Time Well Spent

Here we are, at the end of our journey, and all I can say is CONGRATULATIONS!

This journey has been one that has held ups and downs, positives and negatives, moments of frustration and success, yet through it all I felt more confident in my job and have been able to take many lessons learned through my coursework that have helped me to be a better director, educator and leader. 

I have had so many positive learning moments throughout the last 2 years. I've learned that being a leader doesn't mean having one definition of what leadership is. It means combining many different styles, and that success is defined by molding those leadership styles at a moments notice. I've also learned to believe in myself. There have been many moments where quitting has been part of my thought process, and as I move forward, I am so grateful that I pushed myself past the tough moments and made it out on the other side. 

And right now, at the end of this journey, the triumph is pretty darn glorious. 

So what now? Now, I use all of the knowledge that I've gained over the last 22 months, and continue to apply it to my current position. As the Director of a large center I find myself up agains moments that I can use my education every day. My capstone focused on increasing teacher wages for the teachers at my center, and that is a major goal over the next year. I have already set up time to meet with the board of directors, and with a positive Capstone Project behind me, I can take the information I gleaned from that to let them know the importance of valuing and compensating the teachers at the J. 

I couldn't have done this without the support and camaraderie of all of you! Dr. Embree, Dr. Dartt, Dr. Marsh, Dr. Parrish, and so many more, have helped me to push through the coursework and helped to showcase my success. Dr. Embrue, you were a significant support system over the last 8 weeks. After week 1, I was pretty sure I was doomed to fail, and would never make it to the end. I could not wrap my head around measurable goals, and a Capstone with clear ideas, through many emails, you helped me get to where I am today. Thank you so much for the time, energy, comments, and positivity you provided over the last 8 weeks. I would definitely not be here without you. THANK YOU!

THANK YOU to all of my colleagues throughout my courses. Your feedback on discussion posts and blogs helped me to critically analyze our challenges, and truly made me a better director. I have taken bits and pieces from each of your individual experiences and bettered myself because of them. You are each fighting the good fight for early childhood education, and I am so lucky to have known you!

As ready as I am for this to end, I'm sad to not have a learning community that I get to "meet" with each week. While I'll have more time outside of the classroom, I will not have educators all over the country there to be a sounding board, and I"m going to miss that. 

I'd love for you to add me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/machaela 

I hope that our paths cross each other at some point in the next phase of our journey!

THANK YOU!

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

This week I explored the early childhood community from an international perspective. I looked for organizations that represented my personal and professional aspirations. This led me to several organizations, Free the children, the Association for Childhood Education International, and UNICEF.

First up is an organization called Free the Children. Free the Children is an international charity working to empower and enable youth to be agents of change. "Free the Children educates, engages, and empowers youth in North America, the UK and around the world with the tools, knowledge, confidence, and support network to be ambassadors for change and lead meaningful action" (Free the Children, 2015).

This organization has many jobs that relate to my interests, the one that stuck out to me the most is the Educational Programming Coordinator. "Are you a person who enjoys challenges and making a difference in the world" (Free the Children, 2015). This position requires dedication to the mission of Free the Children as well as initiative, organization, and people skills. I think I would excel in this position based on my experience in the world of early childhood education.

Next is the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI), a non profit that "is interested in sharing new approaches to the education of children and ensuring that these approaches are delivered in ways that enhance children's individual skills and abilities and provide opportunities for success in life" (ACEI, 2015). ACEI is a global community that helps educators find and exchange information about early childhood, and connect with other educators to institute a world wide access to high quality education.

ACEI has summer institutes for students enrolled in early childhood graduate programs, which would be perfect for me. These 8-12 week internships focus on information and data gathering and allow students to see the early childhood community from a global perspective.

Finally, UNICEF "works for a more equitable world by fighting for the rights of its future: children" (UNICEF, 2015). UNICEF works in many different areas of early childhood education, advocacy, poverty relief, and education. I'm drawn to their mission and the wide variety of experiences and help they offer.

