Time Well Spent

As we are coming to an end at our time at Walden University, I realized that there is so much that I have learned. The first and most important concept that I learned from this program is the concept of an anti-bias education. When I signed up for this program, I didn’t realize exactly what I had gotten myself into. As we continued through the program, I was excited to keep learning more and developing my understanding of what an anti-bias education was.

The next concept that has really changed the way I look at things is learning that we all have biases. Throughout this program we have been asked to look into ourselves and see what hidden biases and strengths we could find. It was important for me to figure out my own biases and learning where they came from. It was reassuring to know that my colleagues were going through the same thing and that we could work together and support one another.

The final concept that I learned is that we can all make a difference in the early childhood field. I never believed that my one voice could make a difference. What I have found is that it can, and that if we combine our voices, we can do so much more! This concept has made me look into advocating for the early childhood field, and I am interested in seeing where this takes me.

From learning everything that we have, there is a long-term goal that I have for myself. My goal is to take everything I have learned from this program and apply it not only to my professional life but to my personal life as well. I want to teach my own children through an anti-bias education along with my future students.

With all the knowledge that I have learned, it couldn’t have happened without all of my professors and colleagues that I have met along the way. Dr. Shephard, it has been an honor learning from you these past 16 weeks. The questions that you leave us after each assignment, has helped me to continue my learning and to think deeper about different topics. It has also been your support and encouragement along with my colleagues that has helped me to finish this program.

I want to personally thank all of my colleagues for helping and supporting me throughout this program. By asking questions and sharing personal experiences, I have learned an abundance of information from all of you. I hope that I have done the same for you. I plan to keep this blog up and running to share with you information that I have learned and how my life has been changing due to this program. You can keep in touch with me through here or through my email which is: charlotte_heiser@yahoo.com.

It will be interesting to see how we all put our anti-bias education to practice. I just hope you all remember to celebrate the small successes and to not let anything stop you from achieving your dreams. I wish you all the best of luck and an early congratulations on graduating!

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The first international organization that I found was the Association for Childhood Education International, ACEI. ACEI’s mission statement is “to promote and support the optimal education, development, and well-being of children worldwide, and to influence the professional growth of educators and the efforts of others who are committed to the needs of children in a changing society” (Association for Childhood Education International, 2011). They also have consultative status with the United Nations. I found that they are advocating against corporal punishment and the attacks on education. While searching their site, I found an internship program which has given many the opportunities to be a part of major organizations.

The second organization that I came across was the World Organization for Early Childhood Education also known as OMEP. This organization was established in 1946 with a small group of educators and others. They aim back in 1946 is still their aim for today which is to “advance the interests and overall wellbeing of children in all parts of the world, regardless of race, sex, religion, nation or social origin” (World Organization for Early Childhood Education, 2010). I liked that this organization is about what we have been learning from day one of our program. I found that OMEP is collaborating with UNICEF while also supporting relief efforts and developing information and activities to get their organization more known across the world.

The final organization that I found is the World Forum Foundation. This foundation brings together six to eight hundred early childhood professionals every two years (World Forum Foundation, 2011). Their mission is to “promote an on-going global exchange of ideas on the delivery of quality services for young children in diverse settings” (World Forum Foundation, 2011). Inside the foundation they bring people together to work towards a common concern or interest. These groups are working towards children’s rights, children impacted by HIV/AIDS, including children with special needs, and many more causes. I found places to become a sponsor or a champion but did not find any job listings.

 

References:

Association for Childhood Education International. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.acei.org/

World Forum Foundation. (2011). Retrieved from http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/

World Organization for Early Childhood Education. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.omep-usnc.org/

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

This week we were to look for national/federal organizations that we would want to be a part of. The first organization that came to mind is the National Association for the Education of Young Children, NAEYC. I chose this organization because it is their information that I always come across when doing research on the early childhood field. The NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children, n.d.) “Is the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children with nearly 80,000 members, a national network of more than 300 state and local Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations.” I couldn’t really find any job opportunities but it seems that there is an abundance of things to do and work towards.

