This journey through Walden University in pursuit of my master's degree in Early Childhood Studies with a specialization in the Adult Learner has given me a confidence that I can make a difference in a child's life. At the beginning I was not confident that I could complete the program because I was 50 years old and it had been 28 years since I had been in school. But from the very beginning of the program I was able to apply the experience to the knowledge.
Three things that I will take away from this program of study is 1) I found my passion which is that I want to educate children and I want to educate those who want to teach young children. 2) I learned from the course on Diversity and Equity to recognize my "isms" and to respect everyone's "isms" especially the students that will be in my classes. 3) The "How Adults Learn" course really gave me great knowledge in how to be an effective educator of adult learners. The entire program was wonderful and every course I took gave me in-depth knowledge that will only help me be an effective educator. My long term goal is to be an instructor of an early childhood program of study at a college or university. I also want to write a book and articles on early childhood education and to travel throughout the world speaking on behalf of the early childhood educator in getting their fair compensation and benefits to adequately do their jobs.
I have truly enjoyed the discussions and blogs from my classmates during these 10 courses. It has helped me excel to know that their are other people who have the same passion and desire to educate young children and their families as I have. We all come from various parts of the country, various cultures, and various work experience but we all had the same common goal - to achieve a masters degree so that we can do more in the early childhood field. Best of Luck!
To all of my professors that have equipped me for my future journey I would like to say thank you and hopefully one day I will be your colleague in educating future early childhood adult learners or collaborating with you on research or project to further the advancement of the field. It has been a pleasure to have you to guide me through this program.
God Bless Each of You!
Barbara Collins - Lithonia, GA
farmercollinsb@hotmail.com (I am not on Facebook yet but look for me soon)
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Internation Jobs/Roles in the EC Community
This week my class assignment was to find 3 international organizations in the early childhood field that I could research and see what job opportunities they may have. I chose 3 that I felt would be most helpful in expanding the global work of early childhood education.
The first organization is the International Step-by-Step Association (ISSA) a membership organization that connects professionals and organizations work in the field of early childhood development and education. They promote equal access to quality education and care for all children. It was established in the Netherlands in 1999 and is now in several countries around the world. They provide a wide array of programs of educational services and policy reforms for children and families. A job that interest me with this organization would be that as a Regional Trainer. This position provides the Step-by-Step program at training centers in remote rurual communities to teachers of young children. The Regional trainer would provide a hands on training approach where the teachers will have the opportunity to train in a mock classroom. The position requires a degree in education with an approach to teaching adults.
The next organization is from the Academy for Education Development the Fhi 360 a global development organizationb with a rigorous, evidence-based approach to improve lives by advancing intergrated, locally driven solutions for human devleopment. They have an intern position with the National Institute for Work and Learning in Washington, DC. The position requires a self starter who will recruit study participants and administer a survey and enter the information in a data system. The intern must hold a bachelor degree but prefer a masters degree in Adult & Continuing Education and be familiar with the US educational system (high school and college level). Must be able to interpret high school and college transcripts. This interest me because it is very important that the early childhood field have more students coming into the field and by recruiting international students will be a big help.
The last international organization that I chose was the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Their mission is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. They look at how much ordinary people pay in taxes and social security and how much leisure time they take. A job that I would be interested in with them would be an Advisor who will focus on Strategy, Planning, and Delivery for Global Relations. The Advisor reports on the bi-annual Education Policy Committee meetings, liaise with the Educational Counsellors, and design a high level Education Policy Committee events. The job requires an advance degree in economics, public administration, and 3-7 years experience in the field of education. Whereas I do not hold a degree in economnics, I think my 29 years of educational experience and planning events will help in the position. By taking some courses in economics is something that I would be willing to do.
By researching these organizations and others in the educational field has given me more knowledge about the wealth of opportunity in the field of early childhood education in the international arena.
References:
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (n.d.). Retrieved April 6, 2012, from http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
International Step By Step Association. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2012, from http://www.issa.nl/index.html
Academy for Educational Development. (2011). Retrieved April 5, 2012, from http://www.aed.org/
The first organization is the International Step-by-Step Association (ISSA) a membership organization that connects professionals and organizations work in the field of early childhood development and education. They promote equal access to quality education and care for all children. It was established in the Netherlands in 1999 and is now in several countries around the world. They provide a wide array of programs of educational services and policy reforms for children and families. A job that interest me with this organization would be that as a Regional Trainer. This position provides the Step-by-Step program at training centers in remote rurual communities to teachers of young children. The Regional trainer would provide a hands on training approach where the teachers will have the opportunity to train in a mock classroom. The position requires a degree in education with an approach to teaching adults.
