Time Well Spent

Being my last class at Walden University I wanted to give some reflection on my time spent during the program and my own personal growth.

I feel that I have learned much, but through this program I know that I have developed three deeply felt learnings or messages.

The first one is that passion can be renewed and evolve into different aspects. For example, during my time at Walden I found a new passion for early childhood education that was undeveloped before I started the program. My main passion for helping children have a great early start in their life is still strong but other aspects have caused stronger passions in different areas that I was unaware of before. It has helped me create new goals and new ideals for what I want to accomplish in my professional and personal career goals.

The second item that I have learned is to always create new goals and work towards them. I have always made goals for myself in all areas of my life but by really fine tuning goals and working towards them helped me feel so much more accomplished and my knowledge worthwhile to others. 

The final message I have been taught are personal items about myself. I have been shown how bias' affect others, how my language can affect others, and how my outlook on life also has an affect. By looking at all of these things I was able to make myself into a more understanding individual and help myself be more versatile to help all individuals more than I was starting this program.

One long term goal I have for myself is to keep continuing to gain education and help myself to understand more because in turn I can help others by improving myself.

I am very thankful to all the individuals that I have met throughout this program including the instructors and my colleagues. I wish you only the best of luck in everything that you do. Without everyone in this program I do not believe that my education would be as worthwhile as it is. I will always think fondly of everyone and hope to keep in contact with people to see how the change the world - because all of you will!

Job/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

This week I explored the international community of early childhood. I used this opportunity to look at different communities of practices as well as different roles or employment opportunities that I found interesting for early childhood professionals around the world.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was a community of practice that appealed to me.  UNICEF has many parts to their mission statement but it encompasses: “the protection of children’s rights to help meet their basic needs, ensure ethical principals, incorporates development, mobilized political and material resources to help countries, ensure special protection for disadvantaged children, responds to emergencies, does not discriminate, promotes equal rights, and enshrined peace and social progress”  (UNICEF, 2013).  This organization encompasses so much and helps all the needs or all children, I could not find something that I did not believe in for this communities of practice. For this organization a job I found very interesting was a child protection specialist located in Iraq. This job requirements is, “the development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluations of the Child Protection programme within the country programme (UNICEF, 2013). I understand that children in Iraq need support with many different factors that are happening within that country. I would feel fulfilled to help these children and have this job.

The second community of practice is the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development  or abbreviated OECD (2013).  “The mission of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world” (OECD, 2013). I feel this organization was important to include because it has some political background and helps governments to find solutions and come up with plans to help better the economic, co-operation, development of children. I could not find a job that I was qualified to do but there were many (lawyers, safety specialists, economic jobs)  that helped better the overall development and economics of children.

The last community of practice I researched is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or the UNESCO (2011).  The UNIESCO is interested in developing the educational value, cultural value, and scientific discoveries to help better people around the world (2011). When I looked at the site for employment  there were none at the moment for the early childhood perspective part of the community of practice but there was research scientists, finance and administrative officer, and director of internal-oversight service.

International communities are just as important as local and national ones. International organizations can see trends and help many different children around the world.

 References:

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://www.unicef.org/

United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2011). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/introducing-unesco/

Week 4- National/Federal CoP

This week I am exploring national organizations and federal agencies that help foster the well-being of children, families, and the early childhood field. I am using these communities or practice to inspire my thinking and contributions that I can make in the early childhood field. I have found three that have appealed to me.

The first one is The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge, or shortened to Connect Modules. This CoP (community of practice) is made to share knowledge through the internet to all early childhood professionals that looks at different sources to come up with a solution to questions in the field.  This organization is mostly run thorough the Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina. At the University of North Carolina a job that interested me was a child development specialist. This called to me because I know how important child development is and how a healthy development can alter a child’s life. For this job they are looking for at least 5 years in the early childhood field and at least one of those years as a development specialist titled job. I would need both of these requirements before applying.

The second CoP I found is named the Early Intervention and Early Childhood. This program is dedicated to quality early care for all young children and is focused on universal design for learning, recognition and response, professional development, and inclusive practices for serving a diverse society. There were no jobs currently at this time, but I would like to get involved in this CoP because I agree and support for what they stand for.

The last CoP I investigated was the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. The Multi-Tiered Systems of Support works for the intersection of general and special education.  The work that they do is mostly aligned with the emerging practice of response-to=intervention or the RTI process. This interested me because I am involved in this process at the school where I teach as well as knowing this information for all educators is important. There were no current jobs listed but I feel that as this organization grows local chapters will emerge and need a leader and I would be willing to help fulfill this obligation.

Overall the CoP that I found were very great, They all help the development of the early childhood field with a focus on the children and their families.

References

Connect modules. (2013). Retrieved from http://community.fpg.unc.edu/ 

Early intervention and early childhood. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.sharedwork.org/web/early-childhood/home 

Multi-tiered systems of support. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.sharedwork.org/web/multi-tiered-systems-rti/home

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

Local, state, nation, and international early childhood organizations are important to foster the well-being of children, their families, and the field as a whole. This week I am exploring different organizations, agencies, and communities that encompass the early childhood field. First I looked at three local and state organizations that appealed to me.

1.     I choose Knowledge Works. Knowledge Works is an organization who current emphasis is on the construction and renovation of schools. This could be facilities or technology. I was interested in this organization because I feel strongly that technology needs to be updated throughout the schools. As a society we use technology every day. Without educating our children about technology and giving them access to it, we are doing an injustice to them.