 

The next organization that I looked into was LearnNow. This organization is based on getting people together to work towards a common cause. Their mission is:

To better prepare children for a dramatically changing world, LearnNow presents evidence-based information as the basis for sound decision-making in ways that can help build an online community to help answer questions and demystify some of the challenges involved in raising, caring for and nurturing children. (LearnNow, 2012)

People involved in their organization are professors, neuroscientists, parents, psychologists, and many others. Once again, I couldn’t find any job opportunities but saw that there were an abundance of people on three different advisory boards. I chose this organization though because it doesn’t just look towards educators but to the whole community to help with advocating for children.

 

The final organization that I looked into was the Alliance for Childhood. I chose this organization because they are working towards getting children away from televisions and computers along with reducing the amount of high-stakes tests that children have to take. Their mission statement is to:

Promote policies and practices that support children’s healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living. Our public education campaigns bring to light both the promise and the vulnerability of childhood. We act for the sake of the children themselves and for a more just, democratic, and ecologically responsible future. (Alliance for Childhood, n.d.)

They have professors, directors, and CEOs of other companies that are a part of their board of trustees. There is also a person who is just in charge of communications with other organizations.

 

References:

Alliance for Childhood. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/

LearnNow. (2012). From research to the real world. Retrieved from http://www.learnnow.org/

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/

Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The first state organization that I found was the Ohio Education Association. I chose this organization because they “represent 124,00 teachers, faculty members and support professionals who work in Ohio’s schools, colleges and universities to help improve public education and the lives of Ohio’s children” (OEA, n.d.). Their focus is on how quality education can help all children and their lives. When looking through the job openings, I was surprised to see that 2/3 of the job opening wanted degrees in other professions than in the education field. The one job that I did find, that wanted education experience was a consulting job which wanted experience in advocacy work.

The next organization that I found was The Ohio Confederation of Teacher of Educaiton Organizations, OCTEO (n.d.). This organization is known as an umbrella organization that brings together other organizations. The OCTEO sets up conferences for these different organizations to come together. I really liked how this organization helps other organizations stay connected. This seems like it would be a great way to learn more about the programs that are out there and find out what others are doing in their organizations. The different job openings that I found were for colleges in the area which involved assessment, human resources, and assistant professor. This organization would be a great way to impact the future teachers of America. One main skill that I saw they wanted was strong communication and collaboration skills.

The final organization that I found was based in other states but could be a great opportunity. Playworks (n.d.) is an organization that I found that sets up trainings and inform schools how important play is in the schools. One success that they have had is bringing coaches into the school so that they can teach teachers and administrators on what to do to get children to be more active. I found this to be a great organization and one that should be shared with schools that are trying to bring play back into the classroom. The jobs that I found involved being a coach in a school or being a program coordinator. Once again, the requirements for this job are strong communication skills.

 

References

Ohio Education Association, OEA. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.ohea.org/

Playworks. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.playworks.org/

The Ohio Confederation of Teacher of Educaiton Organizations, OCTEO. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ohioteachered.org/index.html

Reflecting on Learning

My biggest hope for my future as an early childhood educator is to actually put everything into practice. My passion has been to teach in a school setting and right now that has not been possible. When that day comes and I am able to teach, I hope that I will remember all of this. I hope that I will be able to support my students and their families while learning about the anti-bias approach. While waiting for a teaching job, I plan to start advocating for children and to live by the anti-bias approach.

I want to thank each and every one of you for helping me through this process. I have learned so much and you all have pushed me to think further. Thank you Dr. Tammy Shepard for constantly, having me think of new ways to look at topics and issues.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The area that I chose to explore was Central and Eastern Europe Commonwelath of Independent States. I chose this area because I have met a few people that have emigrated from Russia and wanted to learn more about the area. Along with Russia there were many other areas that I was interested in. For example, Croatia, Turkey, Albania, and Romania because when I was a teenager, some of my peers were from these areas.

