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

Blog 2:  Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

 

The NEA-supported  Strong Start for America’s Children Act  (S. 2452/H.R. 3461), introduced in the House and Senate on November 13, 2013, would promote high-quality learning opportunities for children from birth to age 5. This vital legislation would help states fund high-quality prekindergarten for 4-year olds from low-income families; encourage states to support prekindergarten for 4-year-olds from moderate-income families;  Also encourages learning opportunities for even younger children

Managerial Position Requirements:

Extensive knowledge of campaigns and government relations at state and federal levels. Demonstrated effectiveness in developing and implementing legislative and political programs. Demonstrated excellence in developing strategic campaigns that incorporate member engagement, data collection and analysis, opposition research, message research, and public communication. Demonstrated excellence in interpersonal skills to work effectively with staff, affiliates, and leaders. Successful project management experience. High level of creativity developing legislative and political strategies and making program recommendations. Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively toward organizational goals and a commitment to creating a learning environment in the workplace. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships in a dynamic and diverse team environment. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Demonstrated flexibility and ability to work in a frenetic environment. Demonstrated success in performance of work activities. Successful references. 

Job Location

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

                                                                              (Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/18163.htm)

 

Child Care Services Association (CCSA) is a nationally recognized nonprofit working to ensure affordable, accessible, high quality child care for all families through research, services and advocacy. We are more than just an agency working to improve child care; we are also an association of groups, individuals and volunteers committed to supporting the right of young children and their families to have the best possible life.

Child Care Services Association provides free referral services to families seeking child care, technical assistance to child care businesses, and educational scholarships and salary supplements to child care professionals through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® and Child Care WAGES® Projects. CCSA licenses its successful programs to states across the country and provides consultation to others addressing child care concerns.

Before employment begins, a candidate being offered a position will need to provide CCSA with a readable transcript of the highest level of education completed. This would include education completed at the high school level, community college, college or university level. It will be the candidate’s responsibility to produce the transcript from his or her educational institution. 

CCSA also performs a criminal background check and a motor vehicle check on every candidate before offering employment. 

 

                                                                       (Retrieved at http://www.childcareservices.org/about-us/)

 

The Association for Early Learning Leaders, formerly known as the National Association of Child Care Professionals is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to excellence by promoting leadership development and enhancing program quality through the National Accreditation Commission's standards. Since 1984, Early Learning Leaders have been serving childcare directors, owners and administrators.

 

Goal and Purpose

Early Learning Leader's goal is to strengthen the knowledge, skills and abilities of early care directors, owners, emerging leaders and other early learning pro­fessionals to ensure quality child care programs for young children. Our primary purpose is:

 

Networking and Collaboration

Promote and create meaningful collaborative connections among members, other professionals, and national early child­hood organizations.

 

Training and Education

Provide professional development opportunities to strengthen the leadership skills of administrators and enhance the quality of early learning programs.

Program Quality and Accreditation

Promote quality improvements to achieve and recognize excel­lence in early care and education programs

To be considered for this position, you must meet all state licensing requirements and additional requirements listed below:
- Must be at least 21 years of age
- Must have HS diploma or equivalent 
- Must have experience in DHS Administrative Record Maintenance, Annual Immunization Reporting and other childcare center functions. 
- Excellent Customer Management and Communication Skills, Mature, Respectful, Friendly, multi-tasker and basic Computer skills (Word, Excel, Emails), Leadership and Organization skills. 
- 2+ Years of experience in Childcare Center Management, Administration, Planning and Development
- Bachelor/Associate Degree in CDA, ECE or closely related field is preferred

 

                                                               (Retrieved from http://www.earlylearningleaders.org/)

     I chose the aforementioned national organizations because they address the needs of children from low-income families, committed to supporting children and their families, and promote continuing education for teachers to support all children in receiving high-quality care. 

 

     The most I would need to do from these jobs would be in having experience in political planning and having experience in DHS Administrative Record Maintenance.

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

     Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

 

     I found one local community, Sara E. Raymond School of Early Education (part of District 87 public schools) of interest to me.  I chose this school because it is a pre-kindergarten program for at-risk children for academic difficulty.  In addition, the program also serves young children with special needs.  The program offers half days, either morning or afternoon.  Young children are taught language, social, research-based curriculum skills, and the program values structured play.  I like that the program mentions ‘play’ as part of its curriculum.  I also like that teachers are licensed ECE and receive public school salaries as well!

Sarah E. Raymond: http://raymond.district87.org/pages/Sarah_E__Raymond_School_of_Ear

 

     My second local community I found is the Child Protection Network (CPN).  This organization is also within my community and serves to protect abused and neglected children.  I like this organization because of who and why it serves.  This network is for the rights of children, even to provide legal assistance, and believes serving young children serves the greater good of the community.  So true!  The organization also receives most of its funding through grants and donations.

 

Child Protection Network: http://www.mcleancpn.org/what-we-do/mission-vision.html

 

My third organization is found within my state and is the Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children.  I like this organization because it is a strong advocate for young children and their families, like the NAEYC, and is connected to the NAEYC.  This organization is current on trends, policymaking decisions, opportunities for professional development, and issues within early childhood along with research, ideas, policies and standards all adhering to best practices. 

 

Illinois Assoc. for the Edu. Of Young Children: http://illinoisaeyc.org/

 

     Job opportunities that currently interest me are becoming an owner/director of a learning center, teaching college-level courses, and/or any opportunity to be a strong advocate for young children and their families that provided livable wages.  For the aforementioned jobs, I would likely need training/mentoring and the help of a team of people (within my CoP) to be able to efficiently and effectively do my job well.     