The next organization is from the Academy for Education Development the Fhi 360 a global development organizationb with a rigorous, evidence-based approach to improve lives by advancing intergrated, locally driven solutions for human devleopment. They have an intern position with the National Institute for Work and Learning in Washington, DC. The position requires a self starter who will recruit study participants and administer a survey and enter the information in a data system. The intern must hold a bachelor degree but prefer a masters degree in Adult & Continuing Education and be familiar with the US educational system (high school and college level). Must be able to interpret high school and college transcripts. This interest me because it is very important that the early childhood field have more students coming into the field and by recruiting international students will be a big help.
The last international organization that I chose was the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Their mission is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. They look at how much ordinary people pay in taxes and social security and how much leisure time they take. A job that I would be interested in with them would be an Advisor who will focus on Strategy, Planning, and Delivery for Global Relations. The Advisor reports on the bi-annual Education Policy Committee meetings, liaise with the Educational Counsellors, and design a high level Education Policy Committee events. The job requires an advance degree in economics, public administration, and 3-7 years experience in the field of education. Whereas I do not hold a degree in economnics, I think my 29 years of educational experience and planning events will help in the position. By taking some courses in economics is something that I would be willing to do.
By researching these organizations and others in the educational field has given me more knowledge about the wealth of opportunity in the field of early childhood education in the international arena.
References:
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (n.d.). Retrieved April 6, 2012, from http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
International Step By Step Association. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2012, from http://www.issa.nl/index.html
Academy for Educational Development. (2011). Retrieved April 5, 2012, from http://www.aed.org/
Friday, March 23, 2012
Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community
This week our assignment was to find at least 3 organizations on the national or federal level that appeal to me in regards to my community of practice on meeting the needs of the early childhood educator in regards to better pay and educational opportunities.
The first organization that I chose was the Center for the Child Care Workforce. The mission is to improve the quality of early care and education for all children by promoting policy, research that ensure the workforce is well-educated, and receive better compensation in the workplace. In 2002 CCW merged with the American Federation of Teachers Education Foundation (AFTEF) which allowed a broader scope of CCW's work and expand the capacity to create a unified voice for the early care and education workforce. I live in the south and they do not like unions; however early childhood educators need someone to speak up for them and advocate for better pay for the work that they do. The union represents 80,000 early childhood educators. Therefore the ideal job that I would like with the CCW/AFTEF would be the Union Vice President for the early care educators in the southern states. This job would include meeting monthly with educators, providers, community leaders, and state legislatures to discuss improvements in the childcare workplace and better compensations. The qualifications would be to have a masters degree, experience as a early childhood teacher/director, advocacy background, and knowledge on state childcare policies.
The second organization would be the Child Care Services Association which is a non-profit that ensures affordable, accessible, high quality child care for all families through research and advocacy. They offer free referral services, technical assistance, educational scholarships, and salary supplements to child care professionals through the T.E.A.C.H early childhood project. The job that I would like is to be the Technical Assistance Associate. The job includes training staff, collect data, and partner with the families and community to bring awareness on early childhood. It requires to have a masters degree and extensive travel throughout the country.
The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment founded by Marcy Whitebook mission is to focus on achieving comprehensive public investments which enable and reward the early childhood workforce to deliver high quality care and education for all children. They conduct research and propose policy solutions to improve children's optimal development. Job opportunity include being a Specialist that does research on early childhood topics or federal/state mandates and propose solutions that will benefit those who work in the early childhood field.
I would love to work at any of these organizations because they are about bringing change to those who work in the early childhood field. These organizations are not well known especially in the southern states (AL, GA, MS, LA, SC). The Child Care Services Association is located in North Carolina but I am sure that there are many educators that are not aware of their existance. I hope that more educators in the field will learn about these organzations and get involved like I will be doing in the near future.
Reference:
The Center for Child Care Workforce. http://www.ccw.org/
Child Care Service Association. http://www.childcareservices.org/
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/
The first organization that I chose was the Center for the Child Care Workforce. The mission is to improve the quality of early care and education for all children by promoting policy, research that ensure the workforce is well-educated, and receive better compensation in the workplace. In 2002 CCW merged with the American Federation of Teachers Education Foundation (AFTEF) which allowed a broader scope of CCW's work and expand the capacity to create a unified voice for the early care and education workforce. I live in the south and they do not like unions; however early childhood educators need someone to speak up for them and advocate for better pay for the work that they do. The union represents 80,000 early childhood educators. Therefore the ideal job that I would like with the CCW/AFTEF would be the Union Vice President for the early care educators in the southern states. This job would include meeting monthly with educators, providers, community leaders, and state legislatures to discuss improvements in the childcare workplace and better compensations. The qualifications would be to have a masters degree, experience as a early childhood teacher/director, advocacy background, and knowledge on state childcare policies.