2.     Secondly I choose The Coalition for Greater Cleveland’s Children. This is a not-for-profit organization that works to promote and improve education, health, safety, and economic well-beings of children from the Cleveland, Ohio area. I found this organization great because not many places incorporate all factors of a child into how it affects their education. The whole child concept is what I enjoyed most about this organization.

3.     Third I choose the Community Advocates for Public Education (CAPE). This organization of community members promotes public and political support to public schools. This can be through education, legislative, and political campaigns. I choose this organization because I think it is really great to build a strong relationship with the community, and by giving information on so many different levels more individuals would by apt to support the schools.

I did not see any job opportunities listed for these organizations but many volunteer positions that I think would be great to be involved with. I am particularly looking at The Coalition for Greater Cleveland’s Children. I also think being part of this organization would be neat because I would get a different understanding of the early childhood field from a different perspectives that is not mainly focused on academics. I feel I have the skills, experience, and education needed to competently fulfill a volunteer spot for this organization. 

References

Barnes, M. (n.d.). Community advocates for public education. Retrieved from http://chuh.net/cape/

Knowledgeworks foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://knowledgeworks.org/

Swanson, A. N. (n.d.). Coalition for greater cleveland's children. Retrieved from http://www.coalition4kids.org/about/default.asp

Reflecting on Learning

My most passionate hope for the future as am early childhood professional, for the children, and for the families with whom I work with it that we can together create a world that is anti-bias and give everyone the same opportunities to be great, express themselves freely, and feel confident in who they are.

I would like to thank all my colleagues who have once again supported me, taught me, and encouraged me during this class at Walden. I am inspired by each of you every day and know that our children are in better hands because they have you.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

Throughout my learning at Walden University I have been looking at challenges that may exist in early childhood that can include but is not limited to poverty. War, terrorism, abuse, and other forms of trauma, this week I decided to look specifically at an area of the world to understand children from this region. I choose Latin American and the Caribbean for the reasons of having children from the countries that I come into contact daily and this region hosts my favorite vacation spots. I love the culture when I visit these countries, but to truly understand them I need to understand the children and the challenges that these countries face.

Some challenges that children in this region of the world are confronting are is the inconsistency of education for the children. For example in Costa Rica 96% of people are literate and only 49% in Haiti (UNICEF).  Another challenge is the health care that is available and healthy water sources between countries. In Niagara water facilities are only 85% sanitary because of the rural areas of the culture being in the low 60% for sanitary water distributed to people (UNICEF). In certain countries as well child labor is used and also some countries have marriage between individuals under the age of 15 in a high percentage. In Dominican Republic both these statistics are true having 13% of children working and 12% of their children married by age 15.

These experiences might have an effect on children’s emotional well being and development by the stress of having to “grow up” and not live their youth to the fullest because of marriage and having to work. Children could also have to stress about their health such as having food and clean water and not having these resources could also affect their development in a healthy way. Also not being educated is not helping children to be able to learn all they can as well as depriving them of information to help them in various ways. 

Personally I have gained an understanding of what I can do to help children in these areas to give the better chance of a healthy lifestyle. When I travel to these places being able to donate my time and funds to help children would only increase these children’s lifestyle as well as this making me feel fulfilled.

UNICEF, 2013.  http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html.

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

        The sexualization of early childhood has become more intense and more socially accepted throughout the world. In the media there are lyrics of songs, children shows, and toys that are portray sexual messages to our children. ‘Girls and boys constantly encounter sexual messages and images that they cannot understand and that can confuse and even frighten them” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). “Children are paying an enormous price for the sexualization of their childhood.” (Leving & Kilbourne, 2009).

        Professionally and personally I have come across many examples of how the sexualization of early childhood illustrates the exposure of young children to a highly sexualized environment. Below are my top 3 examples of how sexualized children are becoming:

1.     A family friend’s daughter once made a statement at dinner on, “how does she get to look hot so that she can be on the private touch list at school?”

2.      When I was at a football game that my cousins were playing in, the cheerleaders had very suggestive lyrics and not appropriate dance moves for their cheers. They were all 10.

3.     The show “Toddler’s and Tiaras”. The mothers and fathers of this show dress up their daughters to make them look not like little girls, but like sex symbols. They go tanning, get their nails done, and work out. These parents are grooming them to understand society’s definition of “pretty” and what their bodies should look like.

When children grow up in a sexualized environment it does have implications on their development. “Gender roles modeled for children have become increasingly polarized and rigid. A narrow definition of femininity and sexuality encourages girls to focus heavily on appearance and sex appeal. They learn at a very young age that their value is determined by how beautiful, thin, “hot,” and sexy they are. And boys, who get a very narrow definition of masculinity that promotes insensitivity and macho behavior, are taught to judge girls based on how close they come to an artificial, impossible, and shallow ideal” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). “Children learn that sex is the defining activity in relationships, to the exclusion of love and friendship” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). This idea carries over into their adulthood and will alter how relationships are made, their gender identity, sexual attitudes, and values (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).

How I feel to respond to the concerns of the sexualization of children and to reduce the negative impacts it has on children is mainly monitor what children view. From music, to TV, to movies, and to toys, children are exposure to over exposed to sexual content.” In the most extreme cases, the media’s incessant sexualization of childhood can contribute to pathological sexual behavior, including sexual abuse, pedophilia, and prostitution (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). To have a supportive family member that talks to a child about sex is important, but not in detail. A role model is always an important part in a healthy child’s development.

This week I have become aware by how the sexualization of early childhood is a major issue that needs to be addressed. Parent and educators need to be aware of this topic to be able to identity when a child has had been exposed to much and factors that cause this exposure. Prevention is key here and without knowledge of this topic, it cannot be prevented. 

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