 

A note to Colleagues

As our course comes to an end, I would like to thank each of my colleagues for all their support throughout this course as well as the previous courses.  You have supported me through your experiences and insights in helping me gain a better perspective of your views, which helped me reflect on my own.  Additionally, you have also confirmed my own personal beliefs about the growth and development of young children and ways you have effectively dealt with them and their families.  You have also reinforced the fact that we are all humans, with the same basic needs and wants.  We all have good days and we all have bad days.  You have confirmed that there are still great people in this world who are willing to self-sacrifice for the good of others.  So, I hope I have supported you in similar ways and I wish you continued success in your specialization classes and even hope to have you in my specialization classes.  I have enjoyed getting to know, your families, your goals, your hopes and even your fears!  Best wishes to each and every one of you!  I hope we can all stay in touch and continue to grow and learn from one another. 

 

Additional contacts:

Janajohnston3@yahoo.com

Or you can find me on Facebook

 

The Adjourning Stage of Team Development

Week 6:  The Adjourning Stage of Team Development

 

In tasks in which I have worked efficiently with others as a team it is difficult to say good-bye even when celebrating the completion of whatever the team accomplished together.  I think the higher performing groups are the hardest to leave because they are likely more to have the clearest established norms and are strongly focused on their group’s vision.  Evening through the closing rituals, which mostly have consisted of being rewarded with food that tastes great, but is bad for us, it is still often difficult to walk away from a group of people who formed a strong performing and productive team.  This type of team is more focused on the group than self.  A group focus, rather than a focus on self, seems to flow smoother in accomplishing goals. This makes everyone’s job easier.

 

I imagine I will likely adjourn from my colleagues by thanking them for their insights and participation throughout this program.  I think this stage is an important stage of teamwork because, for me, it provokes reflection on what areas I do well in and what areas I need more improvements.  I think my colleagues’ input is important because they understand our successes and shortcomings because we share a common vision.  I do think it would be nice to stay connected with my colleagues, but this would likely have to be done through social networking as we are all scattered throughout and would likely find it too difficult to physically meet.  Overall, I think collectively we have a lot to offer one another through are vast diversities and experiences.    

Experiencing Conflict

An issue I wanted to address is one that seems to affect every workplace.  This issue involves co-workers who constantly find something to complain about with their boss.  These individuals generally do nothing about their complaints but tell everybody but the person they are complaining about.  For me, when I am on the receiving end of someone’s complaint about another I feel uncomfortable listening to someone talking negatively.  There are strategies I can take use to help manage or resolve this conflict.  According to The Conflict Resolution Network (n.d.), I can empathize with these individuals by asking them questions about their complaints and even inquire what they are doing about it with their boss and how and/or in what ways they think I can by learning about the issues they have with another.  Another strategy I can use is to ask the individuals to think about their expected outcome, such as a win-win outcome or a compromise.  I would also encourage these individuals to talk directly to the source of their complaints.  We may even have monthly meetings set aside to address any issues or concerns from staff and involve the staff on ways to resolve issues and the types of resources/services they suggest.  Overall, my goal would be to support individuals in not going to others about a problem they are not involved, but rather go directly to the person involved in the conflict. 

 

For my particular issue, I used this assignment to ask the very people who were going to others and complaining about another on giving advice to solve work-related problems.  I also asked them about what they also found to likely be ineffective ways in solving problem related to work. I found it interesting that everyone felt it was most important to go directly to the source about their problems, but also confessed they often felt intimidated to do so because often times it was their boss.  I then suggested we ask the boss about monthly meetings to share what worked with patients and our jobs as well as what did not work so well and input on ways to make it work better so we can be more productive for the boss. 

Evaluation of Self as a Communicator

     After reflecting on the similarities and differences between how I evaluated myself as a communicator and how others evaluated me.  I was surprised the most by how others were highly confident in my ability to speak effectively with others.  I am much more critical of myself in feeling the need to do better and striving to do so.  I learned that others view me as having low anxiety when communicating orally.  I also learned that others viewed me as being action-oriented, one who has a strong focus on acting on resolving issues and getting things done.  However, the assessment test I took showed I scored higher in being people-oriented and should be careful of being too trustworthy.  I think after reviewing and reflecting on the results from these assessments, I have learned that having a balance in my communication style and skills is key to my professional and personal life.  Too much skill and style can come across as too aggressive and not enough can come across as too passive and easily manipulated.  I also believe balance come in the form of knowing how to communicate with various people, venues, and circumstances.  Overall, I think honing communication skills and styles takes ongoing time and commitment in being effective with most individuals. 

Communicating with Different Groups and Cultures

Week 3:  Communicating with Different Groups and Cultures

 

Yes, I do find myself communicating with different groups and cultures.  I do this because no two people are the same.  I communicate to meet the needs of the situation and not because individuals are necessarily from different groups and cultures.  If I communicated per group or culture, then I believe I would be making assumptions about people based on their group and culture and individuals are more than being “lumped” into stereotypes. 

 

There are ways I can communicate more effectively with people.  One way is to know myself, which can be done through ongoing self-reflection such as my own beliefs, personality, and traits before I can make any changes to benefit my communication skills.  I may also be more other-oriented by trying to be more cognizant of what others are feeling in order to help them meet their wants and needs.  I may also ask questions and hone my listening skills to learn more about others and how I might support them and show they are valued.