There are a wide variety of positions available at UNICEF all over the world. Everywhere from Afghanistan to Kenya to the US. Their Education Specialist builds partnerships, manages programs, and uses innovation to complete the UNICEF mission. I think that this position, no matter where in the world would be an engaging position. Working all over the world would certainly be a draw for working in this amazing organization.



Free the Children: http://www.freethechildren.com 

Association for Childhood Education International: http://acei.org

UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org

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

It's always fun exploring the early childhood educational field to see all of the national opportunities there are to be involved. I think that the best thing an educator can do is educate themselves on all of the potential support that is available to them. I chose to explore the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the Association for Early Learning Leaders, and the National Education Association (NEA).

As a member of NAEYC and an employee of an accredited center I see so many benefits to this organization. "NAEYC is a professional membership organization that works to promote high quality early learning for all young children birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research" (NAEYC, n.d.). The free resources on their website make their support of the early childhood community known. An educator does not have to be a member to access these resources, although there are even more if you are a member, and their support of our community helps parents and other educators to understand the importance of early childhood education. Being involved in the NAEYC organization would be a dream job for me. I would enjoy being a person who helps programs get reaccredited, or serve as a member of their administrative staff that researches the newest trends in early childhood. 

Get more information about NAEYC at http://www.naeyc.org

Next up is the National Education Association, and specifically their interest in early childhood education. They are quite clear in their support, "Early childhood education: one of the best investments our country can make" (NEA, n.d.). Within the NEA they have "Organizational Specialists" that help other programs at a state and national level develop strategic plans of improvement, including developing state and local policy. While I have never delved into policy creation, I think that it would be very interesting to work in a position like this, especially in the state of Kansas, however at a national level, helping early childhood educators all over the country would be an ideal position for me. This position would take many years of experience in early childhood as well as a dedication to our field. 

Want to know more about the NEA? Check out http://www.nea.org

Finally, the Association for Early Learning Leaders seeks 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" (AELL, n.d.) With a  mission to specifically help directors like myself I was immediately drawn to their goals and purpose. As a director it is easy to feel alone, and in a silo; the Association for Early Learning Leaders helps directors feel like a part of community. Each year the AELL puts together a large conference for those involved with early education, as a dream job, I would love to be a part of putting this together. While this position is not currently open, I can see being involved in finding speakers, entertainers, and exhibitors to bring excitement to the early childhood community that is participating. In order to be successful in this position I would need to have my finger on the pulse of early childhood and know what kind of information early childhood professionals are seeking. 

More information about the AELL can be found at http://www.earlylearningleaders.org

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community

There are many organizations in the state of Kansas that have a valued effect on the Early Childhood Community. First there is the KAEYC, the Kansas Association of the Education of Young Children, this is the local branch of the NAEYC. KAEYC "works to improve services and facilities in Kansas for all young children by bringing together all persons interested in young children, by encouraging professional development of all persons employed in the care and education of young children, by providing continuing professional development opportunities, by making the public aware of the needs of young children, and by collaborating with other agencies" (KAEYC, 2013). Because of the KAEYC's association with NAEYC I am connected with a  group of centers and directors that are all seeking accreditation and are experiencing the trials associated with that quest.

The next Kansas organization that appeals to me is the Douglas County Child Development Association (DCCDA). The DCCDA is "committed to developing programs to support early childhood care and education in Douglas County, Kansas" (DCCDA, 2014). I'm drawn to the DCCDA because of my previous position in Douglas County. The support workers there were able to do continued professional development trainings, one on one support for teachers, and created a Community of Practice of early childhood directors. Their support in the formative years of my career has helped me grow as a director. 

My final local CoP is the Jewish community that I am a part of. Myself as well as three other Jewish preschool directors meet monthly to talk about what's happening in the world of early childhood, and in our specific centers. As the only non-Jewish member I can bounce ideas off of them and gather information about the culture and practice of Judaism. 