The second organization would be the Child Care Services Association which is a non-profit that ensures affordable, accessible, high quality child care for all families through research and advocacy. They offer free referral services, technical assistance, educational scholarships, and salary supplements to child care professionals through the T.E.A.C.H early childhood project. The job that I would like is to be the Technical Assistance Associate. The job includes training staff, collect data, and partner with the families and community to bring awareness on early childhood. It requires to have a masters degree and extensive travel throughout the country.
The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment founded by Marcy Whitebook mission is to focus on achieving comprehensive public investments which enable and reward the early childhood workforce to deliver high quality care and education for all children. They conduct research and propose policy solutions to improve children's optimal development. Job opportunity include being a Specialist that does research on early childhood topics or federal/state mandates and propose solutions that will benefit those who work in the early childhood field.
I would love to work at any of these organizations because they are about bringing change to those who work in the early childhood field. These organizations are not well known especially in the southern states (AL, GA, MS, LA, SC). The Child Care Services Association is located in North Carolina but I am sure that there are many educators that are not aware of their existance. I hope that more educators in the field will learn about these organzations and get involved like I will be doing in the near future.
Reference:
The Center for Child Care Workforce. http://www.ccw.org/
Child Care Service Association. http://www.childcareservices.org/
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Communities of Practice
This week our class assignment was to choose at least 3 local or state organizations or communities of practice.
1) Georgia Association on Young Children (GAYC) mission is to encourage and support healthy development in young children by working with others to 1) increase public awareness of importance of early childhood education, and 2) improve the quality of programs for young children through learning opportunities for early care educators.
2) United Way of Metro Atlanta mission is to engage all segments of the community to drive sustainable change in education, income, health and homelessness while continuing to address urgent and basic human care.
3) Quality Care for Children mission is to ensure Georgia's infant and young children are nurtured and educated when they are not in the care of their parents. Work to ensure children receive excellent care and early learning experience.
Some job opportunities that interest me in these organizations would be the executive director in which I would need to have a minimum of a master's degree (check mark - about to complete :) and at least 5 years of management experience working in a education setting. Another job would be the professional development director which would require the same skill level. Currently none of the three have any job openings but I will continue to check their websites for openings. I have applied with Quality Care for Children previously and look forward to applying again once I have my master's degree. I believe in working in my community for the benefit of young children's health and well-being.
1) Georgia Association on Young Children (GAYC) mission is to encourage and support healthy development in young children by working with others to 1) increase public awareness of importance of early childhood education, and 2) improve the quality of programs for young children through learning opportunities for early care educators.
2) United Way of Metro Atlanta mission is to engage all segments of the community to drive sustainable change in education, income, health and homelessness while continuing to address urgent and basic human care.
3) Quality Care for Children mission is to ensure Georgia's infant and young children are nurtured and educated when they are not in the care of their parents. Work to ensure children receive excellent care and early learning experience.
Some job opportunities that interest me in these organizations would be the executive director in which I would need to have a minimum of a master's degree (check mark - about to complete :) and at least 5 years of management experience working in a education setting. Another job would be the professional development director which would require the same skill level. Currently none of the three have any job openings but I will continue to check their websites for openings. I have applied with Quality Care for Children previously and look forward to applying again once I have my master's degree. I believe in working in my community for the benefit of young children's health and well-being.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thank You Classmates
This has been a terrific journey as I pursue my masters degree in early childhood studies. Although I have not met any of my colleagues in person, I feel contacted to some of them because of our dialogue through the discussions and the blogs. I have learned about them and also learned from them. They have encouraged me and I hope I have encouraged them. This last class on communication and collaborations has truely been a motivation in helping me communicate better. As I continue this path in the field, it will be even more important to effectively communicate as I teach adults.
I wish all of my colleagues success as they continue to pursue their masters degree and I look forward to meeting each at our graduation. Peace & Love.
