Week 8- Time Well Spent

These past eight weeks have gone by incredibly fast; moreover I still cannot believe that after this assignment I will have completed my master’s program. This program has taught me a plethora of knowledge that I can take with me into both my professional and personal life.

• One of my greatest findings is about community of practice (COP). A COP in my professional life will be a very important addition to my toolbox. Being on the same page as another and sharing that dedication on working towards a common goal is something that I cannot wait to be a part of.
• In addition, to this I found out what type of leader I am and what type I aspire to be. In my opinion a leader is what drives the group, this is the person that builds the team up and is there to support their members/ colleagues.
• This course has also made me realize that my passion can take me far in life. Regardless of any obstacles that come my way, I am capable of pursuing what ever I want to. Being passionate is what makes change occur. Without passion, it would be hard for things to evolve.

One quote that I found that will always be with me is from week 2 “To learn from diversity we must acknowledge each person and benefit from her or his customs, languages, preferences, and powers” (Winer & Ray, 1994, Pg. 10).

            One long-term goal for me is to further my education. I am not sure how long it will take or how many obstacles that I might face from this goal, however I am confident that my goal in pursuing more education will happen. In addition, I want to help eradicate developmental and social problems in children. If children receive enough support, love, stability, creativity, and consistency, I am confident that this will make a positive influence on the youth of today and of tomorrow.

            I want to take this time to thank everyone that has helped me in the process of completing this course. Without the help of my colleagues I would not have had the support, feedback, and encouragement from our discussion assignments. These discussions and feedback within provided me with help while writing my capstone; without this help it would have been a lot more difficult.  I hope each and every one of you continues to follow your passion and I wish you best of luck on your future endeavors. I also want to thank Professor Darragh, for the support and timely feedback received; I really appreciate this especially when it was about questions on the discussion or application assignments.

Thank you so much every one, we did it!

References:

Winer, M., & Ray, K. (1994). Collaboration handbook: Creating, sustaining, and enjoying the journey. St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance.

Week 6- Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

Three international organizations that appeal to me are the Save The Children, Unicef, and Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) organizations.

            The Save the Children organization appeals to me because they provide children from different parts of the world with opportunities to grow up healthy and reach their full potential. This organization invests in helping children from the start. Another reason why I like Save the Children is because they work in the communities and working with people within the community.

            The job opportunity that appeals to me is the Program Specialist in the Early Childhood Development field at Save The Children. This position interests me because it ensures quality program implementation through providing training, technical assistance, and management support to program partners (Careers) that cater to children’s needs from prenatal to age five. In addition, “the Program Specialist oversees and supports program implementation, monitoring, and evaluation at assigned partner sites” (Careers). This position also interests me because it not only allows me to use my Master’s in Early Childhood Development, but I already meet most of the job requirements, such as having a minimum of three years of experience working with infants/ toddler development, having a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, or related field, experience working in rural communities, being a trainer/mentor/ coach, working with or supporting professional/paraprofessional home visitors, and “a strong foundation in relationship-based work and supervision” (Careers).

            Another organization that I admire is Unicef. Unicef works with 190 countries promoting “the rights and wellbeing of every child…[while] focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere” (About UNICEF, 2015). Unicef’s goal of helping children overcome poverty, violence, disease and discrimination is appealing.

            The job position at Unicef that appeals to me is Consultancy Assignment: analysis of Vanatu Teacher-Classroom Interaction Survey Data. This job interests me because it takes place in Fiji, and allows me to observe classrooms and teacher-student interactions, outline policies, provide surveys, and present analytical draft reports (About UNICEF: Employment, 2015). The qualifications for this position is to have an advanced degree in Education or Social Science, extensive experience in survey design, and data management and analysis, field research experience, ability to use the compute, and proficiency in SPSS or STATA software statistical package (About UNICEF: Employment, 2015).

            The last organization that appeals to me is the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). This organization appeals to me because “[they] are 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” (About Us).

            I was not able to find any job openings at the ACEI, however the ACEI does offer internships and volunteer opportunities. Unfortunately, neither of these positions interests me. The internship position focuses on doing online research and data gathering, while the volunteer position is to research and volunteer on your own time.

References:

"About UNICEF." UNICEF. 12 May 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. <http://www.unicef.org/about/who/index_introduction.html>.

"About UNICEF: Employment." UNICEF. 8 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. <http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_85769.html>.

"About Us." Association for Childhood Education International. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. <https://acei.org/about-us>.

Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2015, from https://chc.tbe.taleo.net/chc01/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=SAVETHECHILDREN&cws=1&rid=3606