What I learned from the UNICEF website (2011) is that children from Tajikistan were finally able to get the diphtheria vaccination. This taught me that one of the challenges that these children face are disease due to lack of immunizations. Another common challenge that I saw children facing was lack of funds. One child could only attend school one day a week because that is all that the family could afford. Another challenge that I saw was that most of the states did not have inclusive classrooms. This meant that children with varying abilities either did not go to school or went to a special school. One family even opened up a center so that children who could not attend school could still get the education that they deserved.

With children not being immunized and not being able to receive an education, their development could fall behind. Children who are not receiving the proper education due to having varying abilities are just keeping that group down. Luckily for them, one family decided to open up a center for children to go to so they can learn and grow. Money issues can also bring about stress which causes emotional problems and for some developmental delays because they cannot get to school.

On a personal reflection, I learned that there is so much more that I can do for children around the world. On a professional level I have learned that I need to stand up for the rights of more than the children in my country but in the other countries as well. I never realized how powerful inclusion classrooms could be until I realized that in some countries children is not allowed to attend school if they are disabled. I believe that all children have the right to an education and as time goes on, I hope that others countries start to understand this as well.

 

References:

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

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

Share your reaction to the topic of the sexualization of early childhood.

Provide three or more examples, from your personal or professional experience, that further illustrate the exposure of young children to a highly sexualized environment.

While reading the article by Levin & Kilbourne (2009) I didn’t have too much of a reaction. This is something that I have talked about in the past and have heard stories of. It seems as time goes on, children younger and younger start knowing about sexualization even if they don’t know how to explain it.

One example that I can give from my professional experience is a story that I was told when I started working in my preschool classroom. The teacher before me had been written up for an event that happened in the classroom because she was not circulating the room but only watching the children’s heads. When the teacher finally got up to walk around the room she found two children playing doctor. The boy had stuck one of the toy instruments in the girl’s private area. The fact that they knew what to do, shows how quickly children are learning about sex.

Another example I have comes from my personal life which involves my best friend and her little sister. My best friend loves to listen to all types of music and would teach her sister parts of songs and dance moves to go with it. The one incident I remember the most is when the sister was five years old and was walking around shaking her hips and butt singing “shake your money maker” by Ludacris (Williams & Bridges, 2006). My best friend found this to be so funny and kept teaching her sister different songs and different moves.

The final example I have comes from my own experience. When I was five years old my mother would let me watch rated “R” movies that involved sex, like Pretty Woman (Milchan, Reuther, & Goldstein, 1990). Watching that movie I remember trying to act out scenes with one of the kids at my babysitters. I remember that clothes were always on but we would pretend to do stuff.

Explain the implications this may have on children’s healthy development. Include ideas you might have, as an early childhood professional, to best respond to these concerns and to reduce the negative impact on children.

These experiences are things that I know made me grow up faster than I should have. I think that with all of these experiences I can see how girls and boys will feel like they have to be sexy or have to be in a relationship to prove something. I feel like we are constantly trying to get our children to grow up but when they do we try to make them kids again. This cannot be healthy on a child’s development. They are being forced to grow up faster and try to understand concepts that they shouldn’t be ready to learn about. I think the best thing that we can do as professionals is to remind parents that their child is young and that they should hold onto those years. We can also teach content and concepts that are age appropriate.

Describe the ways in which your awareness of the sexualization of early childhood has been influenced and/or modified by studying the topic this week.

By learning about this topic this week, I think I will be more aware of what children are exposed to in my care. Due to our reading this week, I am also very curious about the rest of the book. It seems like it will have great ideas and resources to help us feel more confident about talking to parents and our students about what is appropriate and not.

References:

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

Williams, P. & Bridges, C. (2006). Money maker [Recorded by Ludacris featuring Pharrel] On Release therapy [CD]. Atlanta, Georgia: DTP, Def Jam.

Milchan, A., Reuther, S., & Goldstein, G. (Producer), & Marshall, G. (Director). (1990). Pretty Woman [Motion Picture]. United States: Silver Screen Partners IV & Touchstone Pictures.