I wish all of my colleagues success as they continue to pursue their masters degree and I look forward to meeting each at our graduation. Peace & Love.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Adjourning
Adjourning from a group where a team building of trust and collaboration has taken place is essential because it gives you a feeling of accompolishment and success. Atlhough you may separate from some the team on a daily bases, you stilll will not completly stop all contact from time to time. I have been involved with different teams from cheering (myself and when my daughters cheered) to my sorority (AKA). These groups were hard to leave but I still stay in contact with the people I met in these groups.
The hardest team group that I have had to leave was my center staff that I just recently left. The majority of the people I had worked with for over 6 years including my assistant director. We were like a family and had accomplished so much together - NAEYC accreditation, GA Center of Distinction. They looked forward each holiday season to going out to a nice resturant for our staff holiday luncheon - Sun Dial, Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano's. Since I received a promotion three years ago, I was doing double jobs as the center director and as the Professional Development Director for the company. They finally brought in a director for me to train but she resisted my help and created an environment that was not good for either of us. I chose to step away and give her full reign of the center. My staff and I have not had a chance to adjourn from me not being there with them yet. I saw them on Monday at our Professional Development Day and we all stated how much we missed each other. Just this morning a staff member called me to tell me she would not be in to work; after I reminded her she didn't have to call me she stated that she did it out of habit. I am planning for us to still get together over the holidays to have a final closing of our work chapter together. They send me texts and e-mails thanking me for making them strive for excellence. All of that means so much to me.
I imagine that when myself and my colleagues complete our masters degree in early childhood studies that we will continue to blog each other from time to time to stay in touch. I hope that those of us who live in the Atlanta area will be able to get together to celebrate our accomplishments. They have motivated me and I hope I have motivated them during our courses.
The hardest team group that I have had to leave was my center staff that I just recently left. The majority of the people I had worked with for over 6 years including my assistant director. We were like a family and had accomplished so much together - NAEYC accreditation, GA Center of Distinction. They looked forward each holiday season to going out to a nice resturant for our staff holiday luncheon - Sun Dial, Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano's. Since I received a promotion three years ago, I was doing double jobs as the center director and as the Professional Development Director for the company. They finally brought in a director for me to train but she resisted my help and created an environment that was not good for either of us. I chose to step away and give her full reign of the center. My staff and I have not had a chance to adjourn from me not being there with them yet. I saw them on Monday at our Professional Development Day and we all stated how much we missed each other. Just this morning a staff member called me to tell me she would not be in to work; after I reminded her she didn't have to call me she stated that she did it out of habit. I am planning for us to still get together over the holidays to have a final closing of our work chapter together. They send me texts and e-mails thanking me for making them strive for excellence. All of that means so much to me.
I imagine that when myself and my colleagues complete our masters degree in early childhood studies that we will continue to blog each other from time to time to stay in touch. I hope that those of us who live in the Atlanta area will be able to get together to celebrate our accomplishments. They have motivated me and I hope I have motivated them during our courses.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Conflict
This week lesson on conflict has really been surreal for me. A few month ago my company decided to close operations at my childcare center and combine with another center that was close to us. They had placed a new director there and wanted me to mentor her and help her get the center at the same quality level as my center was. Unfortunately the director did not welcome my help and would undermind things that I had put in place. Staff that were use to working in a atmosphere of quality childcare were now in a place that was not being operated with quality in mind. The tension between the director and myself came to the point that I decided to just step away from the center to let her have full control. I informed my supervisor about the uncomfortable situation. Although I am no longer at the center, I still feel a commitment to the families and staff and feel that I have abandon them.
The strategies that I was trying to use in this situation is to not provoke the new director anymore with a conflict and that is why I decided that mentoring her was not in my best interest or hers. We have incompatible goals - mine is quality childcare and her goal is being financially stable with the company. My motto has always been that if you provide quality childcare, you will make the money. I tried to reassure the director that I did not want her job but wanted to help her be successful. I feel that I communicated my intent effectively but apparently not and so that is why I decided to walk away from a potential conflict that probably would have escalated. By learning this week about non-violent communication has helped me know that I did the right thing by walking away. Please pray that I will overcome this bitterness that I have towards her.
The strategies that I was trying to use in this situation is to not provoke the new director anymore with a conflict and that is why I decided that mentoring her was not in my best interest or hers. We have incompatible goals - mine is quality childcare and her goal is being financially stable with the company. My motto has always been that if you provide quality childcare, you will make the money. I tried to reassure the director that I did not want her job but wanted to help her be successful. I feel that I communicated my intent effectively but apparently not and so that is why I decided to walk away from a potential conflict that probably would have escalated. By learning this week about non-violent communication has helped me know that I did the right thing by walking away. Please pray that I will overcome this bitterness that I have towards her.
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