our knowledge.  When I was a director, my teachers’ classrooms were all pretty and quite structured; but they did not reflect their children.  All of the classes looked the same.  I still see this; I have a passion to change this.  Of course, this boils down to my new-found passion for anti-bias learning, which cannot occur unless teachers learn about their students and their families.  The mom who I thought was lazy because she did not come to a parent meeting might just be the mom who had to work an additional shift to pay a bill.  I have left my biases behind me. 

Finally, from this particular course, I have learned I cannot solve all of the problems at one time, but rather, I need to pick and choose.  This has helped my organization skills tremendously.  While I wanted to solve the lack of diversity education in every preschool classrooms throughout the United States, I slowly accepted to change all of Florida.  Then, with some guidance, I limited my challenge to one particular school; my goal became workable.  I struggled with this, shed more than a few tears, and even laughed a bit.  The intense impact of this realization was real and can be applied to my personal life.  My job situation is very unique, because I do not have one job but several.  Sometimes, it is a challenge to remember where I am to be at what time or what exactly I was to do in this class on a particular night.  This class has given me the power to organize my goals to where they are workable.  I can still tackle various jobs, but I only need to accomplish so much on a particular day.  Working on one particular workshop at a time does not mean that I cannot handle more; rather, it means that I can complete this workshop in a positive manner, giving it my utmost attention.  Perhaps, in many ways, this course has assured me that I do not have to get a 9-5 job; I can, in fact, do it all, just in a more organized fashion.  I can continue to reach for the stars and succeed, one step at a time. 

Which brings me to my long term goal of continuing to teach early childhood professionals.  Initially when I started my company, I wanted to present workshops within the state of Florida. Then, I began to present throughout the United States; I love the huzzle and buzzle of traveling except when I am stranded at the airport for a night!  Listening to early childhood professionals in and about Florida and within the United States has given me an amazing pride in the field of early childhood.  It has been awe-inspiring. I definitely want to train internationally.  This might take some time, but I am not giving up.  At the June NAEYC conference in San Francisco, I made an awesome educator from Singapore, and she invited me to present… at first I thought she was joking, and I played along with her.  But, we have been in contact several times via e-mail. I do not know if this will happen, but how phenomenal would this be?  I’m ready to move further, reaching more educators.  I love presenting, sharing, and making a difference in the lives of young children; it is definitely what makes me tick.... it is my passion. In addition, now that I have some spare time [?], I hope to write some additional Creative Beginning Steps' books, perhaps one on science and math... and maybe one just for infant and toddler teachers.  My first two books [art and reading] have been well received, and I had the best time putting those activities together. 

WHEW!  Will I make the impossible happen?  Probably not, but dreams to come true.  Receiving my Master's Degree at this time in my life is proof.  I wish my mom was alive to see this, but in some way, I can feel her pride.  
There are no words to thank my colleagues for their support and constant communication that helped to make all of this possible.  I so appreciate every one of you.  I know that I will remain in touch with many of my colleagues who I have formed life-long friendships with; YOU know who YOU are!  Our discussions have taught me so more than our text books.  It’s been an amazing ride, and I know you will each make a huge difference in young children’s lives.  YOU CAN DO IT; YOU WILL DO IT.  I’m putting my contact information at the bottom of this post, and I look forward to keeping in touch! 

Dr. Teri, you have knowledge, patience, and humor… you are so organized.  Your numerous weekly messages kept me on track, most of the time!  Most importantly, I thank you for teaching me the meaning of the happy dance.  That meaning will remain with me forever.
I will miss this experience a lot, but I will hold tight to my learning.  Will I go on to obtain my EdD or PhD, I have not made up my mine!  I just might!  I hope to meet many of you in Orlando during the graduation in January 2014!  PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH... we can become our own Community of Practice.

Lois Wachtel

beginningsteps@bellsouth.net                                        561-488-2231, 561-699-5841

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

 

Even with all of my years in the field of early childhood, I never searched for international information.  I do not understand why.  I meet, interact, and continue to e-mail early childhood professionals from around the world (most of whom I met at NAEYC conferences), and yet, I never thought to search information on their organizations.  This week’s search for international early childhood organizations has proved quite enlightening. 

