What does it mean to be an Early Childhood Educator?

 As an early childhood educator my role in a child’s life is to help them grow and develop in a way that will help them succeed in the school system and beyond. Science has shown that a baby’s rate grows and changes at an astonishing rate of 700 new neural connectors every second (www.zerotothree.org, 2016). As an early childhood educator, my job is to help foster that development and guide the children to use that brain growth to grow socially as well as academically. Jean Piaget believed that children learned best through active experiences, so it is my job to provide the experiences that would best help the children grow and learn so their brain can continue to develop at that same amazing rate of 700 neural connections per second. Another theorist, Vygotsky, believed that children could learn anything through guidance and assistance. So my main role as an early childhood educator is to guide the children and help them to build on the things that they have already learned. This is called scaffolding and is the basis of how I teach (Laureate Education, 2015). I observe the skills the children already have and I provide new experiences that will build on those already mastered so the children can continue to grow and learn.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2015). Early childhood education history and theory [interactive media]. Baltimore, MD: Author

www.zerotothree.org. Brain development. Retrieved on November 20, 2016 from, https://www.zerotothree.org/early-learning/brain-development

         This has been a long and exciting journey and its end is bittersweet. While I am not very sorry that I will not have to do homework anymore I am sad to leave the people that I have worked with over the past 2 years. Throughout this course I have learned a great many things but the things that stick out the most are the fact that I can make a change even though I am just one person, it is my job to advocate for children even if no one else wants to, and that it only takes one person to affect change. These things have influenced the way I look at the field of early childhood development. I no longer see myself as simply a teacher doing her job but as a professional trying to change the field in which she works.

            To everyone that I have spent the last 2 years sharing discussions and blogs with I would like to say thank you. Your discussions and blogs have led me to think about things that I may have never thought of before. Your shared experiences have helped me to understand why it is so important to be open-minded when working with other ECE specialists. Dr. Darragh, you have made this capstone course a true learning experience. You have challenged me every step of the way and helped me to see past my somewhat narrow viewpoints. Your feedback has helped me to research and study to understand my topic and how I can make a change on a much deeper level. Thank you Dr. Darragh and my fellow classmates for making this course and all the others such an exciting journey.

            As I leave this class I look forward to what is coming next. As of now I have achieved almost all of my professional goals, which leads me to wonder……what comes next? My children, who are 12 and 5, would love to hear me say that I am done with school but I am not sure this is the end for me. I am currently a Family Services Counselor which essentially means that I inspect child care centers to ensure that owners and directors are providing a safe and healthy environment for children and I have recently become a mentor for students who are working to get their National CDA credential. Both of these things are things that have happened in the last year and things that I have worked diligently to accomplish. But in order to accomplish my ultimate goal in the field of early childhood development, which is to become a college professor at a University such as University of Florida or Florida State University I must continue my education first. Most state universities will not hire college professors unless they have completed their Doctorate and while I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue I know it is the only way for me to accomplish my end goal.

            I wish all of you luck and look forward to maybe seeing some of you in a future program here at Walden University.

International Organizations and Communities of Practice

     Working as an early childhood educator I would love to, ideally, see all children receiving quality care and having a healthy and happy life. For this reason the international organizations that I chose to review work mostly with third world countries and how to help those children receive the care they need.

    1.   Global Child Development Group- This organization does research and scientific study that helps organizations like UNICEF to know what needs to be done on the world to help children of all ages with a bigger focus on those 5 and under. In order to work for this program I think a person would have to have a strong understanding of child development as well as scientific research. They would have to be able to live in unfavorable conditions so they could go to the places they are researching and truly understand the needs of the children and families in those areas.

     2.  Compassion International- This is an organization that focuses not only on child education but developing the whole child. This is a faith based Christian organization that not only wants to get the children quality child education but wants to lead them to a well-developed understanding of the Bible and how to live in this world. They want to help the children to succeed, not only in the here and now, but also in the future. To work with this organization a person would not only have to understand child development and the needs of children but also under developed countries and what the needs are in those places. This person would also have to have a strong Christian base because the people who work for this organization minister to children and try and help them understand Jesus and His love for them.      3. International Step by Step Association-This is more than an organization. This is a community of practice that connects child development organizations and associations form across the globe. Their goal, to help s many children as possible age’s birth thru 10 to receive quality child care. This association is predominantly made up of organizations across Europe and Southern Asia but does have more than 40 countries that are actively involved in their association. To be a part of this CoP a person should have a good understanding of child development (as is the case with most child development organizations). They should also have an understanding that in different places children may need different things and that education looks different in other parts of the world. While we want all children to have quality education it is important to remember that the needs are different in other parts of the world.

Like I stated in my previous blog……..I love my job and do not want to change it. However, any of these organizations would be a great place to reach children all over the world through work or even volunteering, if time permits. Children are an investment in the future and we are only going to get out of them what we have put in. It’s up to us to give them every chance for success or no one will be to blame when they do not succeed except us. They are innocent and deserve love, attention and education so they can have every chance for a successful future.

http://www.globalchilddevelopment.org/history

http://www.compassion.com/

http://www.issa.nl/content/who-we-are

National Organizations

           In my research to find a way to better the national requirements for early childhood teacher training I have found several organizations that I would love to be a part of if the opportunity ever arose. They are the National Child care Association (NCCA), The National association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Office of Child Care (OCC). These organizations take the time to research what is best for children and work to bring those standards to the field. NCCA and NAEYC have lobbyists and policy writers that help these organizations to bring new policies and standards to the field of early childhood development. Getting the government to hear what we need as ECE specialists is an important job and one that should not be taken lightly. The OCC is the organization that helps to write the policy and determine how to spend the Child Care and Development Block Grant that offers subsidized funding to states for low-income families.
         I am not in the market to look for a new job (I absolutely love the job I have now as a child care licensing counselor) but the opportunity to be a part of one of these organizations could maybe be a future goal or dream. Being able to help write or lobby for child care policy is something that I have been interested in for some time. I believe that those people are the voice for early childhood development. They have to have an extensive knowledge on child development and what children really need. They also have to have an extensive knowledge of how the field of early childhood works. Working in a child care center is a unique job and unless you have actually worked in the field or have a working knowledge of it you cannot possibly understand what is needed.


National Child Care association. www.nccanet.orgNational Association for the Education of Young Children. www.naeyc.orgOffice of Child Care http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/occ