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 ;)

How we communicate

Each day I communicate with different groups of people, and I think there are parts of my communication that differs with each group. For example, I talk to my mom every day, but I would never speak with the CEO of my organization the same way I speak with her, I would also not speak with a concerned parent in the same way I'd talk to another early childhood director. 

There are some key strategies that I have learned that help me to communicate effectively with different groups of people.

1. When speaking with families where English is a second language I always try to avoid slang that might be hard to understand. There are a lot of pieces of the English language that native speakers have learned (many of them are bad habits) that make no sense to those that are learning, or who have learned English. 

2. When speaking with a parent who is maybe concerned about an issue or something that has happened in the classroom I always make sure to employ active listening skills and make sure that they feel heard and understood. Taking a moment to sit and really listen to a family can mean trust is gained, and a situation can be diffused. 

Overall, the Platinum Rule of treating others as they would want to be treated is important to remember when communicating with any person regardless of culture, political affiliation, sexual orientation, ability, etc. 

Communicating with no sound..an experiment

This weekend I sat down to watch an episode of a reality show I don't regularly watch, Survivor. While I've seen this show before, I haven't been keeping up this time around.

Reality television is a great chance to look at communication with the sound on AND with the sound off. I think that the fact that the "actors" are not supposed to be acting gave way to some very interesting communication notes.

First, with the sound off, I noticed a lot of the characters' body language. Many times when they were communicating in groups I saw their arms crossed across their body, which could mean that they were not listening, or feeling uncomfortable with what was being communicated with them. At one point in the show I noticed that two tribe mates were talking to each other and both were being active listeners, with eye contact and one was nodding in agreement, I also noticed that they were expressively using their hands in what appeared to be a serious conversation.  When another person walked up on this conversation the two original people changed their body language, and it seemed that the tone of the conversation changed--I could tell this by their body language and facial expression.

Now, it was time to turn the sound on! Surprisingly, I was pretty on target with what was happening in the situations that I watched. Specifically when the two people were talking, they were having serious game play talk alone, when the third approached they began joking and laughing about something completely unrelated to their game.

It's interesting to me how big of a part the non verbal aspects of communication are. Body language, facial expression, eye contact are all things that can really affect your communication skills.