When I typed in ‘international early childhood organizations,’ the list was never-ending.  My initial choice was a no-brainer, because their featured publication is a new early childhood book titled, Multicultural Teaching in the Early Childhood Classroom.  Obviously, this is my challenge, so the web page already had a feather in its pocket.  This web page is the Association for Childhood Education (http://www.acei.org).  I found much of the information to be similar in context to NAEYC, but, obviously, on an international level.  Since I had researched early childhood education in Asia for another course, I was interested to learn that the estimated number of children not attending school has dropped from approximately 39 million in 1990 to 13 million in 2010.  I find these numbers positive, and I will return to this web page to read more.

I found 2 job listings quite interesting.  It's something that might entice many of my colleagues also.  They had a call for manuscripts from early childhood professionals.  With our experience in research and our passion for our topics, this might be worth pursuing.  I almost feel as if I have adequate information (research) collected to write a novel; an article would be a breeze.  I e-mailed one of the ladies in charge of publication for added information.  While I do not know if a fee would be paid for our articles, the prestige alone might make this a job opportunity worth pursuing.

In addition, there was a position for summer interns.  The internship would allow individuals to gain work experience with this international organization.  They would primarily be involved in on-line resources, as well as developing various resources.  The intern must have graduated from a higher level of early childhood education.  For the few months of the internship, the candidate would have to reside in the Washington, DC area; the position is located a few blocks from the White House.  With all of our growth in research and passion for early childhood, I can see myself and various colleagues in such a position.  Of course, paying for our own room and board in the Washington area would be quite expensive.  In addition, the internship begins the end of this month, while coincides with our graduation.  More importantly, for me, my husband would not be happy if I was to move to Washington for a few months; he cannot wait for me to finish so we can have a life together.  In spite of all this, I will definitely continue to follow similar internships.  It would be a huge feather in my cap and something that I would LOVE.

 The next web organization that I discovered was Save The Children (http://www.savethechildren.org) In 2012, they  helped improve the lives for over 125 million children.  The stories and videos shared brought tears to my eyes.  I understand that even if I do not have money to donate, I can still make a difference in the lives of children.  In many ways, each of us is already making a difference.  There is specific information concerning numerous ways to advocate for children.  I found their article on understanding what advocacy is to be quite beneficial. 

While there were not specific job listings that I could locate, the web page referred to their employment of more than 14,000 people in over 120 countries.  I called their offices In Washington, D.C. to find out about current job opportunities.  They were extremely welcoming and eager for me to apply.  Currently, they have international positions for individuals to work in early childhood programs, with the biggest demand being in the field of literacy.  In addition, with the huge push for exercise, they are looking for individuals to go to various areas to teach children and their families about the importance of exercise and nutrition.  When I began to ask specifics about payment, I did not receive any concrete answers; it was obvious that this was an area where information would be supplied after I submitted an application.  However, from my own perceptions. I would believe that there would be a small stipend and food and shelter would be provided.  According to the gentleman who I spoke with (he told me his name several times, but I did not fully understand!), international jobs are the hardest to fill and as a rule, they are quite available through Save the Children.  Unfortunately, although exciting and enticing, I do not believe that my husband or son would be in favor of my moving internationally, even if it was only for a specific time period.

UPDATE: When I returned home from San Francisco, I received a phone call from Save the Children.  Upon return of the call, the gentleman (Justin) led me to where jobs were, indeed, posted on the web page.  He was wonderful!  Currently, Save the Children is searching for an Early Childhood Coordinator.  The job requirements are spot-on to support my passion for early childhood.  The individual would need a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree, so we will be ahead already.  Some of the responsibilities include running workshops that help children and families transition to kindergarten, share activities to extend children's language capabilities, and design a book exchange program (exactly what I am currently doing for the Literacy Coalition).  This is indeed an ideal position in a wonderful organization.  I am going to check back the end of June, once everything is finished with our program, and if the job is still available, I might pursue it further.  MIGHT!

The last association that I will discuss is the International Association of Early Childhood Educators (http://www.iaece.org).  Their goal and objectives are, again, similar to NAEYC.  They encourage early childhood educators to visit and study early childhood education in different countries; what an amazing class this could be in our Master’s Program!  If even we did not visit, it would be awesome to study an early childhood program (or school) within an international country.  I believe that membership has entitlements: visiting international schools, publishing papers, their journal, the ability to organize meeting and/or lectures with members from around the world. 

I found many of their lecture topics and/or panel discussions to be quite interesting, especially the one titled “What should we provide for children living in the 21 century?”  I do believe that I will research this organization further; many of their topics seem relevant.  A world perspective would certainly open-up new ideas.  I did not find any specific job opportunities, although I believe that with membership, job opportunities might be discussed from within.