I am currently the Executive Director at a large, NAEYC accredited preschool, and to be quite honest I'm pretty happy with where my career has taken me. Overall I don't know that there are other positions in our field that I would be interested in. If I were to add anything to my current position it would be to increase the amount of consultation that I can do for other smaller programs. I've always thought it would be interesting to travel to other learning environments and help them to become accredited, or just improve their quality of care. 

In order to be a successful director and/or consultant I would need to hone my skills in the early childhood field. As each state has different requirements for state licensing I would need to be aware of differences and similarities between my home state and those I could potentially travel to. 

References

About KAEYC. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.kaeyc.net/about-us.html.

DCCDA. (2014). Retrieved from http://dccda.org.

The Adjourning Phase...Part 2

This semester has probably been the hardest that I have experienced on my Walden journey. While the course subject matter was of great interest to me, personally and professionally it has been a busy and hectic 8 weeks.

Through it all, however, I have felt supported and challenged by my colleagues in Group 2. Each of you have made me pause, think, and have challenged me with your thoughts and insight. I appreciate that so much.

Doing online coursework is hard, because we are each doing a high wire balancing act, we also miss out on the face to face contact you get from attending class each week in a real classroom, however I wouldn't give up this experience with you all for a second. I appreciate getting to know you through your posts and blogs, and seeing a bit of each of your personalities through your writing.

Thank you for being great classmates, and I look forward to the next chapter in our books!

The Adjourning Phase

Leaving a group at the end of a project can be the best, and sometimes the worst part of working in collaboration. When a group is truly functioning at its best it is often hard to leave, when a group is dysfunctional it is sometimes easy to walk away.

One group situation that I have experienced that was particularly hard to leave was my last work situation. After being there for 7 years I truly felt that we were a solid team. There were moments when it felt like the absolute best environment and we functioned as one. When I chose to leave it was time to start the adjourning phase of this group of strong teachers and leaders. We had meetings, both formal work inspired and after work events, this helped to ease the transition with the teachers, as well as myself.

I think that high performing groups are very hard to leave, whereas a group that is just barely getting by is very easy to leave in the dust. However, whether it be easy or hard to leave the adjourning phase, where you ask for feedback, say goodbye and pass on information is so essential because it gives you a sense of closure and completion.

As some of us are only a few months away from the adjourning phase with this cohort of colleagues I think it will be important for us each to reflect on the time we had together, and spend time congratulating each other on our hard work. I think it will also be important to figure out how we can stay in touch to help each other as we continue on in our careers.

Conflicts at work

Do you ever have a moment where you know a person makes you the worst version of yourself? I have that situation at work right now. 

This week I have been asked to: Think about any disagreements, or conflicts, you have recently experienced or are currently experiencing at work with a supervisor or colleague, or someone in your personal life. Share at least two strategies you have learned about that might help you manage or resolve the conflict more productively, and why these strategies might be effective. For example, could you suggest a compromise? Could you look for a broader range of solutions to your disagreement? Could you use some of the principles of nonviolent communication or the 3 R's to better help you resolve this conflict?

Right now I have that person at work, and while I normally consider myself a fair communicator, I often find myself at a loss for my skills when communicating with this person. So, what have I learned this week that could help me with that. I think that Gerber's 3 R's are a starting point. The 3 R's "promote the idea that relationships are built over time through respectful, reciprocal, and responsive interactions" (Gerber, n.d). By using these 3 R's I know that I have to step back and rethink my interactions with this person at work, as I know where are times that my interactions have not been respectful, reciprocal or responsive. 

Also, I think that the principles of Nonviolent Communication will also help me resolve conflict more productively. By being more clear in my requests, differentiating feeling from thinking, and connecting more with her person needs/values I think that I will be able to more successfully communicate with my partner at work. 

Will our communication ever been 100% effective? Probably not, but maybe with the use of the skills I am learning in this class we can get up to 90%? 80%, maybe ;)