For me, this blog posting has been eye-opening.  It has pointed me in directions that I never realized existed.  After reading through these web pages, I am aware of the wealth of information available internationally about young children.  In the end, children are children; this information stretches my ability to advocate the best practices for all children. 

 

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

As soon as I think of national early childhood organizations, I immediately think of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  I chose this organization, because it provides an overall wealth of information regarding early childhood.  While their specific goals are listed on the home page of their website, in my opinion, the mission of NAEYC is to support young children and early childhood professionals.  NAEYC is a strong supporter of what is developmentally appropriate for each individual young child.
There are an immense variety of journals and/or articles located within the web page, questions are answered, issues are discussed, and upcoming conference information is shared.  As an early childhood professional, I skim through this web page on a weekly basis; there is always something new to read.  Although I have mixed emotions regarding NAEYC accreditation, I am a huge NAEYC supporter.  I will be attending their DAP Conference in 2 weeks, which is being held in San Francisco; I am presenting “Squish-Squash Open-Ended Art.” 
There are currently 3 job listings on the NAEYC web page.  I would be ecstatic to have any of the jobs, although there is little chance that my husband would move to Washington.  On the other hand, I am almost tempted to submit an application; they are ‘dream’ jobs.  The first job is for a Manger of Member Relations to work directly with volunteer leaders who want to improve the quality of early childhood education within their areas.  A B.A. degree and 3 years of experience are required in working with volunteers.  The next job that I located is Senior Director of NAECY Academy for Early Childhood Education, which works to improve the quality of early childhood programs recognizing and accrediting programs.  Basically the requirements are a strong knowledge of early childhood, communication and organizational skills. Without a doubt, this would be my ideal job, if located in a warm region of the United States.  Finally, NAEYC is hiring temporary workers for the summer months to give assistance by writing, reading, or editing their web pages or articles.  Again, if I could do this job from my home computer, I would be doing the happy dance.  I would LOVE to work for NAEYC!  The NAEYC web page is www.naeyc.org

The National Head Start Organization’s web page was my next choice to examine.  I chose this organization, because it is directly related to my Capstone project.  Their overall mission is support the Head Start community, including educators, students, and families.  For me, personally, I put ‘dual language learners’ in their search bar, and I was amazed that 23 records appeared.  I am eager to read carefully through them with the hopes of integrating some of the information within my challenge.  I would like a better understanding of the organizations philosophy of working with dual language learners.  I was unaware that so much information of specific issues of early childhood was located on Head Start’s web page.  This information can be found at www.nhsa.org
When I looked for job opportunities, I expected to see many positions available for teachers and directors.  There were 2 jobs listed, and I have doubts if they are current.  Perhaps, this part of the web page is not regularly updated.  The first job is for assist at a conference with various tracks; it is a part time position.  However, the conference was held in 2010!  The job listing after this is for a Nutrition Coordinator in a Philadelphia Head Start program.  Obviously, I do not have the experience or knowledge for such a position.  I did think this was going along with Head Start’s healthy kids program, because this individual would directly supervise the children’s nutrition, making certain their foods are healthy.  I liked that a lot!

The third national organization that I explored was the ADL web page.  This was a web page that I wanted to examine due to my diversity challenge.  Although I have searched my local web page, it is scarce compared to the national page, which is located at www.adl.org  There is SO much information related to my topic and to the world.  I was unaware that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was initially formed to combat anti-Semitism.  As a Jewish individual, I should have known this!  I was aware that currently they are advocates to stop all forms of racism. 
There is a wealth of information available for early childhood educators.  This is definitely ‘the’ web page that will offer assistance to early childhood educators wanting to implement an anti-bias curriculum within their classrooms.  I have been reading about the Miller Early Childhood Initiative, which provides a wealth of early childhood information.  In addition, as I stated previously in a discussion, the No place for HATE program would be amazing for early childhood.  While it has been initiated in various elementary and secondary schools, I think it has relevance in early childhood.  The program could easily be adapted to younger children.  I just might e-mail them my suggestion!  In addition, I must include that there are also articles for families, and I really enjoyed the bias free cooking activities.  I definitely am going to include information from this ADL to solve my challenge.
There were no jobs listed on the web page, but rather, it was suggested that individuals contact their local ADA office.  Personally, I would love to be employed by ADL to put together an anti-bias early childhood program; however, I am certain this would not be a paid position.  I will, however, seriously consider getting involved with No place for HATE, and of course, I WILL be putting together an anti-bias curriculum in a book or workshop form.

For me, this blog posting was extremely worthwhile, and I am thrilled that I chose to tackle it early in this week.  I will return to these web pages for additional information to help me solve my challenge, for sure! 

 

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Florida's Local and State Levels

While I am aware of many of the local and state early childhood organizations, agencies, and communities of practice, I never took the time to visit their webpages or get to know their inner-workings.  It was mind-boggling to come to the realization that there are so many organizations that ultimately work to better the lives for Florida’s children.

I looked deep into the Palm Beach County (PBC) Early Childhood Registry’s webpage (http://www.pbcregistry.org )  I live in PBC and am a Registry trainer, and yet, I have never spent time reviewing their web page.  My knowledge about the goals of the Registry are extremely limited.  My contact has been primarily submitting and re-submitting paperwork and workshops in order to get them approved for presentation.  I learned a huge amount of professional information.  The Registry’s goal is to support practitioners and trainers who work in early childhood in PBC.  The Registry has a strict program that must be completed prior to offering a trainer membership in this group. 
My purpose for becoming a Registry trainer was to elevate my capacity to present trainings in PBC.  After completing my training, I do receive recognition based upon my trainings, and the state will pay a fee for many of my trainings.   Was it worth the time to become a Registry trainer?  Yes, in many ways.  However, the amount of paperwork per training and the approval process is extensive, time consuming, and often, expensive.  So, in the long run, the recognition comes with a cost.  On the flip side, if I was a director and looking for local training, the Registry is a wonderful place to start, because I would be assured that the trainer and training has met specific qualifications.  In addition, there was a calendar of local trainings on their web page, which is extremely beneficial for early childhood educators.  The job openings listed were for lead and assistant teacher position.  For me, I am not currently interested in teaching a particular early childhood class, so it was not beneficial.  However, especially for those individuals directly out of school, these openings are worthwhile to pursue, certainly a starting point. 

Then, I went outside of my comfort zone, searching for an organization that I had not heard of.  As a result of my studies at Walden, I have become overwhelmed by the amount of children in South Florida who are hungry and/or homeless; it is almost like a bad dream.  I located the web page www.homelessvoice.org  Often, I see individuals collecting money at traffic lights for this organization (their vests have the name, Homeless Voice, imprinted on them).  As the name suggests, their mission is to provide shelter, food, and possible employment opportunities.  Their ultimate goal is to offer homeless individuals access to social services to enable their return to being self-reliant.    While employment opportunities as such were not listed, there were opportunities for individuals to volunteer and a listing of items that were always in need.  Several organizations and fundraising opportunities were listed as an opportunity to raise funds for their shelter.   I was taken aback and touched by their mission at ending discrimination against the homeless population.  Without a doubt, I was one of those people who had biases against homeless individuals; I referred to them as lazy.  My learning has eliminated these stereotypes, as I understand the reasons for homelessness.  I want to get involved.

Finally, I reviewed the Florida Head Start webpage (http://www.fl-hsa.org/).  My preschool was not a Head Start preschool, so as a director, I never had a need to review its mission.   Now, as an educator, I present workshops for many Head Start teachers, in addition to reading weekly at a Head Start school.  I have developed a newly found respect for the organization.  This assignment gave me an opportunity to learn more about Head Start.  I found the information to be up-to-date and the web page to be easy to navigate.  I copied and pasted several articles and/or information.   It was interesting to read their philosophy in reference to the importance of collaboration within the Head Start community; they stressed that such collaboration would enable various Head Start schools to share resources.

I had to search a bit to find where their job opportunities were listed.  Most of them can be found on the Palm Beach County School Board web page.  As expected, various Head Start schools posted jobs for teachers; each one, surprisingly, requested for ‘certified’ teachers.  I do not know what specifically was meant by ‘certified.’  There was an interesting job for a Curriculum Specialist in a Head Start Early Childhood Center.  Again, I do not know if I want to return to a particular school or classroom, but the ability to design a curriculum based on the needs of the students did interest me.  I actually called the school and hope to meet the director at a conference this up-coming weekend in Orlando.  It seems like a dream job, but I do not want it to alienate me as a presenter by associating myself with one particular school.  Several other jobs directly at the Head Start office were available, which would require ratings of schools.  Most of them require experience in the field of early childhood, and other than classroom teacher positions, a director’s credential is a necessity.  The jobs at Head Start require a college degree, but none of the availabilities specifically refereed to a degree in education or early childhood.  Since I am a huge supporter of the importance of a degree specifically in early childhood, the lack of such a requirement disturbed me. 

My Wordle

Reflecting on Learning

When I changed from adult education to diversity, I did so because of a new-found passion.  Our last 2 classes have intensified this passion, changing my thought-process forever.  I understand that stereotypes that were a part of my childhood; this realization is the backbone for my growth.  I wish that I could sprinkle some pixie dust and change the world into one that is accepting of all… a world where our differences are valued and celebrated.  While I cannot alter what occurred in my preschool, I can work to change future classrooms.  I can share (and will share) my new-found knowledge with early childhood professionals during every workshop and class that I teach. 

My hope for the future of early childhood is that EVERY child is able to attend a pre-school program where an anti-bias curriculum is being infused in the school’s every day curriculum.  With today’s changing population, it is no longer an option.  Young children need to understand the importance of accepting, and celebrating, our similarities and differences.  Extending this knowledge to families is the icing on the cake.

At this point, it is almost impossible to comprehend that we are almost at the end of our Master’s journey… 1 more class to go!  It has been an amazing ride, and I would not trade one minute of it.  Thank you to my colleagues for sharing a part of themselves with us each week via our discussions and blogs.  Our honesty has enabled us to grow individually and as a group. 

Here’s to our final step… I wish you a fantastic next class, and I look forward to working with many of you!  I know many of us will keep in touch…

 

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

On the UNICEF website, I researched the region of Latin America and Caribbean.  I chose this area, because I am somewhat familiar with this area, although I have mixed emotions.  I have been to the Caribbean several times via a cruise ship, and without a doubt, I will be back.  While my husband and I have enjoyed the beautiful beaches, amazing shops, and spectacular beach-front homes.  This is what we saw on most of our tours.  Then, this past year, we took a tour through Belize, and after seeing some spectacular homes and beaches, we traveled by bus through some of their poverty-stricken areas.  First of all, I was scared that we would be attacked (really I was).  But, more so, I was in shock… young children were running through the streets, without an adult in view…  children had ripped, dirty clothes… other children were without clothes… children could be seen going to the bathroom on the streets…  children were hitting each other with street branches… houses were boarded up… windows were broken… houses were half together (really).  The different areas on this tour were like night and day; it was hard to believe that one area of extreme wealth led into an area of extreme poverty.

The initial page on the website reiterated my observations.  The web page states that an unequal atmosphere exists among the children in Latin America and the Caribbean.  By unequal, it means while the lives of many children have improved, millions of other children are at risk.  More than half of the children and adolescents in this area are living in areas of poverty.  UNICEF is working in this area to break the cycle of poverty.  Then, as I read further, that many of these children do not have safe water to drink or basic sanitation services.    In addition, UNICEF is working to make certain that children in this area receive important immunizations.

As if I was not in shock enough, I read that an estimated 35 million children in this area never enter school… NEVER!  Obviously, one of the goals of UNICEF is to come up with initiatives that would assure all children received access to school.  Another one of UNICEF’s goals for this area is protecting children from violence.  Nearly 85,000 children die annually as a result of violence in this area.  While my bus trip (that I will never forget, nor will I ever repeat) was only 1 1/2 hours, I viewed life from both sides of a coin.  Without a doubt, the living conditions of these children will affect their emotional development, in addition to their cognitive, social, and physical development.

I cannot help but reflect back to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which I still think has relevance today.  If these children do not have the basics (water, food, clothes), it is basically impossible for them to move further up the ladder and accomplish much else.  Children whose basic needs are not met will never become all that they can be.  When I worked in the preschool classroom, I could instantly tell if a child had a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast; these children were wide awake and ready to conquer the world. 

This blog posting brought back memories that I tried to put away somewhere.  I kept telling my husband, “I don’t believe what I’m seeing.”  I wish that I could grab a handful of these little children and bring them home with me in my suitcase.  These children deserve a chance to make something of themselves… they deserve food and water… they deserve to go outside and play ball… they deserve to be educated in a good, developmentally appropriate school… they deserve a chance to succeed… they deserve life.  UNICEF is making a huge difference, and I trust that they will continue to do so, one child at a time.  I just do not know if that is enough; but I do not have a better alternative.

 

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html